After spending a summer in Ireland I wondered if Irish sessions here in the US get lost in translation at times. IN Galway, where I stayed, the sessions seemed to be more social, with less rules. The US ones feel more uptight, with a serious focus on the music, and not so much on the whole “pub” experience. But there was a strange paradox in the Ireland: the session could at times be the focal point of the night, but it was not unsual for the players to get up and come back, have a drink at the bar etc., and just kind of ignore the session. And sometimes the pub goers would be completely involved in the music and other times we (the players)were invisible. Here, I feel like we are supposed to sit in the circle all night, and it feels a little rude to leave my chair for a drink. (When I say here I mean the many sessions near Boston and Providence.) Overall, it seemed like the Irish have a healthy but not so “serious” level of respect for the session, more lighthearted in a way. Here I feel like players get really touchy about the format of the night, the places where players sit, who leads a set etc. Am I over analyzing? I can’t put my finger on the differences, but I think it is fascinating that our cultural norms could possibly manifest themselves in a session.
Funny … Your description of the Galway session is a dead accurate portrait of our session here in Long Beach, California, at least the weeks when I co-host. It’s never the same twice, and always fairly casual. A table of friends, playing for ourselves, and patrons listening or not, at their pleasure. Players may wander in and out, or wander off for pub grub or a chat with friends, or stay focused on the music; anyone’s choice. No set lists or rules, but everyone is session wise or they get talked to. Players have their favorite seats, but that’s normal. And this is a so-called “tourist pub” right by the waterfront and convention center. I think a lot depends on mutual respect, and on the hosts and the publican. Uptight people … uptight session. 
Ours is pretty casual too. People come and go, get up to get a drink or chat with friends at the bar, watch the Cavs or Indians on the tube. No one cares. The only organized thing we do is kind of go in a circle taking turns calling tunes, and even that’s not a big deal. Since we play out sometimes (we have these cool new shirts) we do tend to spend the first half hour or so ‘rehearsing’ the tunes and sets we tend to play. After that it’s whatever whatever.
From observations playing in Boston (USA) and Cork (Ireland), the difference is more in the nature of the individual session and who turns up on a given night than any characteristics inherent in the country / culture
You guys are so darn open minded. You’re given me a positive attitude. 
What you may not have spotted was that the two or three people who are being paid by the pub to host the session will be making sure that the tunes keep on coming, at acceptable (for time and location) tempo, quality and frequency. What is acceptable depends totally on the views of the publican/bar-manager involved.
If they’re lucky, the other players (ie the ones there for the craic, for whom it’s not a gig) will do all the work, so the hosts can indeed wander the bar etc. Although they’ll probably not wander too much, or the publican might just offer next week’s gig to to the others instead!
Apart from the hosts, though, the frequency of sessions means that musicians can indeed play as much or as little as they feel like, secure in the knowledge that if they don’t feel like playing today, there will be another session on tomorrow. I would suspect that in locations with less sessions overall, the musicians would be more focussed on using the opportunity to play while it lasts.
Well Mary, I think you pretty much nailed it. Good insight so early after Christmas!!
That’s not a valid statement for all, at all. There are no paid-host public sessions in my locale. Maybe local publicans are tightfisted or something, but there you have it. We do have a couple of alpha-sessioneers that like to keep the ball rolling (on their terms, of course, but no matter. It’s all good), but they get paid no more than a free pint and a bit to eat, same as I or anyone else. And trust me: I know. One of the publicans and I customarily discuss how the latest session was as if it were a varietal wine, or an augurial reading of entrails. But make no mistake: no one gets paid. And these are sessions that have been ongoing for years.
Then again, we’ve only got three public recreational sessions throughout the week here (four, if you count the one that’s really about ear learning practice rather than playing on the fly), and an occasional private one dependant on player availability. But that one’s not paid, either. But, hey. Minneapolis ain’t all that big a town when you get down to it, so we’re doing fine.
Maybe we’ve hit upon a difference! I’m fishing.
