That being said, I could devote the rest of my life to nothing but learning Irish fiddle tunes, but there are so many out there that there is no way I could ever know them all. But to be the best trad. Irish player I can, it’s my obligation to learn as many as my brain will hold, isn’t it? However, when I pigeon-hole myself, I no longer continue to grow and change as much as I could if I expended my horizons to include, say, bluegrass or Hot Club of France. Now I learn riffs that crossover from one to the next and I begin to form my own unique way of playing both mediums.

I suppose my point is that you should try to know your limits regarding how much time you can spend on each discipline, and try not to reach too far out of those boundaries. Master one if you can, but incorporate the salient bits from other genres to flavor the sound and create the approach that is uniquely you.

I met everyone I was working within LA through meetup.com. It was easy to find all sorts of different groups to try,  and meet new folks. Here in Cleveland, there are tons of people WAITING for someone else to start a meetup. No one is willing to get it going, they all want to wait for someone else to do it.

When we get settled, I’m going to start one and get things moving. Hopefully, I will see a few of the people who are looking for a place to play. I just find it amusing to see this very stark contrast between the two places. LA is all about getting something going, making it big, jumping on the new idea. Cleveland is a slower pace, figuring that great things will happen at some point, but they sure do take a lot of work. Maybe we’ll just take a walk for a while and see how things go.

As much as I would love to have a stellar career, I still know that this move back was the right one. A good career with a happy, well adjusted family beats a great career and miserable kids any day of the week. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a slower pace, as long as you keep your dreams in the forefront of your mind.

While our time here was fraught with stress, drama, tears and in inability to cope with just how foreign this place is to us, I am so glad that we came. I have learned so much since we have been here. I am more confident about my skills and have had a lot of great practice at craft solos on the spot and learning new tunes on the fly. Things you can only do my immersing yourself in a group and forcing you out of your comfort zone. I still have loads to learn, but I leave here with the knowledge that I can walk into just about any session and keep up, jump in with a solo and make some new friends. I plan to host a few meet-ups omce we get back, as the biggest downfall of the Cleveland scene appears to be that loads of people want a group to play with and are waiting for “someone else” to start it up. “If it’s already going, I am there!” kind of attitude. That’s OK — we can fix that!

I have learned to keep it simple — dividing up your few precious minutes when you can practice/play uninterrupted by losing focus is disastrous. I have worked with original musicians on their work and helped come up with what I have to admit are some damn fine arrangements. Now I know better what I am looking for for myself, and how to acheive it. I don’t think I could have learned that lesson staying at home. For this, I am grateful for the experience.

I have been reluctant to post things here that are of a personal nature, simply because I have thought of this as primarily a “business” website and that I should keep it to business.  But I realize now that this blog is about me and my ideals about the nature of playing and it is ther perfect place to make it personal! So I will be moving forward with this more personal approach. I suppose it is the product of lessons learned.

I have had the good fortune to find all the folks I am currently working with, and I have made some good contacts. Give it a try and tell me what you think!

I recommend the Mel Bay Hokum Theory and Scales for FIddle. I have found it to be helpful if you’re into that sort of thing.

I cannot recommend enough the importance of getting out and playing with other people. The only way to get better and to put the skills that you are learning into context (this applies to classical music as well) is to get together with other musicians.

You can always feel free to email me if you have questions about fiddle music or teaching techniques.