BILL BLACK'S "CAPEIRISH"
NEWS/INFO PAGE

A LISTING OF EVENTS AND RESOURCES RELATING TO IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC
IN THE CAPE COD AND NEARBY S.E. NEW ENGLAND AREA

email:bill@capeirish.com


updated: 5/18/25

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I'll be happy to include your SE New England traditional event if you send me an email with the details - try to include as much information as possible, including ticket prices, relevant websites, etc.

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NEWS, NOTES, & COMMENTS

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FROM THE VINEYARD
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Sara Piazza advises:

Porch session season is upon us, and next Sunday, May 25 will kick off the first official session of the summer.

Come one, come all – players, singers, dancers, story tellers, poets – all are welcome. We’ll get going around 3pm and continue on into the evening. There are late ferries off the island to get you home at the end of the day, and I do have a couple of beds available. I will provide snacks and soft drinks, you are welcome to BYOB.

Porch Session

3pm – until ?

Sunday May 25

117 Upper Main Street, Edgartown

 Old friends – you know the drill; new friends, contact me for travel instructions. You don’t need to bring a car over as there is easy (free!) Public transportation from the ferry to my house. Car-pooling to Woods Hole would be good in order to save on parking fees.

 Please spread the word – let’s go to the Vineyard and play some Irish tunes!

 Also, if you happen to be in the neighborhood just about any day of the week, I am always up for a few impromptu tunes - stop on by.

BB "shameless publicity" dept: My beloved "Island Queen" ferry from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs commences operations on Friday 5/23. OB is a pleasant bus ride from E'town. Note that Island Queen is passenger only; check the website for schedule.

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THE NUMBERS ARE IN!
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Our Auld Triangle fundraising campaign for Project Bread officially concluded yesterday.

Horace has advised me that we raised a total of $2900 for the cause. That enabled him to reach a total of $13500, well over his goal of $10000.

Thanks from him and from me to those who showed up at the pub to play tunes and were forced to listen to my exhortations (NOT extortions) to get the bucket filled. We would undoubtedly have cleared $3000 except for the one Saturday we missed because of the SPD parade.

Special thanks for the Maureen Haley Dancers for donating their concert proceeds to the cause. A great group and I’m always happy to work with them. And of course to our “Session Regulars” who keep the whole thing going.

So pat yourselves on the back (without hurting yourselves, of course) and let’s hope that our next campaign will be equally successful. And if you haven’t been at the Triangle recently, know that you’re always welcome.

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REPORT: WOODS HOLE TRAD STROLL
featuring the Cat's Melodeon Porch Players
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Saturday May 3rd: a lovely Spring day and a nice turnout of musicians to do what we do best. Nice to have Hannah and Phil join us, good to see Diane back, and thanks as always to Martha, Dave L, and John A. Looking forward to seeing Mike Pavan's video of the event!

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SATURDAY SESSION REPORT
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Great to see some new faces occasionally at the Auld Triangle. If you think you can play our music, you're always welcome. Note that this is as "open" a session as you'll find anywhere. As I explained to someone, I don't run "closed" sessions (an oxymoron? Like "jumbo shrimp?" You can get back to me on that . . .)

It might help potential visitors to know that we try to do a mix of "chestnuts" with a healthy serving of "new stuff". The formula must work because I don't hear any complaints from either the Regulars (note the capital "R") and any newbies who might venture in.


I'm always happen to answer email questions about what we're doing. My address (with a link) is at the top of this page.

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IRISH CULTURAL CENTER
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The ICC in Canton is offering some very nice traditional programs - if you're interested you might want to check their website.

They also have the Friday evening session that's been running for a good number of years (I ran it for a few years quite a while back). It's an open session and John, Eamonn, and co. are very welcoming, so check it out if you need some tunes on a Friday.

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GOLDEN LANE
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Sunday Sept. 21, 1:30 pm  - we "go to sea once more" on the good mv MOHEGAN for our fifth annual Cape Cod Canal cruise - thanks to the nice folks at Hy Line for inviting us back!

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GREATER WASHINGTON CEILI CLUB
Oct. 31 - November 2
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These nice folks were always represented at our never-to-be-forgotten Cape Cod Ceili Weekends, so I'm happy to return the favor!

Click here for a flyer outlining their Fall activities. Sounds like it will be a great time!

(Personal note: Pat and I did the Amtrak from Boston to DC a couple years back - it was
a great trip, at least 1000% better than flying or driving.)

 

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SOUTH COAST ACTIVITIES
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From Colin Everett:

Greetings Fellow Musicians,

I am going to try to send out fewer emails so here are the dates and times of the SE Mass local sessions so far for 2025.


Davoll’s  is generally the third Sunday 2:30-4:30 (3rd Sunday)

Here are the Davoll’s dates that we have so far.

June 22nd

Troy City Brewery  (Fall River): I believe is the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, 7:00-9:00pm

Hope you are able to make it.

