Hi Irish Jack.
My Mum used to play the accordian when I was a kid (when dinosaurs roamed the earth). It was one of the first instruments that I ever tried to play, but at age 5, it was simply too big, so I learnt the harmonica (mouth organ) instead.
My wife is a gaelic music-lover. She has 8 folk harps of all sizes. A couple of years ago, we went to Galway for a couple of weeks to oversee a chap there who was building a new harp for her. She took one of her other harps so that I could get some photos of her playing it, to send back to the manufacturer in the USA.
We found a ruined castle and set it all up. She wore traditional Irish clothes and and down and started playing. Within moments, three coaches pulled up and loads of American tourists jumped out and started taking photos. "Do you speak English, Coleen?" asked one of them.
My wife has a wicked sense of humour (and she can speak Irish Gaelic), so she answered in Gaelic. "Ooh", said the group, and clicked away merrily. They then did the traditional exercise of talking slowly and loudly to make her understand that they wanted to take photos while she played. One of them tried to mime harp-playing to give her the idea.
My wife started playing. Only it was the Frank Sinatra song "My Way". She then switched into some Bruce Springsteen and finally went into some Bon Jovi numbers. All played as Irish Jigs.
They eventually got in their coach and drove off, never realising the joke.
Why did she play that music? Well all of them come from New Jersey, just like my wife, American that she is...
One thing we have found is that as long as my wife carries a harp, we never have to buy our own drinks in Ireland. I carry a bodhran (a sort of Irish drum) and accompany her for some of the jigs and reels. That gets me all the diet cokes I can drink!
Irish Jack, do you play in pubs or clubs?
Fred, dig the skins!
