You may remember that a few years ago I wrote of the surprising and amusing Irish love of bluegrass. At the time, I thought it was so funny to have a song introduced in a rich and thick Irish brogue, only to have that same band member's voice change so quickly to a nasally, high thrown Kentucky or Tennessee accent. In fact, our first exposure to this was when Hubie MacEvilly sang Rocky Top at the Clew Bay during our first visit. Ah ha. But last night we listened to the best band of the festival so far - the Red Wine band from Northern Italy. That'd be Silvio, Martino, Marco, and Lucas, young men and old, playing banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bass guitar. They played bluegrass, ballads, swing, and several other genres. And man could they play. It was great fun and, at the end of their set, they brought up the preceding band to jam, playing
A Man of Constant Sorrow to end the night. Dueling guitars and banjos, and a grand battle as the acoustic standup bass squared off against the electric bass guitar. Uri's really out done himself this year. As would be said over here -
savage craic (the second highest level of great fun).
 |
| Red Wine |
 |
| Uri proudly wore his Trump hat all evening. Guy is just a goof. |
I was very pleased to see that our local grocer, O'Connor's Super-Valu, stocks
Ireland of the Welcomes on the newsstand. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I'm recognized everywhere I go. I know I'll handle the fame just fine. ;)
And I know you've been wondering, but I finally got out to play a little golf this morning. Out of bed at 6:15, teed off at 6:45, and finished the 9 holes at 8:15. Despite a very heavy mist on a couple of holes, it was a beautiful morning and I hit the ball pretty well. Off to the Connemara Golf Links in Ballyconneely mid-week with Padraic and Marion. A peak golf experience.
 |
| Ahhh. So pretty. |
