Irish Music: To a New Pair of Eyes
I wanted to explore the Irish Folk Scene in Boston. The Irish folk scene in Boston is a long-standing one, with its deep roots in the history of Boston and to the time when the Irish first settled here. Its history is one that is intertwined with the very land it is based on.
For a very traditional genre like this one, I wanted to see how it reacts to newcomers and change. From what I’ve been taught, traditional things don’t like change and I wanted to test that. I was brought to believe that Irish music was a very merry style of music for older generations (I was very mistaken). The question I set of to answer was: What is the Irish music genre in the eyes of a newcomer? How does the scene react to beginners?
I started off by interviewing a student at Berklee College of music practicing in the folk music scene. His name was Micah from the Ruta Beggars. Among other things, he talked about how folk music is a niche and how that can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because getting chosen to perform at a venue is a lot less competitive, a curse because there are a lot fewer places available to perform.
Interview with Micah from The Ruta Beggars
Talking to Micah from The Ruta Beggars, I was introduced to the origins of folk music, and its many variations. Micah spoke about how folk music is a very traditional style of music, and is usually very familial. He talked about how he was introduced to the scene by his father and accompanying him on camping trips where people would get together and ‘jam’. This definitely wasn’t very surprising When I was in the space of a music performance, I felt like a string had tied everyone present, and a bond was forming. The music was used as a form of connection and fostered a feeling of togetherness. There was no hierarchy between the audience and the performer. There was only the music and everyone present, respecting the music, the culture and the history. What did surprise me however was when I was told how open minded the older generation are with newcomers. With its traditional roots I assumed the music scene would’ve been more gated to newcomers, who would enter and inevitably cause change. Micah talked about how welcoming everyone can be, which after the initial shock I realized shouldn’t be too surprising given the familial nature of the genre. He did mention that there could potentially be some friction when talking about other topics such as politics, and how the older folk that have been a part of the community can be more opposed to change in terms of how the music is played.
An interesting point of conversation that came up during my interview was the topic of identity and how identity plays a role int folk music. Being a part of the community in the folk scene seems like a much greater deal than it normally is for many other things. There are many songs that talk about what it means to be a part of this community. ‘Irish Pub Song’ by The High Kings talks about how you’ll always find an Irish pub wherever you go. How it’s always the same, and there are things you can always come to expect from an Irish pub. The people that are in the pub might be from many different places and have different stories but are all united through their identity. An interesting point of further research could be exploring how people see themselves and how being an Irish musician affects them and what it means to be Irish. When is it, would a person be thought of as an Irish musician rather than just a newcomer?
Irish Music Performance at The Black Rose
I wanted to experience one of these live performances for myself. To do that, I walked into my first bar in Boston, and immediately I was greeted with a blast of merry music and a cheering mob of people. There were three musicians on the stage one on a violin, one playing the bass guitar and one playing a jazz guitar. A combination I had never seen before, the music was fast paced and had a very complicated rhythm, but not complicated enough for the crowd to not be able to join in. There were groups of people talking loudly and in between themselves, but would occasionally join in to the beat of a catchy song played by the musicians on the stage by clapping or stamping their feet. Waiters and Waitresses were weaving around the tables and chairs delivering people their orders and adding to the chaotic fun vibe going about the bar. I felt weird taking notes and just sitting there, because slow and quiet weren’t a common place at this bar, if you weren’t hyper or loud you didn’t belong here.
And that was best showcased in the music being played, it was anything but slow or quiet. There was a heavy focus on the fiddle, which was the one in charge of the crazy rhythms. The music was electrifying and energizing to put it simply.
I went to another Irish Bar right after, immediately I could tell this was different, there were fewer people and everything was winding down. The bar was smaller and everything was quieter, but everyone seemed to know each other. People would move about and strike up a casual conversation with anyone they make eye contact with. There was only a guitarist and a fiddle player this time. Their music was a bit mellower than the previous bars, but still had a catchy ring to it.
