Irish & American Folk Music
Greetings. Last Saturday Andrew and I played our first gig since the COVID outbreak. Ironically, it was the same venue as our last gig before the COVID outbreak: Terhune Orchards. This coming Wednesday I am playing solo at Tir na nOg, weather permitting. Given all the outside gigs likely to occur, I acquired another outside-gig guitar: A Takamine G series jumbo.
Eric Bogle wrote this song about leaving his mother to head off to Australia from Edinburgh. Sad stuff, but here it is anyway.
A belated thank you to James ‘Seamus’ Farrell of Killarney’s Publick House for gifting me this awesome practice amp.
Cheers!!
Retired TCNJ Prof Bob Mehlman and I will be returning as co-presenters for one installment of
MIGRATIONS: CONTINUING STORIES
Organized By: Barbara Kirsh, chair, Lynne Cullinane, Art Firestone, Elaine Jacoby, Sandy Kurinsky, and Judy Walzer
Wednesdays: 10:00 a.m. to noon, 9 weeks: September 23 through November 18
Maximum: 60
The Fall 2019 course, Migrations: More Than a Border Story, filled up quickly and was deemed a great success. This second Migrations series is suitable for new and previous participants. The course will cover a variety of topics related to migrations, including whether we can call the earliest moves of our ancestors “migrations,” the legal and political context of migrations, along with the rich contributions to music, poetry, food, film, and art of current and past migrations. We will also hear about refugee resettlement to the Princeton area. Each week’s topic will focus on one aspect of migration and be presented by different experts in a variety of formats such as lecture, panel discussion, and a virtual field trip to the Princeton University Art Museum.
Registration opens Registration opens August 4, 2020
I’ve only written one song about fathers and sons. I was going for something in the the line of Bobby Burns. It’s called “When We Meet Again”. Have a listen. I hope you enjoy it.
Andrew Koontz and me as depicted in Ryan Lafferty’s children’s book When I Grow Up!
Back in 1997 Jim and I toured the Lowden (a small batch guitar builder in Ireland) guitar workshop in Newtownards. I took a couple of photos, but didn’t purchase a guitar.
I ‘ve finally purchased a Glenvale-Era Lowden F-12. They have since moved across Strangford Lough to Downpatrick.
Greetings. Gig after gig has been cancelled. I will be happy to get back to some music work when things loosen up. Meanwhile, down in Monteverde, Costa Rica my son John plays sunset concerts virtually from Morpho Restaurant every other Friday. They start the broadcasts at 7pm Eastern time.
Andrew and I played at Terhune Winery to an outdoor audience. Given the trends in Corona Virus deterrents, this might be our last public appearance for several months.
Update of March 17th: Yes, it was indeed our last gig of the March season. All other appearances for the month have either been cancelled or rescheduled. Hopefully by April we will return to normalcy. We shall see. Be safe and may God bless everyone.
