Maybe it’s an idea to create a thread where those in for the Willie week can post a running comment on the goings on. Should be doable between the internet cafe and the library in town.
If I sound jaded, this is my 26 th Willie week, the novelty of some sides to it has worn off and too many friends from the early days are dead and gone.
Just had a short peek around town. It is a shock to the system to find the street clogged up by traffic and stalls with people trying to flog all sort of items and people walking up and down with instrument cases (mind you this was 10.30). People who’s faces I only vaguely remember saying ‘hello Peter’ in the street. Familiar faces too, smiles and handshakes all around.
I did my messages, put up a few posters and left batches of ‘They’ll be good yet’ at various shops. Had the baker do a birthday cake for the youngfella and had a quick lookaround. On of the instrument dealers had the new Tony Dixon which I wanted to try but it was in the hands of a woman who went outside to try it. She came back in to say she wasn’t sold on it as her Cillian O Briain was much sweeter in the high notes. The salesman, true to the nature of his profession, then played it for her and managed to talk her into taking it anyway for 30 euro. They were still unpacking and I didn’t see any other in the (temporary) shop. One guy inside was murdering tunes on a Susato low D. Why do people want to stand around in shops endlessly playing tunes? Made a quick getaway and had a large chunk of birthdaycake and a bucket of coffee.
Weather has gone Willie week mode, very humid and warm with drizzle and showers occasionally blowing in from the Ocean. The sort of weather that makes sure outbreaks of potatoblight take hold in your garden while you’re out playing diddly music. I have a small batch of Tibetan potatos sown that are said to be fully resistent to the blight. We’ll see.
I have made this a temporary “sticky” for the run of Willie Week. I thought it would be a neat idea to have it stuck so that those who are there and have online capability, can drop in periodically without having to continually bump the topic.
Town filling up now, the weather picked up briefly by late afternoon. A group of Finnish women playing nice Scandinavian music in the street. Most pubs have the tellie on with people watchign the soccer match.
Tried some nice concertinas and a lovely old Blackman flute, was not quite in a position to put the money required for them down. Ah well.
I am used to getting my name misspelled occasionally, just noticed ended up on the poster for the Feakle festival as Paul Levan. That one takes the cake.
Ahhh Willie Clancy week… It brings lot of good memories. My first year over there in 2001 was such a great week. I decided to cycle around Ireland for three months and ended up in Miltown Malbay in my second week. I was overwhelmed with the number of tourists and musicians in town, it was such a blast. This is also where I met a lovely ex-girlfriend who was playing fiddle there. Everytime she’d play with folks I’d just sit down around and look at her with gaping mouth. She did notice after a while and started waving at me. I was way too shy to go and talk to her but she came and talked to me first so although I was such a chicken things ended up pretty well
Anyway, I would love to go back there now with a different perspective. I only like small sessions now so I woulld obviously rent a car and try to find smaller sessions “around”. But if you’re really serious about it I’m sure there are ways to find great small sessions with mighty players and sit down in a corner and listen or join for a few tunes.
But if you feel like drinking and being social, a few nights in Miltown during the festival can surely fill you up for a heck of a long time It can get a little rough at the end of the evenings, I saw many young folks fight and stuff, but you can usually survive the night if you stay away from trouble
The only really bad experience I had there was about the classes being so overcrowded. You could barely fit and I was really unhappy with the different levels in the class and the teacher not trying to do much about the situation. But I guess this is the case with most festivals.
I think it much depends on which instrument you are taking classes for, the fiddle classes for example are always notoriously big, always have been. Pipers keep it small, 7-8 at the very max. Concertina seems decent enough with as far as I remember around ten in each group. Flute and whistle are a bit mixed. I sat in for Brid O’ Donohue for a few hours last year. She had a class of just under 10 I think, that’s pretty manageable.
A lot of pressure was taken off the whistleclasses when the dancing classes started, all the people tryign to sit in for the week on a just bought whistle went dancing instead. Easier to meet people too. I don’t know about the other instruments but somehow I don’t think Mick Kinsella and Rick Epping have dozens of harmonica players to take care of.
It’s twenty one years since I took a class but I think you go in and make the best of it. it’s not taylor made to your personal needs but you can get an awful lot out of the classes if you take in what is being taught between the lines. During the early years I got most out of the extra curricular activities. With the flood of people only interested in sessions (and often with not a great sense of boundaries about when to join in and when not) I find most of the nice music disappears to undisturbed corners, at awkward times. Hit and run things, groups landing on a place play for maybe 90 minutes before the word gets out, packing up before it does.
I don’t expect too much and take the week as it comes. I have a good week if I get one or two good quiet sessions with people I know and like and maybe hear another few. It’s nice seeing familiar faces and a few new ones but at the moment the impulse is to run a mile and stay at home. I usually ease myself into it by monday though.
