Has anybody present ever started their own Irish music jam session?
The hassle of my going to the ones in other counties, an hour or more of a drive away, just makes it daunting… and I just know there’s Irish Players in this town , there must be a way to get our own local session going. Any tips?
Find a pub or a location that will allow it.
Find musicians to play.
You might want to go to one of the sessions in another county once,
just to see if the folks there know of players in your immediate area.
It’s a good way to get contacts.
You could also try going to an event where you might be able to
talk to local musicians, like a folk music festival or (dare I say it?)
a Renaissance Faire… The music department of a local University
might be of help, or you might try to give lessons and create your
own circle of musicians.
Some serious players might be put off if you call it a jam. Just say “session,” you’ll be better off.
Agreed.
I’ve started one before. The previous advice given is all sound.
There’s something that you should be aware of, however. The publican is in the business to make money. Don’t be put off or feel rejected if you request holding a session on Saturday nights from 9PM to 12PM… that may just well be his busy hours, and since he’s in the money-making mode, the sesh just might not fit in with what he wants for that time period… e.g., juke box wailing, and folks laying money down for drinks.
So my recommendation is to approach the owner/manager as though you’ll be bringing people IN that might not normally give him custom - ask him when there are quiet times - Sunday afternoon, perhaps, or maybe a Monday or Tuesday evening ? That might get him thinking along the lines of 'Well, having some live musicians in at those times might just bring in a few more folks than we normally get, so why not?"
Just my $0.02 on it.
Very wise advice from brianc.
One does not have to have sessions at pubs. House sessions are allowed. Then you only have to get the wife’s permission. 
I started a biweekly front porch session at my house in May. I call it a “tune sharing” session so it doesn’t matter if 1 or 10 people show up. We concentrate on learning 2-4 tunes each night, then revert to a looser format. I have bottles of beer on ice in a cooler with a bucket for bottle caps and donations (no pressure to pay for beer but everyone’s been quite conscientious so far). The neighbors all seem to love it. Much better than the rap music coming from the crack house across the street (and we even heard applause coming from there after one set recently). Give it a go. There’s nothing to lose since as the host you don’t have to go anywhere, and it gives you a good excuse to do at least some superficial house cleaning beforehand.
Ming
True, I’ve seen them in coffee houses, cafes, ice cream shops,
comunity centers, the porch of a grocery co-op… Sometimes
you get more musicians if beer is available, but it’s certainly
not necessary to be in a pub.
If you start a public session, it wouldn’t hurt to have a house session too, to help the musicians get on the same page.
One other piece of advice is to keep doing it. I spent a whole year showing up like clockwork at a session that was just me and one other person. The venue was meh. Eventually word got around—first an occasional third person would show up, then we found new regulars, and now it’s often a good 8-10 people, at a better location. That took 3 years.
It was odd how people found out about it. Once we had a sesh two towns away, and a bunch of new people showed up—all of whom drove up from Binghamton! They never knew about it until we had it out of town. Another guy, our whistler extraordinaire, didn’t know about any session in town, but luckily he was playing on his porch one day and someone spotted him.
I guess the lesson is that there are musicians out there, and it takes a while for them to come out of the woodwork.
To my mind you need 2 to ‘tango,’ likely a backer/ rhythm player and a lead/ melody/tune player.
Ive started many sessions, i would choose a quiet night where the pub or other establishment is half empty. That way when it fills up after the word gets round you have more leverage in asking for a few pints/sandwiches.
Have you (or anyone else) really been offered food for playing? I’ve been offered free beer before, but never had the fortune of getting food out of it.
House sessions are way nicer than pub ones as you don’t have a lot of noisy drunks competing to be heard over the music. You can hear yourself and the other players better. If you think you look extremely cool walking in with a tin whistle, the pub will be the better bet. Backyard barbeques go over well in the summer with house sessions.
Go to other sessions and let people know you’re starting a new one. Word will get around as people may be traveling out of their way to whatever they can find. There tends to be a widespread network of people knowing each other from this session or that, so word does spread. You have to be consistent, like Caj said, about keeping it going.
Some friends hosting a session here handed out a welcome sheet to newcomers with a tune list and some etiquette expectations. This was after awkward experiences with people who showed up like the bull in the china shop.
Get an email list together of the participants to keep up on where and when, etc.
Tony
It helps to have at least one other person to “host” the session with you. This helps to make it sound like a session to some degree even if no one shows-up. But, if it’s a house session, it doesn’t matter if a sounds like a session…
Years ago, when I lived where there was no session, I’ve done this. Some tips and thoughts from that experience:
If you are wanting to start a session but don’t know other musicians who play trad yet, remember that ads in the paper aren’t that expensive.
Run an ad for a week–you may be surprised who / what you find!
Also hit your local music stores and check out their bulletin boards. Ask if you can put a notice on their board yourself.
Beware of “purple people eaters”–these are the guys with the electric guitars and amps who just want to play in ANY group playing ANYTHING. (I call 'em “purple people eaters” because “they wanna be a star in a rock-n-roll band!” 
)
–James
Have you (or anyone else) really been offered food for playing?
Absolutely. Not offered, recieved. The landlord/lady brings out a few plates of sandwiches. I cant think of a more welcoming , sensible, friendly gesture. We will always return! Not often does the host think of this gesture, but it has happened in a few places over the years. >
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