and I’m nervous!
Although I have been to numerous sessions, this is the first time I am organizing and running a session. I don’t think I will see a large turn out- I have a guitarist and a fiddle player who have committed, alomg wth myself on flute, whistle and banjo. I suppose I should enjoy the fact that we may be able to hear one another. It will be a first encounter for the three of us, so I guess that explains some of my anxiety. Okay, I just needed to vent. I’ll follow up on this.
Arbo[/list]
Betcha have fun! hope it goes well.
I’m happy to report that the session went off extremely well. Fiddle , guitar and flute and happy patrons. I think the best part was that a patron from Cork
said he felt like he was home. How cool is that? The staff at the bar was looking after us with drinks and food, and the crowd was very appreciative, clapping after each set. I think we’re off to a grand start!
arbo
That’s what it’s about. 
I prefer small sessions; it’s good to be able to hear.
Congratulations, and oop ye, Arbo!
Arbo-
Where’s the session? I doubt I could keep up with you guys, but would love to stop by and have a listen if I’m nearby.
~Sean
Are there any tips / good rules of thumb for how to go about starting a new session? Surely we’ve had topics opened to discuss this, but, I’m finding the Search function is useless because the words “start” and “session” are too common.
Basically, I go to a nice session but it’s a half hour drive, so I’d like to start a session closer to home.
I gather that there are pitfalls one might encounter when trying to start a session. One session in my area used to happen at a restaurant near me, I heard, but the restaurant was very unreliable – sometimes they’d say, “Oh, you guys, yeah… um, we have a big dinner party, so you’ll have to hold off on the music thing till they leave.” So the musicians were left waiting in a side room for an hour. So that’s one thing that could go wrong – the venue could end up not being as available as they said they’d be.
So, do folks have any tips / rules of thumb?
Is it best to start by focusing on people – make sure you find a core of several interested players, and THEN worry about a venue?
Any tips on securing a good venue?
I’d probably see about the participation first. I mean, if you really wanted to play it safe you could have house sessions the first couple of times, discuss what you’re after with the other musicians at one of those, and then go looking for a venue after that.
I’ve never started a session, but I’ve worked to revive a moribund one, and it’s a commitment.
Just something to note: when a session’s at a public place, that can become a bit of a commitment too, depending on your arrangement/relationship with the facility owners. i.e., if the pub’s expecting a session on a certain day, somebody had better show up – even if it’s only you to sit in a corner and play tunes by yourself for three hours.