> Fact is, people down the pub want the tube on most of the time; they're
> spending, they're in charge. If we bring in the punters, good enough, but
> the last thing the guv'nor wants is a bunch of thirsty neds going down
> the road to watch highlights of Duffus .v. Kilmacolm on Murdovision 'cos
> they don't give a hoot whether Jock 'O Hazeldean gets the girl or no'.
Most pubs have more than one room. Our local folk club and most of
the Midlothian sessions meet in the smaller rooms of local pubs; so
do some in Edinburgh. It works okay.
Sandy Bell's and some other places have the odd compromise of sports TV
with the sound off during sessions. It's disconcerting to suddenly have
the whole pub cheering and punching the air as you finish a tune. And
you get the darnedest requests - somebody tell me why anybody would want
"Red River Valley" after Celtic have just done well?
I find the toughest sport to play along with, if you're facing the screen,
is weightlifting; you're trying to follow some not-quite-obvious tune as
the guy heaves that bar up and up (grunt! grunt!) and is he going to make
it? (GRUNT!!!!)... oh shit I'm still playing in A... good exercise in
breath control, though.
> Now IF we had Coffee Shops & non-alcohol-dominated venues & social sites
> like towns in the US & Canada things might be different.
C'mon, even Kelso has a coffee bar, and there's been an explosion of them
in Edinburgh in recent years (*how* many Starbucks do we have now?). But
they're a lot less likely to want to host traditional music than a pub is.
Anybody within reach of Dalkeith? A publican there says I can have a room
for a traditional music session any time I want. Problem with Midlothian
is that most of the pub session and folk club space is taken up by people
with guitars doing tedious Nashville-type singer-songwriter stuff, which
I find so brainfreezingly dull my fingers don't work right any more after
listening to a few numbers of it.
=================== <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> ===================
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