This session business - this cuts to the heart of my dislike of traditional music.

Theres always someone who's the top dog - a fiddler or melodeon player.He starts playing s a tune without telling anyone what it is. Before long he very capriciously changes key - without telling anyone the key he's playing in. all the other players are going, 'wossat? whats he doin'? which key?' and they start craning their necks to see if someone knows whats going on. then the DADGAD guitar kicks in with facetious little anticipations of the tune - the top dog doesn't like this and starts plays faster and louder and beats off the challenge, with a triumphant snarl! After fifteen minutes of complex but largely uninteresting melody - the process exhausts itself. the players look round with conspiratorial smugness - shove that up your Streets of London.

About an hour later, everybody's pissed. People who hesitated to take out their tin whistle an hour ago - are now convinced they are natural heirs to Paddy Moloney and Liam Og Flynn - only a different sort of approach - louder and more direct. The man who bought a set of Uilean pipes a week ago has now got them out of the brown cardboard box they came in. People smile encouragingly. Its got to better than the eight year old singing Kumbaya with a the instruction book in front of her.