Anybody watch Transatlantic sessions?

[Tavy]

Can I mis-behave as well?

I spotted also Russ Barrenberg using a capo - I don't think they have capo police in Scotland yet. The most impressive thing is the sound of his Epiphone Masterbilt guitar - sounds great but I don't think they're that expensive.
Ray

Which just goes to show that it's the talent and not the musician that counts. Bit of a killer that really

While we're at it, Darryl Scott uses a capo on his mandolin as well... make me feel a whole lot better

John.

PS, as for bar chords... there are certain kinds of sessions where if you're following a guitarist/singer, then bar chrods can be a real pain to decode quickly enough to be able to seemlessly jam in... although one could always just play by ear I guess... but then I'd have to actually have some kind of um.. talent or something

[Mandoviol]

At first I was taken by these sessions. But as time has gone on it all seems a bit too refined, perhaps a bit pretentious. They ought to ditch the library atmosphere and go with more of a pub motif. The music is nice though.

I don't know, I always thought that the concept of locking a bunch of musicians up in a big old house in Scotland and then recording them was kind of cool, and it gets around a lot of the problems of trying to record in a pub. Being in the house seems to give them a bit more freedom.

[Bertram Henze]

I always thought that the concept of locking a bunch of musicians up in a big old house in Scotland and then recording them was kind of cool

Yes, and in fact more traditional: Folk music as house music. Musicians gathering for the sake of playing together, for the pleasure of each other rather than that of an audience. Pub music, on the other hand, is a much younger invention.

[MnRoss]

Last year I watched much of it You Tube. Liked it so much I bought Session 3 DVD's for an outfit in Scotland. Think it was about $30 shipped to my house in Mn. Nice to have the complete thing and the behind the scenes parts are pretty fun also. Just seeing how they filmed the songs is a trip in it's self. The BBC went all out in this production I think.

[leelandmusic]

Hello !

People who are interested in the Treansatlantic Sessions 2 on DVD ( which were never officially released ) can get more information at:

leelandmusicrules@gmail.com

Of course I also have the Transatlantic Sessions 1
(2-DVD), TA 3 ( 2-DVD ) and TA 4 ( 2-DVD ). But the TA 2 is very, very rare !

If you are very interested in the Transatlantic Sessions part 2 ( 2-DVD ), which were broadcasted in 1995 / 1996 on BBC television, you can get more information. These VERY RARE recordings on 2 DVD's do have EXCELLENT sound and picture quality ( even Hi-Fi Stereo sound ). The sets are containg 7 episodes. You can see and hear Kathy Matthea, Jerry Douglas, Iris Dement, Paul Brady, Nancy Griffith, Maura O'Connell, Michael Douchet., etc. etc. For more information about Transatlantic Sessions part 2 e-mail me at: leelandmusicrules@gmail.com

Some of the songs on Transatlantic Sessions 2 DVD:

1. Waiting for the Federals - Aly Bain
2. Simple Life - Ricky Skaggs
3. Blue Train - Maura O'Connell
4. Marriage Made in Hol lywood - Paul Brady
5. Tribute to Peadar O'Donnell - Jerry Douglas
6. Hummingbird - Eddi Reader
7. Danse de la Vie - Michael Doucet
8. Bachelor's Walk - Breda Smyth
9. Always Will - Nanci Griffith
10. Nobody Wins - Radney Foster
11. Veuves de la Coulee - Russ Barenberg
12. There's Always Sunday - Karen Matheson
13. Excuse Me Mister - John Martyn
14. 40 Shades of Green - Rosanne Cash

Best Regards,

Marc Leeland
Holland

[Rob Gerety]

Yes, and in fact more traditional: Folk music as house music. Musicians gathering for the sake of playing together, for the pleasure of each other rather than that of an audience. Pub music, on the other hand, is a much younger invention.

Well, I suppose. But the setting in these sessions looks like the drawing room in some high brow country club for goodness sake. How about a nice little working class flat somewhere?

[M.Marmot]

Well, I suppose. But the setting in these sessions looks like the drawing room in some high brow country club for goodness sake. How about a nice little working class flat somewhere?

I have one of those!

and if they want to abandon the musty ol' confines of the manor to play in my pokey ol' sitting room then i'll even throw in a round of tea and some cucumber sandwiches to sweeten the deal

[M.Marmot]

Yes, and in fact more traditional: Folk music as house music. Musicians gathering for the sake of playing together, for the pleasure of each other rather than that of an audience. Pub music, on the other hand, is a much younger invention.

From what i can gather, for Ireland at least, the pub-session only really came into being during the sixties... is this true also for Scotland?

[BlueMt.]

For me, music doesn't get any better than this........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPkDz4T2eVE

"Brother Wind" is one of my favorites, also. After seeing that, "Shattered Cross" and "Open Door" I asked for TS 3 last Christmas. It gets a lot of playing time around here.

[Bertram Henze]

How about a nice little working class flat somewhere?

With laundry drying over central heating radiators in the background?
That would just look like jillions of YouTube videos. And I don't think it is really that high-brow, compared to this.

[Dagger Gordon]

As far as I'm aware it's in a country house hotel. Scotland's got a lot of them. The musicians and film people have got to stay somewhere.

Suits very well, I'd have said.

As regards pub sessions, I would say they followed Ireland's lead and indeed most of the music tended to be Irish then.

[Jock]

As far as I'm aware it's in a country house hotel. Scotland's got a lot of them. The musicians and film people have got to stay somewhere.

Suits very well, I'd have said.

As regards pub sessions, I would say they followed Ireland's lead and indeed most of the music tended to be Irish then.

