Hey all
i Just got my pictures from East Duhram Back.
[img] http://images.snapfish.com/337<287523232fp8>nu%3D3238>98%3B>663>wsnrcg%3D32324%3B363%3A9%3A8nu0mrj
i got to meet mary bergin, i only got to talk to her for a little bit, but she was nice.
John S. was my tin whistle teacher, he is a great player and teacher, get his new CD it is great[/img]
Some of the picutres you have to use links some not i dont know why.
Scott or known here as Caj, great guy glad i could meet him.
A friends overtone low D, great whistle, i got the hang of it by the end of the week.
I believe this man’s name is Mike, He lost his arms in a construction accident and now only plays the harmonica, actually six harmanicas in six different keys.
Frank Claudy, an old friend of my dad’s, wonderful and funny guy. Giving me flute lessons here.
Those are the pictures that i thought turned out well, hope you enjoy them. Also I recommend East duhram Irish week to anyone, it was the best time of my life.
Great pictures! The first one had me wondering if I could play the whistle with my elbows resting on a table…I don’t believe I could. And Mike (the harmonica player who lost his arms) - what an inspiration!
Thanks for sharing the pics.
Susan
Does that concertina make my butt look big? 
The harmonica guy was really cool. His harmonicas were all attached to this one rod like a big metal corn cob, and he knew mountains of tunes.
Mary Bergin joked that she swam to the U.S., due to the insane visa problems that she and other musicians faced trying to get into the country just for a week. It required enormous effort from the organizers, musicians, and local congressman just to get the week to happen like every previous week.
The session pics are taken in Darby’s pub and restaurant. They had Boddington’s on tap! And Magic Hat no Nine. They also had instruments decorating the walls, including a working Hohner Black Dot B/C accordion (gosh, ca. $700? One expensive decoration!)
Caj
[quote]Mary Bergin joked that she swam to the U.S., due to the insane visa problems that she and other musicians faced trying to get into the country just for a week. It required enormous effort from the organizers, musicians, and local congressman just to get the week to happen like every previous week[/quote
Gaelic Roots in Boston had the same problem!
Hey, that’s my good buddie Mike Connely (no relation to Seamus). He’s a legend in the Boston trad scene and one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I learned a lot of my tunes from him.
Mike used to play flute, fiddle, pipes, whistle, accordion… basically everything. He recorded on lots and lots of albums, had his own band… he was a king of Irish music.
Then he had an accident in the factory and both his arms got destroyed and had to be amputated and they put the prosthetic limbs on him (the basic variety, not very advanced at all).
He got pretty depressed for a while afterwards (quite understandably) since he’d lost his arms, lost his work and lost his music, but his family, knowing how important the music is to him, came up the with the brilliant idea of buying him a set of harmonicas, in various keys, mounted on a spindle that he can hold with his prosthetic limbs and switch harmonicas depending what key the tune is in.
Mike loved it and took to it like with great passion. Now he plays them incredibly and it’s hard for most of us to keep up with him. Mike is one of the kindest, funniest, most big hearted guys I know and one heck of a musician. Whenever he walks into a session the tunes stop, the circle opens up, Mike is given the best chair and everyone invites him to take over. He’s a perfect example of how a big heart and a big smile will make people love you more than anything else possibly could.
Thanks for the pictures,
Chris
Yeah mike seem to be really nice whenever i talked to him. He play tunes everyone knows and was jsut great to be around. I didnt know he played all those instrutions before i thought he just played Button box.
Good pics. I remember seeing you there. Yes, Mary Bergin is really nice as were all the instructors. I took the basic whistle class with Kathleen Conneely and had a great time. Had a blast one afternoon in Furlong’s Pub with Jackie Daly and Mary Bergin telling dirty jokes over pints of Guiness. The evening concerts and sessions were awesome also.
This was my first time at IAW and would heartily recommend it to everyone whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced.
you saw me there, cool. DO you have a picture of yourself to see if i saw you.