Mmmm to join in the fray or not to.... ah well.

No mention of banjo.... its accepted as traditional and the guitar which is older isnt. In the Comhaltas Fleadh the banjo has its own competition and the guitar is in the miscellaneous section. I have never worked out why the Anglo concertina is traditional and the English concertina, invented by the same chap ... well isnt.

As for the travelling community, we have an excellent Tinker piper at our session in sunny Shropshire about once a year. THere is a cheer when he walks in and he is always made very welcome for his musicianship. What he does in his spare time doesnt concern us. We wouldnt ask anyway as he was a bare knuckle fighter in his younger days. If we wernt playing the music right he wouldnt bother to come along.

The arguement at the session last week was whether we should add in fusion music ie afro celt etc. I enjoy the newer sounds very much, but dont want them at a traditional session.Its good to play the traditional tunes, or those written in the traditional style.

ah thats better.... off to the weekly session to see if the new muso is still talking to me... which part of "its an Irish music session" didnt she understand!!!