Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Another Day, Another Hat


Today I wore many hats: wife, parent, legal secretary and concert coordinator but tonight I will kick off shoes, change from my dress clothes and put on my musician hat. We have band practice tonight, one of my favorite events. I play guitar and sing in a group called "The Sweeneys" although no one in the band is named Sweeney. My bandmates Tim and Jim are both of Irish descent and Tim just liked the name. Peg, our fiddle player, and I are both of Scottish descent. However, my family has been in America for over 300 years and I am sure the Scot in us has been watered down a bit. Nonetheless our band plays Irish, Scottish and very American music and enjoy the anonymity of being in a band where our real names are not of great importance. Its all about the group and the enjoyment we get from playing music. We don't claim to be the best band in town but we have the best of times when we are together. That's what its all about to us, just having fun and sharing our music. Tim's wife, Doreen, is usually with us and takes great photos and has even sung on a chorus or two. Jim, our bodhran player and percussionist, is my husband so its a nice configuration. I play alone sometimes, too, but being in a musical group is much more fun!
The photo is one of my favorites. Tim is playing bouzouki and I am singing about the Ohio River as we stand on a stage just a stone's throw from it. We were honored to be playing the same night as the great Tommy Sands. He told Tim that he liked his song about pirates!


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