I went to see a Scottish folk band called North Sea Gas this weekend; considering that the band's been around for 25 years, I'm ashamed to admit that I hadn't heard of them prior to seeing their name in the Potomac Celtic Festival lineup (but I missed them then). My pal Trisha saw them during an outdoor concert near where she works, so she recruited me to meet her at Flanagan's in Bethesda for the show. The guys were very good, and very tight. They were about 85% songs, 25% instrumental sets, but it worked. Their vocal harmonies were also quite tight, and it's nice to hear the voice harmonizing in a deeper register for a change. I chatted with Cameron, their new fiddler for a while (a great guy), and all in all had a good time.

It was nice to see an unabashedly Scottish act booked into Flanagan's, especially since I'm pretty sure that - with Anders' connections - I can get us booked there. There were a couple of funny incidents during the show, the most noteworthy being during a MSR set, when the band got to the reel, 4 girls got up and started dancing figures (spiritedly, but amateurishly). When the set was over, one of the bandsmen said, "And I'd like to thank the Two Left Feet School of Irish Dance for the lovely dancers over there". I'm saving that line for future use.

I only caught the tail end of the previous act, a very fine flautist/whistler & singer. Only caught her first name as well, sadly. But she's local, and hopefully I'll see her perform again. I need to keep an eye out for DC-area flautists and whistlers that might be able to be recruited into The Devil's Tailors.

I went to practice in the park again for the first time in months, and who can blame me? There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was 71 degrees out. I had a couple of young guys (one more interested than the other) come over and chat me up, and I played a few tunes for them. Always nice to get an audience. Also of note, I played an MSR straight through without hesitation or major mistake for the first time on pipes: The 24th Guards Brigade at Anzio/Fiddler's Joy/Alick C. McGregor. Okay, one teensy mistake; I ended Fiddler's Joy with the last 4 measures of the B-part instead of the appropriate measures of the D-part, but unless I'm playing in front of a judge, that's a variation, not an error.

My new reed is crowing way too much still on high A. I may ask my instructor about sanding down the tips of the reed a bit to ease the crow.