Since TIA identifies himself as American, and the gig is on St. Patrick's Day, imho we can assume that this is for a typical American crowd out on St. Patrick's Day. The crowd is really just looking for an excuse to imbibe as much as possible, and may be drinking far more watery green "beer" than Guiness. What they will expect will be "Irish" music, not American country-western hits, popular as they may actually be in Ireland. In my grandparents' day, you would have had to include the well-known "Irish" songs like McNamara's Band, Same old Shilaleagh, H-a-double-r-i, etc, but modern young bar-goer's probably don't remember those (thank goodness!). A fair bit of "Irish" music has been heard on movie soundtracks in recent years, such as Titanic. Much of this is the kind of ambient music that won't provide much of a backdrop for drinking and partying. You want to be at least as loud as they are part of the time, or they'll ignore you altogether! Probably some rebel songs, drinking songs, and some Clancy Brothers type material will fill the bill. Danny Boy will surely ring some bells. A more folk-aware crowd might appreciate There Were Roses and Kilkelly, Ireland. Indie- rockers might appreciate some of the material by Black 47. Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes! Marymac
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