Many of us remember our fellow SAW member James Rankine - who badly neglected our group the last few months. Probably by good reasons. As a subscriber of his YouTube channel “mandolinuk” I discovered that he started a special series of recordings: “The top twenty most popular Irish session tunes from The Session website. Counting down from number 20 over the next 20 weeks.“ The first tune (Number 20) was The Gravel Walks reel on tenor banjo and guitar. Amazing! I guess it is worth to follow James’ activities. Good luck, James!
Just subscribed, thanks.
Thanks folks for the kind words. Yes I have rather neglected SAW for quite some time - in fact I was only directed back here by your comments posted on my youtube channel. I've rather disappeared to the murky world of Facebook and the even murkier world of Facebook banjo groups! I decided to record the "top twenty" Irish session tunes as a way of dusting down my bouzouki and guitar accompaniment skills which have been sadly neglected since I left a ceilidh band a few years ago. I only ever play melody in sessions and I needed some sort of reason for trying to remember how to play accompaniment (though actually it turns out it is a bit like riding a bike). There will be plenty of mandolin playing - this coming week is Kid on the mountain which seems to suit mandolin better than tenor banjo and I've recorded King of the fairies on mandolin as well for the same reason. Glad to see that SAW is going on strong!
Hey James, do you have the list of top 20 that you can post? It’s funny that I know some tunes now but I’m not sure if any of them are popular in sessions!
Here's the list of the top twenty most popular tunes from the session website. I think what it really means is that everyone will know these tunes but that doesn't mean to say they will get played - I don't think I've ever heard Drowsy Maggie played in a session. 1. Drowsy Maggie reel 2. The Kesh jig 3. Cooley’s reel 4. The Butterfly slip jig 5. Morrison’s jig 6. The Silver Spear reel 7. The Maid Behind The Bar reel 8. The Banshee reel 9. Banish Misfortune jig 10. Out On The Ocean jig 11. The Wind That Shakes The Barley reel 12. Tam Lin reel 13. The Connaughtman’s Rambles jig 14. The Musical Priest reel 15. The Rights Of Man hornpipe 16. The Harvest Home hornpipe 17. King Of The Fairies hornpipe 18. The Blarney Pilgrim jig 19. The Kid On The Mountain slip jig 20. The Gravel Walks reel
