Last night, David and I got to hear the Fuchsia Band from County Cork, Ireland. They were performing in Little Rock at Studio Joe in a concert presented by the ACMS. (It was sold out, which means we should actually come within a couple hundred dollars of breaking even on this one!)

Here’s the thing about Irish music: you get to hear some of the best musicians in the world for their genre, but you get to pay 10 bucks a ticket and sit just a few feet away from them, and even talk to them afterwards, and sometimes even play with them in a post-concert session. Do you get to do that with pop music? No way! you pay 100 bucks and sit with 18,000 of your closest friends in Alltel Arena, and if you’re lucky and persistent enough, maybe wait in line for hours for a 10-second autograph from the artist(s).

I remember a few years ago just after I had started playing pennywhistle, I got to meet Mary Bergin at a pub in St. Louis. I know, you’re thinking, “who?” But I was thinking, “oh my gosh I’m shaking hands with Mary Bergin and talking to her and I can’t believe she’s sitting right there playing pennywhistle not five feet away from me and WOW!” Little did I know then, that’s pretty typical with this genre of music. You get to mingle with the best of the best in a casual setting—no media reporters, no bodyguards, no crazy mobs—just people like yourself who appreciate good music.

I’m pleased with my choice of entertainment.

Here’s a short video clip of the boys tearin’ it up on a reel set last night:

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