The Starry Plough, an Irish pub in Berkeley, has Irish jams on Sunday nights. If you saw Dave Swan's I'm So Proud of PJ, you've already heard about it. But here's a bit more of a description of it, inspired by the fact that four Mudcatters each played a solo tonight. Anyway, the jammers start straggling in at about 8:00 and when there are three or four of them, start playing and others join in as they come in. They sit in a circle at the end of the room opposite the bar. Tonight there was a very large group and a very large crowd.

The jam group plays mostly Irish fiddle tunes, the breaks passed around among the players--a very good bunch tonight--for the first 45 minutes or so, then whoever is going to emcee for the night starts calling on whoever wants to solo. The emcee tonight sang first, a capella, then came two Muddies, RiGGy Rackin who sang and played a subtle contrapuntal accompaniment on his concertina (I don't remember the name of the song he performed so beautifully--nor any of the others but the last, mine). Dave Swan followed him, singing beautifully though looking a bit peaked after a weekend illness. The jam group played for another 30 minutes or so, followed by another round of solos--no Muddies in the second round--and another jam set, and yet another round of solos, this time including P.J. (Pam), Dave's wife, who accompanied her exquisite song with her bodhran, and then I was called upon--I played banjo to accompany my singing of "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye." This is an absolutely wonderful place to perform: the audience is silent during the solos and wonderfully appreciative of them. This was all unamplified, but everyone in the pub could hear every note, every word of every song. If you're in the Bay Area on a Sunday night, the Starry Plough is a must.

I don't want to ignore the jam group here: a terrific bunch including a mandolin player I played with several times in the Fifth String jams, several fine fiddlers and pipers and whistlers and guitar players, P.J. and another good banjo player, a fine bones player, a citern, probably about fifteen or more in all. A great night of music, warm feelings, and lots of beautiful women (including one bodhran player).

--seed