Harping at the Stonehaven Folk Festival

Stonehaven is up on the northeast coastline, a bit south of Aberdeen.

 I brought Jo Ellen to the Glasgow Airport early on Sat July 9. It turned out her flight got delayed all day. I was halfway to Stonehaven and checked e-mail at a coffee shop and found out. I stopped here-it was strange. I have no idea what this says or means. If someone knows, please tell me.<<<my friends told me it says "You could go far and not fare so well.">>>

 I met a harper, Irene Watt and her husband Graham (bouzouki) from Aberdeen. We jammed for hours. I learned a lot by watching and hearing an experienced session harper (the left hand in particular). They are both great singers. Irene kicked off a set of O'Carolan tunes. Most of the instrumentalists knew them and played. It is great to see the harp both front and center and woven in with the rest of the session.

I spent most of the evening sessioning at the Royal Hotel. Everywhere I go, people really seem to like the harp.

 The pubs are filled with amazing singers. I feel like I'm in a magical faraway land. I guess I am! It was like stepping into a time warp, especially with the older gentlemen singing the ballads. When I got the courage to start one myself, it was a thrill when they and the whole pub sang it with just my harp as accompaniment. No need to be shy, just get out there and do it, yes?

This is Lucie who is visiting from the Czech Republic. She had never played with a harper before. We were really listening to each other and laying it down for the whistles, flutes, and fiddles to play along. It was so much fun I didn't want it to ever end. It is neat that not everyone plays on every tune-there is great session etiquette. Listeners, including the musicians, clap for the tune leader after a tune or set. Sometimes if no one knew the tune, it was played as a solo and always received a warm reception. We all took turns, and I got to take the drivers seat for a few song sets along the way.

Still loving the signage! 

Aqua Ceilidh in a heated pool, Stonehaven. The ladies dancing in the front are my friends that I met a week early down at the Scottish Borders, Susie who delivered my harp, and Siobhan Miller, our room mate. Siobhan was one of the headliners at the Stonehaven Folk Festival.

The Aqua Ceilidh band. I took some video footage of the aqua ceilidh, my first attempt at posting video on this blog, lets see if it works.

The the steam vent over the pool heat-the birds were digging the steam bath.

This border collie was really cool. He would run ahead of his master wait intently, and dash to the next spot and do the same thing. He took his work seriously.

Aqua Ceilidh!