Nano- maybe that’s true for you, but in Ireland the session ‘hosts’ commonly are paid with varying other benefits to the rest of the musicians (some pubs provide all musicians with free drinks or maybe snacks, others do not). however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the ones who are paid are lazy and just wander around while others play tunes. mostly I think it’s a way of making sure the session occurs regularly and it supports the musicians running it, many of whom try to make a full-time living from music (not an easy thing to do).
Not an easy thing at all, indeed.
Don’t misunderstand me, I totally get the rationale behind paid designated session hosts. But I was under the impression that the paid-host system in Ireland is also by no means any more universal than it is here in the States.
Some of the paid session hosts in Ireland don’t accept outside players, either - a fake session, as it were. There are no standards at this stuff. Everybody finds what works best at their establishment.
djm
There are no paid sessions here, either. Sometimes we’ll get free beer, but it’s not predictable.
There are sometimes gigs or performances that pay–weddings, playing for gatherings or social events–but we don’t call those “sessions,” and they are not open to all players, like our regular sessions are.
Different places, different people.
–James
In towns and cities where tourists are a major source of income, the publicans need to make sure that the musicians show up, and that they keep playing for the time that they’re supposed to play. (Because if they don’t, the punters will go elsewhere). If the publican cares about the tourist dollar, they pay.
This is true in US cities as well - most sessions I’ve attended, although not all (on the E. Coast, mostly in NYC) have paid hosts, and these hosts are very possessive and run their sessions for the owner, not the other musicians - understandable, as they want to keep the gig. More often than not, these sessions are more performances, with allowed (but monitored) sit-in guests, as long as the music keeps coming, and is of at least acceptable quality to keep said owner happy.
I agree with Nano - this is not the cultural divide, although I’m sure all of this varies across the states, as it probably does across Ireland, too. Perhaps it’s the way these rules and regs are handled that are culturally different.
Or not. In NYC, half the players running the sessions are from Ireland.
Ah, that makes sense. I hadn’t considered the tourist angle, not living in a tourist-economy locale. Sure, we get lots of conventions and games and stuff, but no one to speak of (AFAIK) really comes to the Twin Cities for purely personal recreation with the locality being its own reward. They get in, and they get out. Fast. I think it’s the weather.
I’ve never been to a session where I don’t feel free to get up and wander around and do my thing. Hell, I’ve never been to a session with much in the way of rules. The only rules I ever run into are the usual unspoken ones - don’t use non-traditional instruments, don’t noodle, etc. Here on the west coast, I suspect paid-host sessions are less common than Ireland and the east coast, I’ve only run into one of those that I know of, but even that one the musicians would take 5-10 minutes between a set to sit around and talk.
I think it’s mostly just a matter of different sessions, different feels. Some sessions, it’s non-stop music, others it’s as much about socializing as music, sometimes a session is either one of those depending on the mood of the players.
As much as I appreciate a free beer or two, it’s not enough to keep me glued to my seat afraid to do anything else but play music.
I’m in Galway right now, for one more night, and I’ve been in Ireland for nearly a month now. It seems to me that you can’t generalize about sessions here any more than you can about ones in America.
OK,
here’s a slight thread hijack, but I have to point out the terrible error in Nano’s post about our lack of visitors in the Twin Cities. We are in fact one of the top tourist destination in the U.S. and one of the top in the world. I am of course speaking of the Mall of America which, according to the statistics I could find, received 40 million visitors in 2006. That’s more than Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, Times’ Square etc.
Ireland had 9 million visitors in 2007.
It’s like a regular mall, only bigger!
Of course, there is not a lot of Irish traditional music at the mall. But thought I’d stick up for our national pride (shame?).
And yes, no need to point out that technically the mall is in Bloomington and not the Twin Cities.
I stand hugely corrected. Being a stealth shopper, the last time I was at the MoA - years ago - I went to Sears to buy a speed square, so I can’t be relied on to comprehend its appeal. I do recall a Frenchman who, after a bit of thought, described the Mall as “génial”. I suspect he was being diplomatic, and pulled it off grandly. Oh, well. There’s nothing else to see in Bloomington, either. All I can say is I don’t see these teeming numbers hanging out with Joe Lutefisk for the cultural charm of it. And let’s face it: it’s not like we have fountains with naked statues in the middle of the street or 3,000-year-old stoneworks in the neighbor’s back yard.