The Irish session at the Star, Fishponds, Bristol

I lead a regular Irish session at the Star, Fishponds, Bristol. This is an excellent Irish pub, that hosts a range of music, with an enthusiastic landlord.

The Wednesday night session at the Star was absolutely lovely, just a few players playing with wonderful pulse and lift (Bradon Smith on fiddle, and Sheena Vallely on flute). The kind of session where you don’t mind if you don’t know the tunes because the music is so lovely to listen to!

Jeremy, founder of thesession.org

Playing tenor banjo at the Star Irish session
The mighty banjo picker, Paul Kerins, pictured here, is a regular at the Star session. Photo: @hensonvisuals

This Irish session at the Star in Bristol, currently runs on Wednesday evenings, from 8.30pm. The regular session leads are me, on fiddle, Paul Kerins on tenor banjo, and Sheena Vallely on flute. The session attracts other excellent players on all instruments, but is welcoming to new players. (See what Jeremy, founder of TheSession.org had to say about our session recently.)

The tunes played are varied and often include less well known, or rarely heard tunes, though we play many old favourites too. We don’t have a set repetoire of tunes, and enjoy new players bringing new and old tunes in to the mix. Tunes (and the occasional song) are mainly but not entirely from the Irish tradition – but it’s not exclusive!

During the summer, the session often takes place in the covered back garden, which is a lovely venue for acoustic music.

Joining the Star Irish session

The Irish sessions at the Star have always been welcoming to new players of Irish traditional music. But please do get in touch with me if you think you might join us, as it is helpful to have an idea of numbers.