Session at the Diamond Bar in Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland Happy St. Patrick's Day!
In the summer of 2002 my wife Lisa and I did a home exchange with a family from the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. Leslie Brown, with whom we exchanged, was a fiddle player and regular participant in Raphoe's Thursday night traditional music sessions at the Diamond Bar. She informed the session's leaders, Christy Murray (whistle) and Conor Porter (guitar) along with her neighbor Stuart Dunlop (bodhran & bones), that we would be coming to the sessions for the two weeks we were in Raphoe. We were warmly welcomed and invited to join in with the group of 20 or so musicians from ages 8 - 80+. I had my regular flute with me and could barely keep up with the tunes as they flew by at brisk tempos.
I was so impressed with Christy's whistle playing during the first session we attended that I asked him where I might buy one. He directed me to the local music store which I visited the next day. They had a display of whistles made both in Ireland and the U.S. Having come all that way I decided on one made in Ireland. At the next week's session I proudly showed Christy my new acquisition to which he commented, "It's lovely, now you're going to need one to play!" A month after we returned home I received in the mail from them a new Susato D whistle, made in the U.S.!
This tune was inspired by and written during my time in Raphoe and the whistle they sent me is the one on this recording. Thank you Christy, Conor, Stuart and all the folks at the Diamond Bar session!
From the album Pop Songs, Poetry & Other Flights of Fancy. Sheet music for this composition is available at the Original Music page.
Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music,
Pandora, iHeart Radio and all streaming platforms.
Digital audio files available for download at iTunes, Amazon & BandCamp.
Publishing at SheetMusicPlus and SheetMusicDirect.
Click the image below to listen to the song on YouTube.
Free to listen, no account or subscription required.
In the summer of 2002 my wife Lisa and I did a home exchange with a family from the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. Leslie Brown, with whom we exchanged, was a fiddle player and regular participant in Raphoe's Thursday night traditional music sessions at the Diamond Bar. She informed the session's leaders, Christy Murray (whistle) and Conor Porter (guitar) along with her neighbor Stuart Dunlop (bodhran & bones), that we would be coming to the sessions for the two weeks we were in Raphoe. We were warmly welcomed and invited to join in with the group of 20 or so musicians from ages 8 - 80+. I had my regular flute with me and could barely keep up with the tunes as they flew by at brisk tempos.
I was so impressed with Christy's whistle playing during the first session we attended that I asked him where I might buy one. He directed me to the local music store which I visited the next day. They had a display of whistles made both in Ireland and the U.S. Having come all that way I decided on one made in Ireland. At the next week's session I proudly showed Christy my new acquisition to which he commented, "It's lovely, now you're going to need one to play!" A month after we returned home I received in the mail from them a new Susato D whistle, made in the U.S.!
This tune was inspired by and written during my time in Raphoe and the whistle they sent me is the one on this recording. Thank you Christy, Conor, Stuart and all the folks at the Diamond Bar session!
From the album Pop Songs, Poetry & Other Flights of Fancy. Sheet music for this composition is available at the Original Music page.
Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music,
Pandora, iHeart Radio and all streaming platforms.
Digital audio files available for download at iTunes, Amazon & BandCamp.
Publishing at SheetMusicPlus and SheetMusicDirect.
Click the image below to listen to the song on YouTube.
Free to listen, no account or subscription required.