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THANKS AND THANKS AGAIN
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. . . to our Cat's Melodeon musicians, through whose efforts at the Auld Triangle session we raised:

% $3000 for the Cape Cod Veterans
% $1700 for Mass. Special Olympics
% $500 for Project Bread 2024
% $2120 for Toys for Tots
% $400 for Kind Hearts for Kids
% $2900 for Project Bread 2025

That's nearly $11,000 for good causes. As I said in an email to the gang "Feel good about yourselves!"

Thanks also to Des & Terry and their staff at the pub, and of course to all the great patrons who made this achievement possible!

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CHATHAM FIDDLE ACTIVITIES

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Ongoing Sessions:

The Red Nun, Dennisport, Saturdays 5:30 - 7:30

The Chatham Squire, Sundays 5 - 7:30PM

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CAPE COD IRISH SESSION
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Saturdays 3 - 5 pm
featuring Bill Black and musicians of "Cat's Melodeon"
Auld Triangle Pub,  412 Main St., Hyannis
(formerly British Beer Company)
phone 508.771.1776
email info@theauldtriangle.com
JRHSP* for further orders, songs too

* jigs reels hornpipes slides & polkas

My sincerest thanks to "the regulars" (you know who you are!) and guests who make my job as "session alpha" so much more enjoyable.





The Cats at work (?) at the "inaugural session". Thanks to Mrs. Black for the photo!

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CAPE COD SESSION UPDATES
from Michael Pavan
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Cape Cod Scottish Session
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Scottish and Cape Breton tunes from sheet music.
1st Mondays 7-9 pm East Falmouth
(other dates and locations at times)
Info: https://CCSS.groups.io

Tuesdays - West Dennis
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5 to 7:30 pm
Olde Inne "Back of the House" slow session
host: Pam Paine
was Wednesdays; new day effective Jan. 1
Info: https://BotHSS.groups.io

Thursdays - Hyannis (Cape Cod)
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5pm to 7pm
Bogey's Pub
(off the main lobby of the Emerald Resort / Irish Village (the old  Resort and Conference Center across from the Melody Tent)
35 Scudder Ave., Hyannis.

A mix of genres, not exclusively Irish. Nice folks in charge.

host: Reese Brewer
Info: https://BotHSS.groups.io

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IRISH TRADITIONAL TUNE LIBRARY
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I'm pleased to announce that the "ITTL" - my digitized repository of over 9500 trad tunes - is finally finished and available to any musician willing to try it.  I have tried to make the site as user-friendly as possible. All the details are on the home page:

www.capeirish.com/ittl/index.html

Have a look when you can. Comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc. are welcome.

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WELLFLEET SESSION
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Following received from Denya LeVine:

Hi folks, Hog Island Surf Lodge, at 842 Route 6, in Wellfleet, is the new site of weekly indoor sessions every Tuesday from 6:30-8:30 beginning May 21.

Please please spread the word! If I left off anyone do forward to those who will be interested.

Musicians: just for the first session, let me know if you'll be there so I can arrange enough chairs.

Currently only open for breakfast and lunch, beginning 5/20 Hog Island Wellfleet will be open 7 days a week for breakfast through 9PM.

I understand the website is not always updated in a timely manner. [hogislandbeerco.com/wellfeet]

I'm happy to field any questions. I beg you not to Reply All.

Looking forward to seeing you soon. Denya 508-255-5090

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IRISH MUSIC INSTITUTE
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Earlier this year I received an announcement from piper Seán Gavin about the formation of a new entity called the "Irish Music Institute", which has been created to provide online traditional music training. Quoting from the announcement:

"It is my great pleasure to announce the launch of a new non-profit organization, the Irish Music Institute. Its purpose is to encourage people of all ages to explore the traditional music and song of Ireland. Based in Southeast Michigan, IMI connects a broad network of players, learners, and enthusiasts worldwide. We offer private, online lessons from a top notch faculty with instructors throughout North America and Ireland."

A complete copy of Seán's announcement is here. This sounds like a most worthy endeavor and I wish them the best of luck going forward!

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"SUPPORT FOR THE ARTS" Dept.
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Elizabeth Sylvia, wife of our good friend and bandmate Colin Everett,
has published a book of poetry inspired by women in the works of
William Shakespeare (you may have heard of him). If you're interested,
the website is:

https://www.elizabethsylviapoet.net

As an aspiring (expiring?) writer myself, I wish her the best of luck.

A very wise man named Don Marquis once described the process of
bringing out a volume of poetry as akin to dropping a rose petal into
the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo. Let's hope that Elizabeth
has more success than he did!

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Please take advantage of our links to other websites to keep current on what these and other local musicians are doing these days!

Check out my Goods and Services area - let me know if you want me to list something for you. My commissions are negotiable - or should I say negligible?

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GOODS AND SERVICES DEPT.
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Various friends have asked me over the years to post information about goods and services they have to offer, which I am happy to do free of charge for anyone who provides me a short description of what's involved and a website or email contact where potential clients can find out more.

Disclaimers:
(1) I reserve the right to decide what goes on this website
(2) I'd like to think these folks know what they're doing, but no guarantees of any kind are implied.

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