Tom catching up on Womens' Lit

I decided to participate in the regular Irish Folk Music jam/play thing at a local pub, got a songbook printed out that they apparently use and took that and my guitar along.

It turned out to be a bit of a nightmare actually. Many of the members were cool, helpful and welcoming, but one or two were distinctly cold and unwelcoming. It left a bitter taste in my mouth, as my musical beliefs are that playing music with people is a means to connect and have a shared (and hopefully blissful) experience. It seems one or two members didn't appear to share these beliefs and didn't make things easy for me.

I stuck it out and tried to work out what was going on and played along when I could. However, it was hard work (partly because I don't know the music) and, although some members were encouraging, the sheer effort involved for comparitively little return may put me off from going again, which is a shame. Even when there were just four of us left at the end, I still left feeling like my presence wasn't overly welcome. A far cry from a fantastic musical jam I had recently.

Seeing Tom flicking through this magazine at the bar was one of the highlights of the evening however. Cheers Tom!