In Santa Barbara we have an Irish bar that hosts a so-called "session" once a week. I went down there once with a couple of my button accordions, expecting to be able to sit in, and expecting that it would be a by-ear kind of gathering. I was quite taken aback to find that almost everyone who showed up pulled out a ream of sheet music, and they all played ( abit like Irish robots) exactly what was written in front of them. On top of that I was the only buttonbox player amongst about a dozen fiddlers and at least five guitarists. I have to say it was exactly the opposite of my prior experience of an Irish session, and I never went back, but most of the people there seemed very happy and content to do it that way. Different strokes I suppose...
Rev