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(by the way, Fisher's Hornpipe and Devils Dream are well established in the American tradition, the latter known as "De'il Among the Tailors" in Scotland)

Indeed Ranald, we foreigners sometimes call it "the Canadian national fiddle tune" but we still mix it with Scots and Irish tunes at the ceilidhs.

Outside of formal dances and competitions,...

I have that book, "The Scottish Violinist" which is in fact a book of selected JSS compositions from several of his collections, and some of his variations on tunes like "East Neuk of Fife".
It's a...

Baby boomers were hitting the 45-55 year old range, peak earnings for many, their kids were grown etc so they had more disposable cash.
I wonder if Harley Davidson sales went up then too?

In 1998...

Simon Mayor is a Yorkshireman and excels in many kinds of music.
I don't know if he'd be offended to be told that his playing sounds English more than French.
But do check out his recent CD of...

They'll definitely play all or some or none of those tunes.
My top beginners tip for any session:
Learn at least one tune that you can start confidently and steadily on your own. Don't play it...

If the tunes are just 65 years old they're younger than me!

All good.
If they suspect they're younger they'd be blocking them for plagiarism or something.

Brunello , a bothy was a kind of hut or outhouse for farm workers. Hence the great northeast Scotland tradition of "bothy ballads" - often comic, but sometimes tragic songs and stories of rural...

Thanks John.
Brings back fond memories of playing impromptu sessions until all hours in the 1990s in the bothy bar behind the Invercauld Arms Hotel in Braemar with piper and local identity the late...

I have a tendency to dig in too much and the first thing I do to counteract it is relax my shoulders and breathe calmly and steadily.

Chris Thile said recently that pick technology is only in its infancy.
He compared picks to bows, which can cost tens of thousands.
But you can still learn fiddle using the cheapest of bows and...

My reaction to OP's post was that it was about playing in informal pub sessions or festival jams, rather than paid gigs.
Since he is in UK, and that's the way it is over here. Often in a pub you can...

I find the 1.5mm Primetone a bit brittle-sounding, in my hands anyway, but if that's what you're using on your videos, sounds fine to me.

The Yngwie Malmsteen one also comes in 1.5mm, white...

My favourite picks in the cheap-enough-to-buy-a-whole-6pack range have been mentioned:

1. Jim Dunlop Prime Tone 1.5mm large triangle. This has a greater bevel on the "up" side - as in this image...

Hi Tom,
In my opinion there's no better UK maker of high end mandolins in the classic Gibson style than Mike Vanden.
I tried a couple of his new instruments last year and although he doesn't often...

This may be the case with those punters who come up and buy us drinks!

From the accumulated wisdom of decades of pub session playing, and now in old age, I'd say:
Start drinking (more than a dram or two) before start playing: results bad
Start playing before start...

x2 - Nice one Dave!
Just off playing two Burns Night ceilidhs in a row and the bandleader sprung it on me the first night by singing "Ye Jacobites by Name", with introduction and interludes of "King...

Also Ray does great pictures of vintage buses these days.
And Aberdeen bass player friend, Mikey Rae, now deceased, played as a session musician in London for a while.
He played on novelty hit "The...

At the time of the recording, Lindisfarne were outselling Rod Stewart.
Of course they should have found out Ray's name before doing the cover notes, but the power imbalance then was not how we might...

Australian builders had access to some good local wood, but I think it's really a story of those individuals rather than a whole country.

From what I know of Gilchrist, Duff and Coombe, they all...

I can recommend Magnus Zetterlund's "Mandolin Secrets Academy" which has an eclectic range of music, including classical, jazz, bluegrass and Scandinavian folk, and Misc including some Irish.

The...

I was never quite sure who this tune was written for, except that it was someone called Fran who loved rowing.

However this story about Flatwater Farm, run by Fran and Annie Tuite, in Michigan...

Wonderful playing again Colin!
Great tune and one you can hear at almost any session in Scotland and never get tired of.