Not only practical from the accommodation point of view, some of these old houses have amazing acoustics. I've played at a few sessions over the years in the rec room of the old Rassay house located on the isle of Rassay (now being rebuilt after being destroyed by fire). This has to be one of the best sounding rooms I've heard and had the pleasure of playing in. Far from being opulent, at the time the building was little more than derelict with only one wing being habitable and was being used at that time as an outdoor centre. Hardly "to the manor born".

[leelandmusic]

Hello !

If you are very interested in the Transatlantic Sessions part 2 ( 2-DVD ), which were broadcasted in 1995 / 1996 on BBC television, you can get more information. These VERY RARE recordings on 2 DVD's do have EXCELLENT sound and picture quality ( even Hi-Fi Stereo sound ). The sets are containg 7 episodes. You can see and Kathy Matthea, Jerry Douglas, Iris Dement, Paul Brady, Nancy Griffith, Maura O'Connell, Michael Douchet., etc. etc. For more information about Transatlantic Sessions part 2 ( and of course part 1,3 & 4 )e-mail me at: leelandmusicrules@gmail.com

Some of the songs on Transatlantic Sessions 2 DVD:

1. Waiting for the Federals - Aly Bain
2. Simple Life - Ricky Skaggs
3. Blue Train - Maura O'Connell
4. Marriage Made in Hol lywood - Paul Brady
5. Tribute to Peadar O'Donnell - Jerry Douglas
6. Hummingbird - Eddi Reader
7. Danse de la Vie - Michael Doucet
8. Bachelor's Walk - Breda Smyth
9. Always Will - Nanci Griffith
10. Nobody Wins - Radney Foster
11. Veuves de la Coulee - Russ Barenberg
12. There's Always Sunday - Karen Matheson
13. Excuse Me Mister - John Martyn
14. 40 Shades of Green - Rosanne Cash

[M.Marmot]

As regards pub sessions, I would say they followed Ireland's lead and indeed most of the music tended to be Irish then.

I hope this is not taking things too far off topic but with regards the pub session.... apparently the lead was not Irelands but rather seems to have come to Ireland from returning emigres.

Live music performance in Ireland was butally set back by State and Church connivance during the 1930's which resulted in the Dance Hall Act, regulation that more or less required people to have a licence for public dancing

The tradition of playing in pubs seems to have started amongst Irish emigrant communities in America and more probably Britain, as far as i can tell the English folk club scene may have also been a big influence.

heres a link to a piece on the Dance Hall act by the late great Flan O Brien
http://http://www.setdance.com/archi...nce_halls.html

[Sandy Beckler]

My all-time favorite (once I start listening I can't stop)....
Maura O'Connell with Karen Matheson and Aly Bain
"Down by the Sally Gardens" (Youtube)
It is "Haunting"

Sandy

[Dagger Gordon]

As regards pub sessions:

I first encountered the notion of a regular pub session in Edinburgh in the legendary bar Sandy Bell's, where they still remain popular. I don't know when the sessions there first started, but sessions in general tended to feature a lot of Irish music at that time.

Can I say that while the 'session' may be a relatively recent phenomenon, there have been house ceilidhs taking place for years. The word ceilidh has come to mean basically a dance nowadays, but in the old days it would be a time for solo singing, storytelling etc. People would be encouraged to do a 'turn'.

I'm not sure that a 'nice little working class flat' would necessarily provide a better ambience than a country house hotel, although I've been to some cracking parties in such flats. A croft house in the Western Isles might be fine, but I must say that these old country house hotels can have a pretty good atmosphere and there is a degree of 'bonding' which happens when you put people in together in such places - eating together, hanging out - which helps the whole thing along quite a lot.

[Bernie Daniel]

Here is my favorite on YouTube - the user TomScotland has posted a number of them.

[hank]

Great music, thank you all. My first introduction to all of this was brother wind(great song)but my Scottish/English DNA really feels at home with most every cut I've heard. I hope to get the full set of 1 thru 4 but am still feeling the burn of my Simon Mayor New Celtic Mandolin that won't play on my laptop or dvd player.

[Tavy]

My all-time favorite (once I start listening I can't stop)....
Maura O'Connell with Karen Matheson and Aly Bain
"Down by the Sally Gardens" (Youtube)
It is "Haunting"

It sure is, but IMO it doesn't get any better than this one (even though I never really liked this song much before!):



John.

[Jock]

I like this one, an absolute classic rendition;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikZwgj89HI

An anthem for small town everywhere

[Paul Cowham]

Well, assuming my brother is able to bet the tickets, I'm going to a transatlantic sessions gig:
http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/pe...nce/14990.aspx

[Ray(T)]

There appears to be one (1) seat still available in the stalls - the other hundred are up at the back.

More importantly, I've just spotted (and set the PVR for) a new series which starts at 08.30 tonight on BBC4. I assume its a repeat. Anyone know which series?
Ray

[Tavy]

There appears to be one (1) seat still available in the stalls - the other hundred are up at the back.

More importantly, I've just spotted (and set the PVR for) a new series which starts at 08.30 tonight on BBC4. I assume its a repeat. Anyone know which series?
Ray

Darn, missed it

Listing guide mentions Nanci Griffiths, so I assume series 2.

John.

[Ray(T)]

It was series 2 - conveniently says so in the opening shot. They all look younger. Russ Barrenberg is playing a real guitar (Santa Cruz) but there are no mandolins. Best of all, this series has no drummer!
Ray

[Mandophyte]

I saw an episode of this last night (BBC4, I think) it was recorded at the Raemoir House Hotel at Banchory.