Another great song for bodhran-only accompaniment is "The Land of McLeod (I Will Go) -- as done by the Corries.

Shambles remarked: Any attempt to 'lay down the law' before the event will inevitably lessen the spontaneous approach that the best sessions would seem to to require.

Well, I don't know. It seems to me that session music--i.e. Celtic--is fairly structured by nature, and most good sessions don't just happen--they are more or less "owned" by someone, whose attitude controls the vibe. Ultimately in a scene thats large enough to have a bunch of different sessions, people who want to have one but don't care for the implicit or explicit rules of an established one, will start their own--and I think thats what makes a healthy scene.

As in other walks of life, its not usually enjoyable receiving criticism on your musical tendencies, but that's how you grow as a musician. Its fine for people to say that everything is great, but the person that offers a suggestion on how things could be better is the one who's helping more in the long run. Of course there is everything to be said in favour of tact and politeness!

Bill (no I don't run a session)