Irish Night, Dec. 27th, 2007

Last night was Irish Night -- and Jim Guinan's 82nd birthday. The joint was mobbed from early in the evening well into the night with folks spilling out of the store and onto the front porch.

A few songs were recorded from the evening; I'll try to post them when they are available. If you'd like, you can listen to a track from the November session here. (Make sure to click "Open" when asked.)

Around 10 p.m., everyone stopped the session and sang Happy Birthday. He was presented with a very cool cake that featured a photo of him from the early days at the pub.

There was a poignancy to the evening; many folks knew this might well be one of the last Irish Night (a.k.a. "Rising of the Moon) events that started several decades ago. Even after living in Garrison for six years, I still marvel every time I pull down the river landing on the first Thursday after the full moon each month and see it lined thick with cars from all over the region. So many people willing to make the trek to this tiny spot ... even on a work night.

A CD will be released soon with tracks from the musicians and Jim singing several of his best songs. I'll post a few song clips here. Meantime, here's a recording from a session two years ago. Stay tuned ...

Comments

Anonymous said…
.. and Jim sang "The Dying Rebel" at my request as he often does -- he also sang his familiar "Danny Boy" and "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen". John Guinan looked terrific. The band was great and Wendy's parents were there (as were hundreds of others of Jim, John, & Kelly's immediate friends)

A full and happy night (made more happy because I did not yet know that Guinans would be closing).
December 30, 2007 at 3:44 PM
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