It's not just Irish pubs. Here in Minneapolis, we have a lot of bars that cater to local bands. You can drop in most evenings and hear live local music - some g

It's not just Irish pubs. Here in Minneapolis, we have a lot of bars that cater to local bands. You can drop in most evenings and hear live local music - some good, some not so good - and have a drink. Bands might divvy up a small cover charge, or might just get a couple of free beers (and not the good beers). It's a place to play. Go elsewhere, you'll hear pick-up country jams, playing the classics. Or hip-hop, or slam poetry, or Irish music, or bebop. A big part of what makes something like Irish session music, bluegrass, protest folk, bop, blues, etc work is a powerful shared vocabulary. There are songs everyone knows, and musical clichés that experienced performers can follow even if they don't know the specific tune. You like to play, you join the community, you get good, you get respected, and darn it, there's a bunch of people willing to actually listen to you while they drink a beer. For a lot of us, that's the reward. "I used to think I was an artist. Turns out I'm a beer salesman." -James McMurtry