I had a great time at last weekend’s CCE convention in Parsippany, New Jersey… lots of music, lots of fun meeting old friends and exciting new players from around the continent. Kudos to Paul Keating and Dan Neely and everyone who organized.
Played with whistlemaker John Sindt in some sessions but barely got a chance to thank him for the C and D whistles of his I picked up last month – too much music rampaging by! Did get a chance to finally meet esteemed whistle tweaker Jerry Freeman and get some real insights into his process… will be breaking in some of his models soon, as well. (for The Record, I’m currently carrying a combo of whistles by Burke, Sindt, O’Riordan and Freeman — enjoying them all!)
I guess the next big Irish trad gathering in the U.S. is the East Durham week in July. Hope to make it up there for at least a couple nights of Extreme Sessioning.
Does everyone in the NY-NJ-CT-Eastern PA region know about Maureen Donachie’s e-claendar of Irish traditional music? Check out http://www.my.calendars.net/ceolagusrince — she’s got all the regional Irish music events listed, and if you’re not on the list, you’ll want to be.
Best,
L.E. McCullough
http://www.lemccullough.com