Thanks for the song, Charmion. It's good for people to be reminded that despite the attention warmakers get, it's children who suffer the most.
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Well, back to Irish-American. I joined six harpers yesterday in a program of Celtic music. We had a small, but pleasant audience - about 30-40 people. Our leader wisely thought an hour of harp would prove monotonous, so she asked me to contribute recorder playing.

I tried to strike a balance between being bored by dull parts and making it look as if here was a recorder player with a six-harp backup band. So I created some low, humming parts, almost like a cello's, and some melody parts. My instruments ranged from the bass (over a yard long) to the sopranino, higher than a D whistle.

The audience learned about all the types of harp. After a while, a woman called out, "I want to know what that instrument is that's like an oboe!" (the bass recorder)

I'm sorry to say that 'When Irish Eyes are Smiling' was dropped.   Maybe the concert was getting too long. Maybe it was the pesky G's and G#'s.

In the evening, I attended an excellent show with story-telling and guitar playing. Sure beats green beer!