Fiddle Around The World

Fiddling with life and learning with the occasional dad joke thrown in...  

 

The key is already broken

One Sunday night, I was playing at a session in the town of Ennis in country Clare, Ireland. It was led by the great Siobhan Peoples; tunes played fast by ripping Clare musicians. I was doing my best to keep up, trying to learn and play out when I knew a tune. It was a … Continued

The Ant and The Grasshopper

In Aesop’s most well-known fable, a grasshopper plays the fiddle in the summer while the ant works to store up food for the future. When winter comes, the grasshopper begs for food and the ant refuses. The original message was “Idleness brings want” which gave the ant the moral high ground. But later interpretations portrayed … Continued

Social Music

Traveling through Ireland I’ve come around to a more primal and pure way of doing music. Making music here is a social activity. This is probably so obvious to people here that they don’t even think about it. Instead of being on a stage in front of an audience, the audience is on the stage, … Continued

Fiddle Around The World: Ireland

A few years ago I had this crazy idea: go to a new place every year and learn about the local music. The word “fiddle” in the title is both a noun and a verb, depending on how you look at it. As a noun, I’m going around the world to study and share the … Continued