Keenan,
We heard some good music at O'Flaherty's in Dingle this summer. Also had fun at some very spontaneous and very eclectic sessions at Dick Mack's.

Bill, that was just a figure of speech as I was just poking fun, but I still don't buy your position.My position is based on my relatives in Cavan that are big trad fans and educated me on the difference between the tourist music and real irish music. I still enjoy a good ballad but now focus on the more instrumental. You are right in the fact that in some places it is a challenge to locate the trad, as the incident I referred to occured in Killarney. Anyway Bill, I suppose that I was surprised by your statement as I have read a lot of your insightful responses and you definitely know Ireland very well. I'll tell you what. I will personally make it my mission to do a survey next month of how the irish populace feels and report my findings.
Thanks for the recommendation, MaryZ. I had been there years ago and can only remember an incredible crowd, so I better get there early.

Hi jsrc,

In Killarney, as you face the chinese food place (don't order the egg rolls ) walk down the side street to the right and on your right is a neat place - wish I could remember the name. On the second floor we heard great local music and they welcomed the public to participate.

Heard great music early on Friday in Galway. Started at about 5:00 PM. Also a great farmer's market on Saturday near the old Cathedral.

Enjoy!

Keenan:

I presume that you are saying may comments are less than insightful. Honestly, my travel notions are based purely on personal opinion and I'm sure there are lots of people that would never travel the way I do. On the other hand, I have a little bit of insight into the music scene as I make my living as a musician (I teach and play jazz and classical music). I have a keen interest in Irish trad and have been known to torture people with my tin whistle playing. Why, I even appear on a soon to be released recording of some Irish music (they could have found a better tin whistle player than me). So I try to make myself aware of what is going on over there.

It seems American and British pop are the dominating music influences in Ireland right now with CW trying to get in the door. Interestingly enough, it seems they've gone full circle there as country music has it's roots in Irish traditional music. I believe it was the Thistle and Shamrock that once did a show that followed the roots of traditional Celtic music through to blue grass and there is a very fine line between the two. There are blue grass tunes, which are very difficult to differentiate between their Celtic ancestors. It is difficult to assign labels at just the right moments in the fast moving history of a musical culture, and cross marketing confuses the issue even more but folk music, country and country western (and to me there is a difference between country and country western) had it?s roots here.

I too am a huge fan of traditional Irish music and there are, BTW, a huge number of traditional Irish ballads. Clearly, The Fields of Athenry is not one. That would probably be considered Irish folk. Don?t get me wrong, it?s a beautiful tune, but it can?t really be lumped with Irish trad. Trad seems to combine the strange effect of being both mesmerizing and energetic at the same time. Sort of like putting whiskey in your coffee. I always get the image when I listen to great trad of the spokes in a wheel spinning one way but ?strobing? in the opposite direction. But I digress.

I will agree that my approach to finding out about Irish trad while I was in Ireland was in no way scientific, but I certainly started to get a flavor. You can find similar attitudes in the States. Jazz is about the only musical art form that we can claim as our own (though I guess an argument could now be made for rap/hip-hop, but I?m not going there) and it has had varying degrees of popularity throughout the years. Tell a person that you are a jazz musician and you will frequently get the response ?Oh, I love jazz?. Then ask them what jazz albums they have in their library (BTW, Kenny G doesn?t count). People may love it, but they don?t buy it and they don?t go out and listen to it. Oh yeah, it?s cool to have as background music as long as it doesn?t interrupt their dinner and conversation, which explains the popularity of Kenny G.

I?m not saying that trad is dead in Ireland but it appears that it may be losing its popularity with the locals. The good news is that music history has shown that musical styles will ebb and flow and there will likely be a resurgence. The good news is that it no longer takes a couple of hundred years for that to happen. In the early 19th century, most people didn?t know who JS Bach was. Then along came Felix Mendelssohn ?

Yikes, sorry for the rambling.

Bill

Bill, Great post and I apologize if I gave the impression that I did not respect your opinion, only merely that I disagree with it, but that may be more my feelings than reliable research. I agree with many of the points that you made and certainly would not consider myself a musicologist. I honestly say that I would fall into the category of a dabbler into Irish,Blues, Jazz and Traditional Country genres. I despise most pop music, although my toes may begin tapping without my knowing; occasionally, and I'm proud to say that I do not own a single Kenny G cd. Thanks for sharing the info and again don't take offense, as I had posted earlier, you definitely have considerable knowledge on Ireland. Take care, Keenan

Keenan:

None taken. It's so hard to determine the level of musical interest anywhere so everyone woulod just be guessing. When I taught undergraduate classes when I was a grad student, I would ask these questions at the beginning of each semester:

What is your favorite music?
What is your least favorite music?
What music are you embarrased to say you don't like (because you are at an uptight music school)?
What is the most embarrassing recording that you own?

I always got great responses. I wonder how those questions would go in Ireland? Anyway, thanks for your response. You got me thinking more about it and wanting to research it a bit more.

Bill

Thanks for the reply, Bill, and good luck with the research. Let me know what you learn and I will post upon return from my trip in Sept. Safe travels, Keenan