Main Street Ceili, October 2012

While getting ready to welcome Rose and Gene Clancy back to Edgartown for my big Labor Day 2016 Irish session, I was reminiscing over the weekend a few years back when the Clancys, along with Stu Peak, were last on the Island together during a really lively night on Main Street during which no fewer than three separate groups from a nearby Irish wedding (coincidentally) walked in off the street to join us for the music and the craic - and it was mighty, to say the least, with songs, stories, jokes, and dancing galore.



Rose, Stu, and Gene - playing at a wedding at Edgartown Lighthouse earlier in the day; a wedding that I photographed, and the impetus to pre-plan a session for that evening.





Stu, Jon, and Rose. We even got some of the Boston and Rhode Island contingent over here for the event. I can see from the near-empty bookshelves and bare walls that I had not even fully moved in at this point.


Gene and random walk-ins. What can I say - they see the flag, they hear the music, and the ones who know what's going on walk right in. And that's just the way I like it.


Rose and Levi.










Cecelia and Gene.





Bob, Susie, Ken, and Stu.


Paul - a most unforgettable and very funny character from Co. Down, whose oft-repeated line of the night was "Up, Down!"

Fourth of July 2013

A lovely day altogether.






Bill and Pat Black, over from Falmouth.


Mike











My favorite Yankee Doodle boy.


Ben





Lidia


Levi





Joan





Colonel Morgan, stepping lively at 92.


Skip


Our Sheriff
































Every good session eventually ends up in the kitchen.

Fourth of July Porch Session

The Alison Boylston Piazza House, a/k/a the Midnight Mermaid.


I've begun what I hope will become a Fourth of July tradition: a barbecue on the front lawn along with music on the porch (videos at the end). My Main Street house is right on the parade route, in the center of the celebrations - which includes the parade that begins at 5:00, topped off with fireworks over the nearby harbor - so is a perfect place for a session. This brings to full circle a story that was referred to often in my childhood. According to a Vineyard Gazette piece that appeared in a May 1948 issue, my Main Street house was moved from Ocean Heights in 1848, being rolled into town on logs by oxen (imagine the house being pulled forward a few feet, with the men then removing the rear-most log and placing it the front row - over and over for three miles down a dirt road). As the story is told, that particular May day culminated with a rare spring snow storm (records of which I've never been able to find), and as was the custom of the day, with a pot-luck feast, replete with fiddlers.







A couple of the lads, fresh back from the beach.



Cormac and Bob.



Cormac



David



David, Levi, Cormac, and Bob.



Levi, Cormac, and Bob.



Levi and Cormac.



Levi, Cormac, and Bob.



Susie and David



Levi, Cormac, Bob, and David.



Fourth of July Porch Session from Sara Piazza on Vimeo.
Footage from our inaugural Alison Boylston Piazza House/Midnight Mermaid porch session, July 4, 2011. Great tunes, great friends, great craic!


Fourth of July Porch Session 2 from Sara Piazza on Vimeo.
The Bucks of Oranmore with Levi, Cormac, Bob, Susie, and David.

This was a great day - from swimming at Bend in the Road, to the parade, the BBQ, and great music - all topped off with spectacular fireworks over Edgartown Harbor.