Irish session – The Red Lion, St George
I am leading a new Irish session at the Red Lion in St George, Bristol on Wednesday evenings. Come one come all for some mighty Irish music.
Author: bradon.smith
Gaylí – A Pride Celebration with Shanvaghera
Irish music in London’s Irish Centre for a special Irish ceilí for London Pride! Shanvaghera are delighted to announce we will be playing traditional Irish music at the London Irish Centre, in Camden, for a special Irish ceilí – a Gaylí! – for London Pride …
Live Irish music in Bristol and Bath
We’re lucky at the moment to have loads of live Irish music in Bristol and Bath going on every week. There are more Irish sessions right now than I can remember since I came to Bristol 6 years ago. And it isn’t just the amount of live Irish music right now – the consensus is that the quality is improving too.
As well as the session scene – the grassroots, if you like – there are lots of venues putting on live Irish music gigs too.
I’ve listed below some of the many sessions where you can see live Irish music in Bristol (for free!). And I’ve included some Irish sessions in Bath that I know about too.
I’ve also listed some upcoming Irish music gigs at local venues. These range from small unknown groups to the big names and big venues in Bristol.
Venues and gigs for live Irish music
There are loads of good venues in Bristol. But for folk music the ones to keep an eye on are The Folk House, St George’s Hall, and (for big name acts) the Bristol Beacon. Upcoming Irish gigs of note:
Piskey Led, The Folk House, 24 April, 7pm
The Breath, Bristol Cathedral, 7pm
Talisk (not strictly Irish, but…), Bristol Beacon, 10 May 8pm.
Bristol Ceilidh presents: Shanvaghera, The Folk House, 25th May, 7pm.
The Haar, The Folk House, 2 November, 7pm
Some of the (many) Irish sessions in Bristol
The Star, Fishponds, 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 8.30pm. This is a very long-standing session, which I run with some of the other members of our band Shanvaghera. The standard is generally very good, but it is a welcoming session.
The Red Monkey, Chandos Road, Bristol. First Sunday of the month, 2pm. This is a new session which I am running with Marick Baxter (flute) and Dominic Henderson (pipes).
The Red Lion, St George, 2nd and last Wednesdays of the month, 8pm. A new Irish session (partly taking over from a long-standing Old Time session) which I am running with Catherine O’Leary (banjo) and others.
The Star, Fishponds, Tuesdays, 8pm. Another regular session at the Star which can get quite big!
The Orchard Inn, 1st Wednesday of the month, 8pm. A newish session, very welcoming for less experienced players.
The Shebeen, last Sunday of the month, 8pm.
Irish session in Bath
The Grapes, Thursdays, 8pm.
The Royal Oak, Wednesdays, 8.30pm
How hard is it to learn the fiddle?
The question I get asked often is: ‘Is it hard to learn the fiddle?’. There’s definitely a opinion that it is really hard to learn to play fiddle! The assumption seems to be that it takes years to start playing tunes. Or even to make …
Josefin’s Waltz / Josephine’s Waltz
Here’s a beautiful waltz written by Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth. Normally it is known as Josephine’s Waltz here in England; or I’ve seen it called Josefin’s Waltz in many places. But it’s name as given by Roger himself is “Johsefins dopvals”. It’s a lovely but …
Announcing… Straight from the Jug!
Straight from the Jug – proper traditional Irish music and song on uilleann pipes, fiddle, and voices played with energy and drive!
Fiddle and uilleann pipes has for a long time been one of my favourite duo combinations in Irish traditional music. They just seem to complement each other so well, blending together but also filling in the gaps left by the other instrument. I love playing with good uilleann pipe players. They also both provide a lovely drone backdrop for songs!
So, I’m thrilled to be playing in this duo project Straight from the Jug with a great uilleann piper, Dominic Henderson. Years ago, Dom and I used to play together regularly in South London, often to be found in the front window of the grand old pub The Antelope in Tooting on a Sunday afternoon (and then, quite likely, off to sessions at the Howl at the Moon in Hoxton, and then on to The Lamb in Camden!).
When I moved away from London, we had fewer chances to play together. But a couple of years ago, Dom moved over to Bristol and the South West’s hotbed of Irish traditional music(!). So we’ve been playing sessions together again, and re-finding our love of driving rhythmic tunes, as well as the opportunities of playing some slower reels and airs together.
We are available for bookings, for weddings, birthdays parties, garden parties — anywhere you want the sound of true traditional Irish music!
Straight from the Jug
Straight from the Jug are…
Uillean piper, Dominic Henderson
Dominic Henderson is a renowned uilleann piper and whistle player from North London who earned his stripes as a teenager playing at sessions, before taking his talents further afield, qualifying for the All-Ireland uilleann pipe final in 2007.
Dominic has a keen interest in traditional piping, but his strength lies in a unique modern uilleann piping style which blends respect for the tradition with his own musical experimentation.
Fiddler, Bradon Smith
Bradon Smith is a respected fiddler player and fiddle teacher based in Bristol, UK. Classically trained but growing up in a folk family, Bradon has played folk fiddle since the age of 5. He is a well-known fiddle player on the Bristol, Bath, and London session scene.
Bradon also plays fiddle with Shanvaghera, a four piece band playing pure-drop Irish folk music.
He plays regularly for ceilidhs with Shanvaghera, as well as being a sought after fiddle player for other ceilidh bands in the South of England and beyond.
Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór on fiddle and uillann pipes
Si Bheag, Si Mhor sounds fantastic on fiddle and uilleann pipes together. This beautiful tune is probably Turlough O’ Carolan’s most well known composition. The title, ‘Si Bheag, Si Mhor’ translates as ‘the little fairy mound, and the big fairy mound’. Recently I had a …
The Swaggering jig
This slip jig, called The Swaggering Jig, (also called ‘Give us a drink of water’) is often one of the first Irish slipjigs that I teach students. I have heard it said that the slipjig and the hopjig are the ‘true’ indigenous musical forms of …
Cooley’s reel
Cooley’s reel is a very well-known Irish reel associated with Joe Cooley, the great accordion player from Co. Galway.
Fiddle players, if you would like to take your fiddle playing to the next level, take a look at my online fiddle courses, including my free Irish fiddle course.
However, the history and attribution for Cooley’s reel are tricky to untangle. It would be natural to assume, given its title, that the reel was written by Joe Cooley himself. However, the most likely account is that this tune was composed by another Galway accordianist, Joe Mills, who played in the Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band with Joe Cooley in the 1930’s-40’s.
However, Joe Cooley was so taken by the reel, that he would play it often, and so it became most associated with his playing.
Apparently, Joe Mills original title for this tune was Luttrell’s Pass, which would refer to the Battle of Aughrim, fought in the early 17th century. But this reel also goes by the names The Tulla Reel, and Joe Cooley’s Fancy.
Either way, Cooley’s is a cracking tune and well worth learning. It is not, however, straightforward to play well. The string crossing sections are best played with either circle-bowing or cross-bowing techniques, and many of the phrases are crying out for cuts and joint short rolls. Even without ornamentation, the tune needs some care with the bowing not to end up sounding ‘jerky’ or ‘choppy’.
The Trip to Athlone (jig)
In this Irish fiddle tutorial we are going to learn a popular Irish session jig The Trip to Athlone, a great Irish session tune. The full tutorial on this tune will be part of my Complete Irish Fiddler course (coming soon!). Find out more at …