Welcome   to   ‘ Irish   Old   Time ’,   dedicated   to   promoting   awareness   of Appalachian   Old   Time music   and   musicians   in   Ireland.   This   is   the American   equivalent   of   ‘sean   nos’   from   which springs ‘folk music’, ‘country music’ and ‘bluegrass’. There   are   Appalachian   music   enthusiasts   and   some   very talented   musicians   scattered   around   Ireland.   Regular   old- time    sessions    can    be    found    in    Dublin,    Belfast,    Cork, Galway,   Sligo,   Clare   and   elsewhere.   In   North   America, similarly,   old   time   musicians   have   regular   ‘jams’,   as   well as   dances   featuring   callers   and   Appalachian   string   bands (the equivalent of Irish and Scots céilís). However   musicians   also   collect   in   larger   ‘Gatherings’,   lasting   a   weekend   or   more,   at various   locations   across   the   US.   (The   most   famous   is ‘Clifftop’    in    West    Virginia,    going    for    nearly    30    years, attended   by   around   5000   musicians   who   spend   up   to 10 days in camp side jams from early to very late.) IrishOldTime   held   the   first   all-Ireland Appalachian   music gathering   on   16-18   February   2018,   with   the   intention   of bringing   together   Appalachian   music   enthusiasts   from across   Ireland,   Great   Britain,   Europe   and   experienced old-time   musicians   from   the   US   and   UK   including   the   world   renowned   musician,   author and historian, Dan   Levenson . Dan   hosted   workshops   for   fiddle,   banjo,   and   guitar   as   well   as   a workshop    on    learning    various    tunes    for    all    instrumentalists.    In addition, Dan performed on Saturday night before the dance. We   also   featured   Erynn   Marshall    and   Carl   Jones, old-time   musicians   and   inspired   tunesmiths   from Galax,   Virginia.   They   are   married   -   in   life   and music.   Southern   song-duets   and   powerful   fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo tunes comprise their diverse sets. Erryn and Carl offered workshops in guitar, mandolin and flat foot dancing and along with Dan, performed in the concerts, played for the dance and joined in the many jams held during the weekend. The Second Annual Old Time Gathering promises to be even better than last year! Dan Levenson will be back by popular demand as well as other well known instructors to be announced.

Welcome Stranger!

Check out the 2019 Gathering Page