This is cool, I wish I was there myself. Does anyone know which stations will be broadcasting the evening concerts and when? I remember being there the week after Willie and they were having the instrument concerts on the radio, I wasn’t sure if I was listening to Clare FM or RTE though.
Was at the ‘do’ for the launches. Got the Junior Crehan book and double CD. Lovely stuff.
Also bought Breda Keville’s CD, beautiful job (listening to it now) very nice fiddling.
Maybe of interest are Gavin Whelan’s new CD, the re-issue on CD of the Le Cheile recording and all the other things Ididn’t get so I forget what else was there.
Town is busy but no nice music to be heard, pint glasses and punches will fly later tonight.
Gosh-I’ve got Le Cheille on vinyl form way back when. The album art reminded me of something Mayan-esque. Will the Junior Crehan CD be available at the “normal” internet outlets soon? I heard snippets of it on Clare FM.
I don’t recall anyone doing extensive radio coverage. RTÉ’s The Late Session has included bits from the lunchtime piping concerts in the past, but only aired these in the weeks following the actual week. The latest Late Show has some bits from this year’s opening here</A](http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thelatesession/rams/2006/2july.smil">here</A)>.
Joan Hanrahan was recording in Brid Donohue’s house yesterday and broadcast about an hour of that on Clare FM. Clare Fm usually has a good bit. RnaG is constantly recording and broadcasting from their mobile unit.
Claire Keville has an item on Kitty Hayes tonight.
Fel was looking for a Willie week Blog. I was hoping more people would post here, I don’t want to be too self indulgent and write up all I get up to. I go into town every now and again, walk around, talk to people, listen to a bit of music if it’s around and then go home again. At least that’s how it’s been so far. Everybody has a different week anyway.
Tommy Keane did the lunchtime piping on the B, sounded wonderful. Everyone should get a good flat set.
Early evening I listened a bit to Ben Lennon playing with Maurice Lennon and a few others. Was nice too, if a bit backlit.
I’ll edit on a few bits from the Tueday afternoon:
Tiarnan O Dincin did the lunchtime piping:
I walked up and down the street talking to people, stuck my head in the door at Marrinan’s and listened to these guys for a bit while talking to JOBM:
The usual streetlife, people selling stuff and young ones making a quick bit of money. Fair play to her, she had a couple of nice polkas going:
On the way back to the car dropped in to the piping workshop and talked to several people, tried a Bflat chanter. Joe Kennedy here fixing a faulty yoke. Nice colourscheme too:
By now I have eased myself into the flow of things, listened a bit to Paddy Canny, Kieran Hanrahan and other playing before going home to cook a dinner.
Great pics, Peter. Sorry to hear of your suffering. I had to think about what you meant about “colour scheme”. Do you mean the orange and purple walls? Perhaps they had a sale at the paint store.
As per usual Peter, you have taken and posted absolutely mighty photographs… this one being my personal favorite of the lot…
… I can’t begin to truly express how images like this, warm my heart and comfort me with the knowledge that there is going to be a good, safe home for the future of the music. Brilliant!
Indeed, and a future for the best instrument of them all I’m actually impressed she can play that model, I could barely move the bellows when I tried it.
Nah, the suffering is over now. Went back into town after dinner did some more walking around and ended up in Cogan’s where some nice music was going. Bill Haneman was playing the whistle and tried to get me to play. At some point Ronan Browne came in and asked the piper inside to demonstrate backstitching for Gary Hastings. By the end of it the piper kindly lent me his set of pipes and I ended up doing the demonstration in the worst taste possible. It had them all in stitches. After that the piper and Breda Keville kindly persuaded me to keep playing for a while so I played the pipes, concertpitch and all. Was a nice half an hour or so. After that I walked into the flute/whistle concert, listened to Fintan Vallely, Eamon Cotter, Geraldine Cotter, Louise Mulcahy and a few more, had a cup of tea but left as it was too hot and sweaty inside. Listened to Marcas O Morchu and a fiddleplayer play in the street, lovely music in the cool breeze. Then it started to rain a bit and my old tweed jacket that hasn’t been cleaned since I bought it eight years ago in a second hand shop started to release it’s archive of smells. Not good, I walked into a few pubs, briefly considered joining Brendan Begley but decided I didn’t want to be inside sweaty pubs, time to go home. Ofcourse the rain had stopped by the time I got home.
Please do keep them coming, I feel like I’m almost there.
I had to think about what you meant about “colour scheme”. Do you mean the orange and purple walls? Perhaps they had a sale at the paint store. 
I’m actually impressed she can play that model, I could barely move the bellows when I tried it.