Where the Irish of the Delaware Valley meet
What's a session?
As you might have been able to surmise from my previous question, I'm trying to piece together web content for irishphiladelphia.com around the general topic of Irish sessions.
Improbable as this might seem, some readers ask us what an Irish session is.
I tell them it involves guilt, the teachings of Abraham Maslow, unresolved conflicts over childhood experiences with concertinas, and plenty of Zoloft -- all washed down with pints of Guinness. (And, as Freud himself -- a closet whistle devotee -- once noted, "Hey, sometimes a concertina is just a concertina, yah?")
Seriously, they really don't know. So I want to write a kind of visitor's guide to Irish sessions.
That said, I have a few questions I want to pose to you all here.
If you'd write back with answers, the angels would look kindly upon you, and you would be called blessed. All that, and you would have my undying gratitude (or gra-tee-tood, as we Fluffyans say).
Q. I'm interested in whatever you know about the history of sessions in Philly. I know there are a lot now, but I suspect that there have been more than a few in the past, including a bunch -- like one in Glenside, I believe -- that have gone by the wayside. What do y'all remember about sessions past? How far back do they go, do you think, here in the Delaware Valley? How long have you been going?
Q. What are some of the older sessions that are still going?
Q. To me, a session seems like a great way to carry on the tradition. I like the idea -- probably overly romantical -- that you might be playing a tune at a bar in Philadelphia in 2008 that some old codgers maybe played a couple hundred years ago. Like, wow. Am I the only one with such romantical notions? Are you all standing on the shoulders of crusty old farmer-musician giants?
Q. When people ask you what a session is, what do you say? I mean, on a certain level, it's a jam session, but there seems to be a bit more structure to it than the term "jam session" might imply. "Jam session" sounds loosey-goosey. I've seen sessions that are both "loosey" and even "goosey." I've sessions that seem fairly well organized. But even the loosey-goosey ones seem to me to have at least some structure. There's a leader or leaders, the same tunes and sets seem to get played by the same folks, etc. So how do you define this thing for session virgins?
Q. Aside from the current lineup of "greats," and you probably all know who they are, are there "greats" who have rather famously taken part in or led Philly-area sessions, greats who have since gone on to that "Big Hoolie in the Sky?" People we should all know about and remember?
Q. Do you have favorite session memories?
Thanks!
Jeffo
Improbable as this might seem, some readers ask us what an Irish session is.
I tell them it involves guilt, the teachings of Abraham Maslow, unresolved conflicts over childhood experiences with concertinas, and plenty of Zoloft -- all washed down with pints of Guinness. (And, as Freud himself -- a closet whistle devotee -- once noted, "Hey, sometimes a concertina is just a concertina, yah?")
Seriously, they really don't know. So I want to write a kind of visitor's guide to Irish sessions.
That said, I have a few questions I want to pose to you all here.
If you'd write back with answers, the angels would look kindly upon you, and you would be called blessed. All that, and you would have my undying gratitude (or gra-tee-tood, as we Fluffyans say).
Q. I'm interested in whatever you know about the history of sessions in Philly. I know there are a lot now, but I suspect that there have been more than a few in the past, including a bunch -- like one in Glenside, I believe -- that have gone by the wayside. What do y'all remember about sessions past? How far back do they go, do you think, here in the Delaware Valley? How long have you been going?
Q. What are some of the older sessions that are still going?
Q. To me, a session seems like a great way to carry on the tradition. I like the idea -- probably overly romantical -- that you might be playing a tune at a bar in Philadelphia in 2008 that some old codgers maybe played a couple hundred years ago. Like, wow. Am I the only one with such romantical notions? Are you all standing on the shoulders of crusty old farmer-musician giants?
Q. When people ask you what a session is, what do you say? I mean, on a certain level, it's a jam session, but there seems to be a bit more structure to it than the term "jam session" might imply. "Jam session" sounds loosey-goosey. I've seen sessions that are both "loosey" and even "goosey." I've sessions that seem fairly well organized. But even the loosey-goosey ones seem to me to have at least some structure. There's a leader or leaders, the same tunes and sets seem to get played by the same folks, etc. So how do you define this thing for session virgins?
Q. Aside from the current lineup of "greats," and you probably all know who they are, are there "greats" who have rather famously taken part in or led Philly-area sessions, greats who have since gone on to that "Big Hoolie in the Sky?" People we should all know about and remember?
Q. Do you have favorite session memories?
Thanks!
Jeffo
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on -
Who says it's not sexy? I just had to turn on a fan. Whew!
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on
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As for "useful," that's a funny word. It's not useful in the sense that it doesn't pay the electric bill (I wish!) or buy shoes for the baby. It satisfies my curiosity, and probably it would satisfy that of others I talk to who always seem surprised that there are places where you can go to hear and maybe play this stuff.
In a larger sense, and now I'm gonna get all ponderous on you, I really feel like the session is all part of a larger history. I feel like I want to capture a sense of what it might have been like in the early days, who was playing, where did they play, etc. I mean, Dennis Clark's history of the Irish in Philadelphia (not that I'd ever presume to compare what I do to what he did) isn't useful, either, unless you just want to know. And then it's useful. I just want to know.
Just like I'd want to know about the history of the dance halls and how they figured into the socialization and integration of Irish immigrants -- or how hurling and language and parishes and food and poetry and theater and railroad work and unions and the AOH, and all those other useless things, figure into the bigger picture of the Irish in Philadelphia. Call me nutty, but I find it all intriguing.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on
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That's way cool.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on
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I just ordered it.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Glennan on -
Sorry to jump onthe caboose here, it seems oddly enough to me that the excerpts from Vallaly's tome are credible explanations and kind representations of what 'a session' is. I could never be able to explain one so well as to paraphrase what I just read. Jeff, have you heard any stories of the past sessions in Phila? Just curious.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on
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Nope. I ain't.
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