A New Approach to Sharing Irish Traditional Music

Over the years, I've done many workshops at summer schools including the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, the Swannanoa Gathering, the Catskills Irish Arts Week, Goderich Celtic College, the Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School, and many others.

I do offer instrumental workshops for intermediate and advanced players of all instruments (see Workshops), but my real focus these days is trying to get right down to the soul of Irish traditional music.

My goal is to spend time working with musicians who would really like to delve deep into the music, and so I'm offering multi-day residencies where I can sit and chat with people, play tunes, and share the stories and the many interesting versions and settings that I've gathered over the past five decades.

I envision these residency events like expanded master classes or house concerts. They could be relaxed social gatherings at someone's home or a local community center, sharing food and a few Caffeine-Free Diet Cokes along with tunes and stories about the history of Irish traditional music. I could also offer a house concert performance as part of the residency.

I'm most interested in working with fellow musicians on interpretation—exploring what gives Irish traditional music from West Clare a different flavor from the music of Donegal, for example—and sharing some of the secret notes that impart that flavor, or blas.

So, as an example, I could spend 2-5 days in your community, sponsored by your local session group or Irish music or cultural organization.

The cost for doing a project like this would depend upon the length of my stay, of course.

Please give me a call at +1 651-698-2258 or send an e-mail to paddyobrienbox@gmail.com and we can chat about what you have in mind.