Session statistics

How many musicians make a session? Last night there were just the three of us... luckily the other two are multi-instrumentalists, they have a shared repertoire, and the fan and the other guy are getting the hang of my tunes. We were eventually joined by a chap learning some songs, and he gave us a couple, which the other two gamely accompanied him on.

Normally at a sesson I get to play so few times that I have a choice of tunes. Yesterday, by the time I'd done My Home Town, Bonnie Galloway, King of Laoise, the Nova Scotia set, Dargai (without Loch Bee because it took me three goes to remember how to start Dargai so I didn't want to risk it), Magersfontein and Flett and Fathr John I felt I was running out of tunes. The fan advised repeating one or two, but that feels like cheating, like turning back and retracing your steps in a walk, which is a pet hate of mine. I know that my tunes are becoming more familiar to fellow sessioneers so that they are happier to play along, but I'm starting to get bored and feel as though I am churning out the same old. I need (and how many times have I said this?) some new tunes, a couple of new sets , something short and lively and easy to learn...

The other guy did say he was getting the hang of Laoise but wasn't sure how many parts it had... I had to admit that it's just the two: I played some "unauthorised variations".

Despite the smallness of the gathering I had nerves again. I tried remembering to breathe, tried picturing myself safely at home playing to myself, but I think it works best when I just try to listen to the music.

My Home Town we played through four times, at that fan's suggestion ("one more time!") And it was the tune that went best, with both of the others joining in and it felt good.

The audience was small, too, with most people sitting outside in the sun. Mostly we had just the one, later joined by two others. They wandered off, but came back before they left to say how much they enjoyed it. The other fan was barely two, at a guess, and utterly mesmerised by music and musicians.