“You guys are awesome.” “You're so talented.” “You must be a natural.” No. Just no.

Patrick's day is coming up, and once again, we're overbooked and underappreciated by a lot of our venues. It brings to mind a story from St. Pat's two years ago.

We were playing a venue that had various…

I play in a Celtic Rock band.  There, I said it. 

At one time, the guitar wasn't considered a traditional instrument. And fiddles? Those are Italian in origin. Yet, no one would question their validity at any Irish Session. (And don't get me started on my ancestral country's contribution: The oh so German accordian.) These instruments became part of the tradition by being played by people who…

Time to get ready for those St. Patrick's day gigs. Some of us go out busking. Some of us have paying gigs lined up. Some of us may just be going on a pub crawl with a tin whistle in our pocket. No matter what your venue, here's a thought when pulling together your set list:

Put something your audience will recognize up front.…

More than once, I have been asked to play my Great Highland Bagpipes at a fund raising event, only to show up at the gate and be asked to pay the cover charge to get in. Fortunately, in each case, I was able to get hold of someone in charge and bypass the gate fee. In each case though, at least a few of the other musicians seemed to think I was being arrogant and insisting on some special accommodation. One fellow musician even came up to me and told me I was…