Search:

I saw the title of this thread, and naively assumed "bal folk" was short hand for Balkan Folk music! Thanks to all those here who have educated me on what it really means.

Lots of great advice here, and I'm glad you've got a mando and booked on Marla's course.

All I would add, is that in my limited experience, there are different types of session in Ireland, which...

My doctor told me to stop drinking, so I did something I'd been meaning to do for a while and got a new doctor... (Jethro Burns)

I agree with Bren, also speaking as a veteran of many pub sessions,...

I agree that this type of situation isn't unique to bluegrass, and I hope you find some like minded people to pick with Swampy :)



Personally, I'm very happy if someone turns up to an acoustic...

Sounds great to my ears Colin, well played :)

Sorry for another post on this possibly meaningless thread, but on Ryk Loske's recommendation, I've checked out Fergal's tune a day on youtube and found a couple of videos with a mando playing friend...

It's always nice to come across some lovely mando playing in the Irish music world where the it tends not to feature that much, compared to more "mainstream" instruments.

Anyhow, this clip of...

Hi Tavy, there is a luthier (David Lim) who lives near me who used to make instruments for Oakwood and still builds. Here is his website https://davidlim-uilleannpipes.com/lutherie/

Hi folks,
I just "discovered" Stevie Dunne when a friend of mine on facebook shared a video, I really like his playing. A quick trawl through this thread showed that Jill already mentioned him and...

I just listened to the latest episode (#15) of the excellent David Grisman "acoustic encounters" podcast with Danny Barnes. In this edition, Dawg talks about early DGQ and also talks about Arthur...

I've played guitar longer than mandolin and get more gigs on the guitar, I practised guitar a lot from about the ages 16 to 23 although the first instrument that I learned as a youngster was the...

I play more guitar backing than mandolin when it comes to Irish music (I'm slightly ashamed to say on this forum :redface:), so maybe what I write here is from more of a "guitaristic" perspective,...

Hi Doug,
Of course, you're correct although I think that chordal instruments such as guitars and bouzoukis have been commonplace in Irish trad for at least 50 years, and as such, are part of the...

I'm certainly no expert on Swedish music, but I do have a fairly broad experience of accompaying folk tunes in a range of genres. I always think that before considering chords, tunings or instrument...

Hi Trevor,
Like many others on this thread, the day I visited Tamco, which was I think in Feb 2009, was a day that I'll always remember. This is the only time I've been to Brighton, it was a great...

I'm really enjoying David Grisman's podcasts with Danny Barnes. In the latest (episode 11), they discuss Songs of Our Fathers and Andy Statman is part of the conversation. Andy says that, in his...

I remember watching Tony Rice demonstrate tuning his guitar on "an intimate lesson with TR" , he tuned his D string to a tuning fork on the 7th fret harmonic and then tunes the other strings relative...

I completely agree that the string sound they get is really interesting. I love the combination of Andy Irvine on Mandolin, Donal Lunal on bouzouki and Paul Brady on guitar, very contrapuntal in...

I don't feel qualified to comment on the specific qualities of different models/eras of gibson mandolin. The range of replies here though say to me that the old maxim "try before you buy" is really...

This is one of my favourite albums


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DehychgRSDk

It strikes me that the band for this album (and current tour) is basically planxty with Kevin Burke on fiddle...

Sorry to change the direction of this thread slightly, Jill was commenting that there are a number of good tenor banjo players from Manchester, and in my last post I mentioned Brendan Dempsey but...

A contemporary Irish musician who is a great singer (and bouzouki player) is Daoiri Farrell. I completely accept that this is a meaningless/cheap/trite comparison, but he sort of seems a bit like an...

Thanks Jill,
Yep, I've had the pleasure of meeting and playing in a few sessions with Angelina Carberry when she's been back in Manchester. A wonderful banjo player.

Another very good banjo...

This reminds me of an experience I had about 20 years ago. A friend who is a pro classical violinist was playing a concert at an experimental music eve in the Royal Northern College of Music in...

Thanks Niles,
I wasn't aware of that book but will check it out. I live less than a mile from the traditional boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire (the river Mersey in South Manchester), so feel...