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I read his sentence as that he's not Irish, but plays Irish music.
by menloparkbum 17y ago
I read his sentence as that he's not Irish, but plays Irish music.
- stcredzero 17y agoCorrect. And for some reason, I am often the only one who ever gets asked about their origins, even though some of my fellow musicians are of Cajun, Hungarian, German, Mexican, and Swedish extraction. For many, Irish music is tied up in the context of some sort of romanticized Irish Nationalism, and is only appreciated as some sort of ethnic tchotchke. Their imagination fails at the notion that I'm enjoying it in a purely musical context. I associate those people with the ones in the audience who can't clap on the beat.
- colomon 17y agoI've heard more than one person say no one from North America can play proper Irish music. Always struck me as completely insane -- if nothing else, there were enough emigrant Irish musicians in NYC and Chicago to form their own styles of the music! Liz Carroll has that story about sitting in a session in Ireland, playing tunes for hours, when someone says "Let's play some of your music!" and launches into Turkey in the Straw....