Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp
You know its going to be a very tough decision come next March when I will really want to be in two places at once.

When I was at Magnoliafest back in October I promised myself a return to that very special place for their Spring event. Of course that was until I got the email from those lovely folks at Friday Harbor about their Irish music camp. Don't they know I had plans that weekend? I mean I did mention it more than once.

So now I will spend the next couple of months torn between the beauty of Florida and the beauty of an Island in Washington . Friday Harbor is in the San Juan Islands and is way up in the North West of the USA in Washington State .

For those of you who don't know this camp it's for people of all levels of competence in Irish music. Even those completely new to the genre are welcome and will learn something along the way. It is a great place to meet new people, learn some tunes and then practice them in proper sessions in the local pubs. The setting could not be more beautiful and suited to the music.

To aid all you budding musicians they have gathered a staff of great teachers who specialize in various instruments.

There's James Kelly and Randall Bays tutoring the fiddlers. James is one of the most respected fiddlers playing traditional Irish music today. He has been involved in such well known bands as Planxty and Patrick Street . He has also been teaching Irish music in schools and festivals around the world.

Randall is someone we wrote about recently through his involvement with Altan's Daithi Sproule. Randall is a multi-instrumentalist of some renown and is a wonderful teacher.

Teaching flute will be Catherine McEvoy. From 1984-1988 Catherine was a member of "Macalla," reputedly the first all female traditional group. In more recent years she has been one of the senior flute tutors at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Milltown Malbay, Co. Clare. She now lives in Co. Meath.

In John Williams bio it says “ John Williams is  one of the most exquisite musicians within and beyond Irish music circles today. With five All-Ireland titles to his credit, John is the only American-born competitor ever to win first place in the Senior Concertina category. His additional talents on flute, whistles, bodhran, and piano distinguish him as a much sought after multi-instrumentalist in the national acoustic scene”.

All of this is of course true. The bottom line though is that he is just a joy to watch and listen to. At Friday Harbor he will be busy teaching whistle, accordion and concertina. It is the worth the two and a half thousand mile trip for me just to sit in with him and play a few tunes. (John and his latest solo album will be the focus of a JigTime article soon)

Then there's Dáithí Sproule. Of course I have to be nice about Dáithí but the truth is I taught that boy everything I know. That took about 2 minutes out of his busy life and he got on with role of being in Altan. He is one of the best guitar players in Irish traditional music and of course at Friday Harbor will be teaching the spoons.

Fresh off the plane from Clare will be Eoin O'Neill teaching bouzouki . Eoin is originally from Dublin but has wisely transplanted himself to the wild west of Ireland and is now a fully fledged member of the Clare session scene.

And finally teaching Set Dancing is Maldon Meehan. Maldon has over 11 years experience bringing Irish music and dance to the public through performance, education and promoting concerts. As an instructor for Irish dance, including Set-Dancing, Sean-nos, and Ceili dancing, she has offered workshops throughout the U.S, Canada and Ireland. Maldon has performed at festivals and concerts, including appearances at the Irish World Music Center in Limerick, Ireland, the Celtic Festival in Portland, Oregon, and Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Washington. Through Maldon's performances and promoting she has collaborated with internationally renowned artists including Kevin Burke and Johnny Connolly among others.
Still I defy her to try to teach me to dance. Since I first donned my white John Travolta suit in the 70s it was clear to many that I wasn't destined for the world of terpsichore. 

The dates for this wonderful event are March 24-28, 2004 so plenty of time to pack.

Just writing this little piece has almost swayed me into a decision about where I should go. I could learn some things, meet some of you JigTime readers and generally have a fun weekend in a delightful location. I think we all could come away from Friday Harbor a little richer as both musicians and people.

For more information just to make you finally decide to join me go to

http://www.fridayharborirish.com