Hi Friends! I'm in an internet cafe in the beautiful town of Galway, Ireland. It's a sunny day and the 6 days I've been in the country the weather has been great! Everyone here is telling me how lucky I am to have come during such a dry spell. I'm here by myself and have been enjoying living at my own pace with no time restraints or schedule. Living a life on the road in a band means keeping an eye on the clock all the time in order to be where you need to at all times. It's relaxing to feel like I can do what I want, when I want for a change!

My trip started in Dublin where I spent 3 days walking around the city. I was fortunate to find a couple of friendly tour guides who live in the area. Both were friends of friends...ahh Facebook! Two of the nights were spent in pubs at Traditional Irish music sessions. I was able to hang in there and made some new Irish friends who welcomed me into their circles. It's a bit daunting to sit down in the middle of a group of experts and play tunes they've known forever. I'm just a California boy who loves the music and am here to learn what I can. I brought a digital recorder so I can return home with some tunes to learn and will focus on capturing the nuances that make great Irish playing sound authentic.

The first night I went to a pub called The Cobblestone in Dublin. After a few tunes, I took a big sip of Guinness and looked over at the 70 year old woman to my left who was playing tin whistle. She smiled at me and said, "That certainly was an 'interesting' version of that tune you play there." She said it with such humor (and bad timing!) that I couldn't help myself and I spit my mouthful of beer ALL OVER HER! I was SO embarrassed but she laughed it off and I got some towels for her. Bad start indeed!

Tonight I'll try and find some live music here in Galway where I hear some of the better players reside. It's great to see people of all nationalities embrace the music of this country. There was an amazing fiddler from Japan at one session in Dublin who knew every tune thrown at her. I was quite impressed. Luckily, a friend of mine lives here in Galway and I get to stay with her for a few days before moving on. I think that Doolin is the next town I'll visit. An ancient town with 2 pubs that is famous for the sessions that take place there. Standing on the Cliffs of Moher and playing fiddle tunes is going to be wonderful and if that doesn't put me in touch with my Irish roots, nothing will.

Hope all is well back in the States and I'll send another report down the line!

Love,
aaron