That’s always been a short coming of this country…
Of course not. You have to dress them up properly.
ya know, that just doesn’t say Minnesota ta me.
Just where in California do you think Minnesota is MTGuru?
But it does say “Hennepin Avenue”.
ah, that explains so much 
Yeah, you wouldn’t know it by this photo of a typical day in Downtown:
Not so much going on with the diurnal set, but come twilight it’s Katie-bar-the-door.
Note the rather woozy construction at left. Lore is when it looks plumb, you’ve definitely had enough.
Interesting that the big draw to the Twin Cities is an indoor activity.
Sessions with rules, to me, seem to be that way either out of necessity or an individual or group’s need to control. For an example of necessity, some areas in the states may be more prone to folks showing up with djembes, shaker eggs, groups of bodhrans, etc. I know in my locale there are a LOT of amateur bodhran owners and it’s hard to find a session that doesn’t have at least two or three (and I’m talking folks who don’t play another instrument besides). Due to this we sometimes need to ask (as a rule if you will) that only one at a time plays. For some areas this is not a problem. Every session has it’s own identity and you can’t really lump them all together or try to pick out the standard.
Yes, well, we don’t talk about that except with lowered voices.
IT sessions need rules because the roots of the “ITM” we know today draw on a solo stream and sessions are really a 2oth century artifice necessitated by the need for displaced players to practise together. By “displaced” I mean, either because they are in a foreign country as minority or they have moved from the rural to the urban.
The heightened ethos of ITM cannot be fully experienced in a group session because the group cohesion requires
- simplification of the music to accomodate accompaniment
- diminishing of the melismatic potential in the tradition
In the midwest, I’ve not come across paid hosts…and we usually don’t get our drinks for free in KC, either (although in other cities I have received free pints).
If you’re in KC, we’re pretty laid back. Go get a drink, pop outside to smoke (you can’t do that inside, though), nab some food - we don’t care.
Eric
what’s “melismatic?”
be well,
jim
In vocal music, melisma is the technique of singing multiple notes to a single syllable, as opposed to one note per syllable. Heard most commonly today in pop music in certain R&B styles - think Mariah Carey. It’s often a kind of improvisation off the basic melody.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melisma
In simplified ITM terms, unison group playing in sessions discourages the variation and improvisation that often characterizes solo ITM performance.
I’d agree with these assertions if you change the first phrase to, “The heightened ethos(!) of ITM cannot be fully experienced in a bad session because…”
I’m inclined to believe that anyone who’d go along with the original version has never head a truly good session, where nothing need be compromised to get “group cohesion.” Get the right kind of players together and anything is possible. Cheers,
Rob
Say, Rob, you seem to have shed a few years. What’s your secret?
Photoshop!
Rob
I’m trying to get this, but it looks like ethos seems to be tripartite. The above there’d be yer phronesis part of an ethos: practical skills and wisdom. Both, particularly the latter, are soluble in alcohol. Then comes arete: virtue and goodness. Well, most sessioners I know probably belong in jail, so 'nuff said. And the last component of an ethos: eunoia, or goodwill towards the audience. Asking for Danny Boy ain’t helping your case, bub.
I don’t know if it’s a good idea to heighten all that. 
Right on 
Players in the US and Ireland, just be grateful that no-one in your sessions is trying to play bloody morris tunes! 
We have a great tradition in English sessions of up to ten godawful piano accordions playing wet versions of the aforementioned crap
Surely the whole point of a local session (not your paid up tourist attraction performances) is that you’ve been working all week and you just need to get down to the pub and exchange a little conversation and few tunes and a few beers as the mood takes you. Sometimes it’ll be a night of roaring reels with little pause for breath and other nights it’ll be mostly a bit of chat about fiddle repairs and stopping to listen while individuals bring out a new tune and more chat about where it came from and what it might be called. As for the English, if your pub’s in England why the feck shouldn’t the locals play a few English tunes? Ours is an Irish session but there might be a few English box tunes of a night or a bit of Northumbrian ranting (or the odd Shetland tune or maybe an occasionally a Cape Breton). No-one’s in charge or ‘hosting’, no-one’s paid, there’s no free beer but it’s the focal point of the week for a few locals, livened up by visitors from further afield. Some top players, some learners… anyone’s who’s criticising poor playing probably doesn’t get the point of a session being a space to encourage, share and learn.