It was a great time! And it totally blew me away that everyone except Eubiedubie and Bob Baksi, had to drive two hours or more to get there.
First I would like to thank Heath Chantler the owner of the Kildare House, for his kind support of the endeavour and willingness to do it again. Heath has a great passion for things Celtic and has a cultural mandate for his business to support things, like our first attempt at a Whistle In. We have already talked about the fall and how to make it better. Maybe an overnighter. And November 1st is a Saturday, which is Kevin’s, 19 birthday, which is the legal drinking age in Ontario. Can’t think of a better excuse to have another Whistle In.
Cara brought All her flutes and whistles, and with some lame effort on my part I got a chance to try them, thank you. And she never ran out of tunes.
If Steve wants a job in Windsor as Zouk player he could have his pick of places to play. He also likes to play Ragtime music on the whistle which was great.
Janice also added great playing on the whistle and flute and played tunes that I can only dream of right now in playing.
Eubiedubie, who I have known for several years added his expertise in playing a wide ranging set of tunes, and it is always a good time when he is around.
Bob Baksi added his tunes to the mix and it is nice to see how far he has come in his playing, his spirit in wanting to play everything was very catchy and very welcomed.
The only sad note is that Bob got an cryptic email from Glenn Schultz who would have come if he could. The email was in the form of a poem and suggested that Glenn had industrial accident on one of his hands. That is sad and scarey.
Bob can you find out for sure if this has happened as you said and let us know if he is all right.
Sunday was one of the nicest days we have had in this area for some time and might kind of explain why Frank Edgley didn’t appear. You see Frank is and avid sailor as well as find concertina maker and player. But I learn from this Whistle In that a little more planning will be needed for the next one.
I played the bodhran most of yesterday, I’m not in the same league as Thurlowe and Janice, but I will get there eventually. It was just good to sit and listen to fine whistle and flute playing. Playing the bodhran allows me to listen to others while building the rhythms I need to learn the tunes that were played yesterday.
Eubiedubie and I both were satisfied to be in a session were wind instruments were the dominant instrument, it sounded oh so good. We get blowen away by fiddlers and guitarist at the Tuesday session at the Kildare. We even admitted that we never play the bottom D on the whistle or flute because no one can hear them!
Colomon, you were indeed missed. Working! Bah! I’m great at thinking up excuses on the spot — let me know next time and I will call in for you. Whistling and meeting others is serious busniess.
The only thing that was wrong yesterday — it was all to short a time, but as everyone said, it was great to put faces to names, and I would like to thank Dale and Rich for providing us with the greatest venu in the world for meeting great and nice people with a common love of a simple instrument.
Duckrasta (Kevin) will post some pics in the next couple of days
I would like to thank my friend Clare who is a fine fiddler for coming and my session mate, who likes Old Time music first and then Irish and to see him and Thurlowe get into some American tunes.
And to answer a question that appears now and again on this and other forums, does the ITM need guardians or will it die out. The answer is a resounding NO! As long as people are willing to play, travel and meet each other for a common purpose of playing ITM, it will never die., Because yesterday demonstrated that it lives with life and enthusiasim.
A heart warming thank you to everyone who particapted yesterday, because I had my doubts — no more. We will do this again, and possibly a semi annual affair. I was guite high when I got home last night. So much so that I pulled out my flute and practiced for another two hours! Feeble as it was, it was filled in an elation of spirit of wanting to play.
Thank You All!
MarkB
And with talking with the owner of the Kildare House, this can be and event that can be held as many times of the year we want to meet.
Please let me know when the next one is planned.
