Noodling around
We have settled into indolence, defined online as "laziness, idleness, slothfulness, sloth, shiftlessness, inactivity, inaction, inertia, lifelessness, sluggishness, lethargy, languor, torpor, slowness, and dullness." Well, maybe that's overstating it a bit, but we do have several days recently in which we have risen after 10 and breached the front door no earlier than 2. A lovely and languid existence. See, I am owning up to at least one of the above descriptors.
The Duffys have, however, kept us active. Padraic truly loves music and we are always on the crawl in search of excellent musicianship. He chose wisely during the Folk and Bluegrass Festival, and I believe we saw all the best acts. We are, all four of us, well-recognized and are invited to all the cool "in-crowd" events. Surprising for us, of course; routine for the Duffys, no doubt. However, regardless of how achingly cool and in demand we are, we are hobbled and hampered by age. We were summoned to the hottest after-hours session at the Clew Bay, the hotel owned by our dear friends Maria and Darren, and we found ourselves limping out at half 12, far before the truly legendary free-wheeling session had hit full stride. The most talented fiddlers, mandolin players, banjo pluckers, and double-stand-up bass players were assembling to challenge one another with their most demanding riffs and routines as we vacated the premises. The session went on until half 4 (4:30 a.m.) we are told. Perhaps next year we will be younger... Regardless of our failings, we had a great and enervating weekend. We look forward to next year's event - as Uri says, same time, same station. Candee and I missed the Sunday morning gospel music session at the Church of Ireland's Holy Trinity Church on Sunday morning. Thanks to Darren Madden for sharing Uri's intro - "Only a Jew could get 300 Catholics to Mass on Sunday at a Protestant church to listen to American Gospel Music." Can I get an Amen!
Click on the links below. You'll get a taste of the music at the festival. Unfortunately, I had to pull some clips from archived material - the clips from this weekend's festival have not been posted yet.
Jam session at Blouser's Pub
Yer man Uri Kohen
Greenshine - I'll Fly Away
The Horsenecks - my favorite group of the festival
More Horsenecks