Over the weekend I found myself in yet another never-before-visited Massachusetts town: Dracut, for a house session at Liam's (I had also never been to Salem until a couple of weeks ago). Great music, and especially wonderful to have some of the old gang assembled; also a pleasure to meet a couple of fine local musicians. I've said it a hundred times but is worth saying again: I love the connective aspect of this music, the way any group of Irish trad musicians can sit down and instantly play together as if they've known each other forever. Love it. Thank you, Liam and Kitty.
Messing with Premiere Elements - not enough time in the day to learn all I want to learn - in every department. Shot with G12. Great to be back in Cambridge - love you guys!
A few weeks ago I floated over to Tommy Doyle's in a torrent of rain. By evening's end, the rain had stopped, and it wasn't until I got back home that I realized I had forgotten my umbrella at the pub. I called Liam, who said - even before I could say hello - "Eric's got your umbrella."
I did see Eric a couple more times since that night, but I never did reconnect with that umbrella. Oh well, it probably cost me all of $5.00, and the only time I ever thought about it was when it rained (which has been a lot this month, actually). I figured it would become one of those things where I would think about Eric and the umbrella every time it rained and it would remain a conversation opener for a period of time until the memory of that particular umbrella (but never you, Eric!) faded into oblivion and I eventually remembered to pick up a new one.
But I received a text from David yesterday, on his way to the island from New York (apparently via Boston), which said, "....I've got your umbrella."
Okay, I've said it before: it's not just the great music. It's this ineffable feeling of family; of being connected to an amazing community of people who care about each other's comings and goings, life-cycle events (baby yet, Liam?), concerns, and yes, even umbrellas.
Video from Tommy Doyle's, March 10, 2011, shot by Ryan and Sara - our first joint effort (so to speak) - edited by Ryan; featuring Liam, Sean, and company.
Ryan and Chiara hosted a fab house-session on Sunday afternoon. Really, is there any better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than with a group of friends, playing music?
Here's a slide-show I had fun putting together, combining some of the stills I shot with one of the audio files from the afternoon. This was my first attempt at this kind of thing, something I've always been interested in trying. It was tricky timing everything - fitting the photos with the music, and I look forward to getting better at this.
This slide-show features Augusto, Brad, Cormac, Eric, Emerald, Liam, Mike, Ryan, Roisin, and Sean, with music by the company.
I'm adding a few random favorite still shots - to enjoy at a slower pace than the slide show offers. As always, I'm happy to share the low-res version of these shots (for FB, Match.com; J-Date :-)...whatever), which you will find here (or if you click on these photos you'll be redirected to the original gallery). For higher-rez, there's a buy option - for convenience rather than big bucks (via Bay Photo, which does a great job) - and I can usually be talked into printing something up if there's a shot you love (8 1/2" wide, max, for now, until I get my new printer). I've also got a few videos that I'll be adding over the next few days. Please do share the video(s).
Eric (Rosanne in b.g.)
Brad Ryan Liam
Cormac Augusto and Cormac
Augusto Liam Mike Sean, Eric, and Rosanne.
Sean and Eric.
Emerald and Sean
Emerald, Sean, Eric
Roisin
Cormac
Rosanne
Here's more footage from Sunday. I'm totally new to video and video editing, so I'm still finding my way.
I hope I've given everyone proper credit, and if anyone is inclined to add the names of these tunes, so much the better.
And thanks, everyone, for putting up with me and my cameras!
Great sessions Wednesday and Thursday nights this week. Wednesday night served as a transition from having been on the island for a few days, and was most welcome; a small-ish turnout, the intimacy of which I always enjoy. Thursday night brought out a few more of the gang and was quite rollicking. Without really planning to - Ryan got me fired up, I guess - I randomly picked up my G12 and caught the last set of the evening, a long one - or, more like a few sets on top of each other. I ran out of memory at 15:22, and it went on for a full three more tunes. Man, that place is so dark, though - it's hard to see anything on the screen.
I ended up having to break this up into four parts, largely due to the upload limits at my web-site (1GB). This was my first time editing video - I was psyched to find settings for brightening the image (though I think it affects quality, somewhat), also the BW option, my being the BW junkie that I am.
I'm thinking that Rosanne will come through with the names of these tunes.
My fourth night out in a row. Not bad for this grandma. A good circle of musicians tonight, though we are missing Sean, who is in Ireland at the moment. (And I wonder if he's at some pub in Ireland, thinking of us and singing, "Missing you, all for the price of a flight.") Also, Cormac and Alex have not yet returned from their travels abroad. Still, for a cold January night, there was a good crowd - a nice mix of regulars, folks who knew each other from other venues, and folks meeting for the first time. Good to have David back among us, as well.
All shot with G12 on Low Light setting, mostly at ISO 3200, though a couple were shot at 6400.
Jon, David, Liam, Chris.
Jon, David, Liam.
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
A quiet night out at the pub, due most likely to folks being either at home wrapping presents, or in transit, headed home for Christmas - Cambridge being a college town, the place does empty out on major holidays - or, maybe all the money was spent on gift shopping and none was left over for a pint. Nonetheless, the music was brilliant, as always.
I decided to mess around with the 40D and my 50mm/1.4 tonight. The verdict: it's still bloody dark in that place (Dear Santa, please bring a 7D, with ISO range up to 12,800 and HD video).
Still catching up with myself. Here are a few favorites from my birthday party down on the Vineyard back in October. This was an amazing and wonderful weekend - there will be more of these Vineyard Sessions to come. Stay tuned.
Liam
David, Seanny.
David, Liam, Sean
Laura, Stuart.
My favorite photo from the weekend: Sean, Laura, Liam, Eric, and David.
Post-session session, Stuart and Mark.
My house was built on land that was farmed by my great-grandparents. The original farmhouse, next door and shown above, was my great-grandparents', Charles and Mary Isadora Lawlor Shurtleff's home, and is where my grandmother grew up, and where my mother spent summers as a little girl - playing games with her cousins in the glow of kerosene lantern light. Mary Shurtleff''s parents were Mary and James Lawlor, both born and died in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, really my only biological connection to Ireland. On some level, this party was a nod to the Lawlors. Isn't DNA grand? Who really understands why we follow the paths that we do? Coincidentally, Charles Shurtleff and I share the same birthday, October 22.