When Talking to Tom Courtney from the band Tommy & Alan, that was playing in the second bar (Mr Dooley’s) I was introduced to the fact that there are many popular forms of Irish folk music. There are the Ballads, the traditional music, Celtic music and so on. The reason people listen to Irish folk music is because of the stories it tells. Most songs are about death, war or love; or often a combination of the three. Tommy was very enthusiastic to talk about the culture and the different forms of Irish music, was very willing to show me around his instruments and everything. This I feel was very indicative of the genre.
Deborah L Rapuano’s "Becoming Irish or becoming Irish music? Boundary construction in Irish music communities", sheds some interesting light on the matter of identity. She argues that people that do not have Irish ancestry, or an Irish sounding name might not be included in some music sessions because of the assumption that non-Irish players do not pick up on the subtilities of the genre and that fundamental knowledge of the culture is important to really appreciate the music. Later, she starts describing the different hierarchies present in the music sessions. How beginners usually wouldn’t even be invited to the real sessions and would be shunted into smaller, ‘slower’ groups where they can be left to perform and learn the bare basics of the genre. After learning the bare bones, they might be invited to the more advanced sessions, where they would be instructed by more skilled and experienced players to sit at the outskirts of the group and observe how the music is ‘meant’ to be played. Once they have built a more advanced repertoire would they be allowed to the inner circle and be considered a part of the community. She warns that although the newcomer has entered the community, they might not have been accepted at heart by the regulars, and in order to win everyone’s trust one must demonstrate loyalty and be immersed in the tradition. They must become a regular and attend the same session many times to earn everyone’s trust. She writes how the host of the music session is usually the one ‘in charge’. They are the leading authority in terms of the tradition of Irish music. They are seen as the most knowledgeable and their integrity is rarely questioned. As the host, they are also charged with determining who should and shouldn’t be part of a session. They are tasked with keeping the tradition alive. It may seem that Irish musicians are very exclusionary, but in reality, even though they might exclude the newcomers from the more ‘elite’ sessions, they are always more than willing to help and instruct the newcomers according to Rapuano.
At first glance, her descriptions define a very different environment than the one I described. This maybe because she described a more traditional session, where musicians would gather around to play around each other generally in a bar or a gathering. I attended a bar session, where the musicians were hosting a live performance. Both of them seem to have very difference environments. This made me realize how differently the culture, the music and the tradition can manifest itself in different scenarios. And why it is important to look at it from many different perspectives.
The Irish Music Performance at Mr Dooley's
During live music sessions, the musicians put up a performance. Irish music manifests itself as a source of entertainment and enjoyment. People just focus on being merry and happy. While in the traditional sense It can manifest as a tool to express culture and art. The genre becomes more sophisticated and exclusive. It doesn’t always have to be this way either, the session Micah described attending with his father sounded much more like a combination of the two. It was a ‘jam’ session where people from all kinds of levels got together and played along in a low stress environment where everyone was there to have fun and learn.
For a newcomer their first point of contact with the scene would most definitely be in the bars or from their parents, but if they wanted to really learn about the genre, they’d attend the traditional setting, where the culture seems to be the richest. Depending where they might approach the scene from, they would be greeted by very different experiences.
Work Cited
Rapuano, Deborah L. "Becoming Irish or Becoming Irish Music? Boundary Construction in Irish Music Communities." Journal of American & Comparative Cultures. 24.1‐2 (2001): 103-13. Web.
“The 1960s to the Present.” The Columbia Guide to Irish American History, by Timothy Meagher, Columbia University Press, 2005, pp. 149–170. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/meag12070.10.
Micah, The Ruta Beggars. Personal Interview. 8 March 2018.
Meagher, Timothy. "The 1960s to the Present." In The Columbia Guide to Irish American History, 149-70. Columbia University Press, 2005. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/meag12070.10.
Brown, Joel. "The Irish in Boston, in Song, Literature, and Politics | BU Today | Boston University." Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) | Human Resources. Accessed February 17, 2019. http://www.bu.edu/today/2015/the-irish-in-boston-in-song-literature-and-politics/.