I was just curious which part of the USA has the most traditional music sessions. It seems that in the middle of the US to the Northwest there seem to be more flute/harp makers and more folk music in general. Am I right? I live on the east coast and it seems there isn’t much for folk music out here (there are a few sessions if you know where to find them, but just a few)
Where do you think in the USA is the most active place where folk music is played live regularly?
nothing on the east coast 
maybe you should try moving to boston 
there’s more sessions than I have time to go to. it’s great fun.
cheers,
Sara
Well, I am just starting out, what with finding sessions and all. But even here where I live in Central New York there is one every week at the various Irish Pubs/Bars.
Have you checked the City Guide? Plenty of postings in there.
Baltimore has several each week (and that’s just at J. Patrick’s where I drop in and play when I’m in town)…I’ve been told there are other sessions in Baltimore, too, but I’ve not been to them.
Eric
My wife and I will be moving to Colorado next year. Somewhere around Bolder. The east coast is so darn expensive for a couple of musicians and a baby. I would think there would be a strong folk influence out there. Sure is beautiful country and I think it’s the happy medium between the ever-humming east coast and the dead silent north west.
Any thoughts?
Ditto on Boston! More sessions than you can shake a flute at. Of course, the drawback is that this area can be expensive to live in. Maybe not so much if you live in western Mass.
In Kentucky we have all kinds of folk music … of the Bluegrass and old-timey variety, that is 
Check the City Guide. I’m pretty sure I recall hearing of a few folks out that way. Plus, Boulder being the cool and hip town that it is, I suspect there’s at least a monthly session somewhere.
Also, the session.org guys probably list something. Haven’t been on that site for yonks, but come to think of it, that might be where I heard of some folks from Denver/Boulder.
Good luck!
Check out this link for sessions around Phila.:
http://www.irishphiladelphia.com/sessions.html
In Central Pa, if you’re on Yahoo find the Yahoo Group centralPAceltic. Our Calendar shows sessions throughout the Central PA area.
Hope this helps!
Pure conjecture, but I would guess that New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia would be the top four in terms of number of players and sessions…For Irish music, that is.
More bluegrass than ITM (I used to live in Colorado), but there is a weekly session at the Irish Snug in Denver. Email or PM David Migoya, who is part of this forum. I don’t remember his user name, but here’s his website:
http://www.fyfer-restorations.com/
here in florida there are plenty… bi-weekly sessions here in gainesville… bi-weekly sessions in orlando… monthly sessions in eustis… monthly session up in the panhandle… another monthly session in orlando… plenty of private house sessions everywhere… lots of bands and performers here so plenty of irish trad music in florida… we have in residence eamonn dillon, james kelly (need i say more?) sometimes john williams… etc…
We’ve got plenty of organized-type(and un-organized) old time and bluegrass here in sw VA,east TN . The Carter Fold would be the most well known I suppose.
http://www.carterfamilyfold.org/
For ITM type sessions, the only one I have heard of is in Johnson City TN.
Lots in CA Bay Area. I am on several online lists and it’s surprising how many house concerts and such occur. A ton of bluegrass, country and old-timey people and lots of contradancing… One local music store has a bluegrass jam every Thursday night (Fifth String).
Five sessions a week here in San Diego…
Lee, where on the East Coast are you?
New York City of course has more than enough trad music (and then in the summer, you can take the train up to East Durham for a week vacation from not drinking.) Boston might well have it beat. Philly is good. What’s your nearest major city?
On the other hand, I lived 6 years in Princeton, NJ, which was a vast musical desert despite its location as the midpoint between NYC and Philly. I had to drive to the state border to find a session. Princeton was founded by industrious Presbyterian Scots like John Witherspoon, whose statue on campus pinned me with a puritanical gaze as if to say, “I know you play music.”
Now in Binghamton NY, it’s great. Up in Ithaca you have some great music. I’ve been to sessions in other parts of the country and realize that I am lucky: some places you only have recent enthusiasts with no direct connection to the past, sitting in a circle playing with a weird lack of personality, like a musical knitting circle. I’m not sure what’s missing, but I think it’s some lack of rhythm or phrasing people have to pick up by direct experience. But the boys in Ithaca are the real deal.
Plus it takes time and effort, your own time and effort, to get local sessions going, and track down musical talent. Binghamton’s local music scene exists due to the tireless efforts of one harpist. When I first came to Bingo with my box the session was me, her, and some a-hole in the next room who would turn on the jukebox. It took a year of putting up with this (and changing venues) before people began to show up.
Caj
Just visited a lovely session in Putney, Vermont on Wednesdays evenings. I’m sorry, but the name of the establishment escapes me at the moment. There’s also another session not far away in Greenfield , Mass. (just off of 91 on Sunday evenings at the People’s Pint.
Arbo