ARsh Msick

Grom has always been very fond of music. His tastes differ from mine. It's hard to get him to let me play my music. It's worse when I try to sing (but that's another topic).

He favors "world music". I think that's how it would be classified. As a baby it was African Playground. He also has a great world music lullaby CD (I'm bummed that I can't find a link). He likes reggae, Christifari's Reggae Sunday School rocks.

But his favorite is ARsh Msick. He has CDs from an Irish Music Festival in Ireland. They were brought to us by friends from Ireland and I hate to admit that they are bootlegs. I'd buy them if I had any idea of what they are and where to find them. He listens to them ALL the time - over and over and over.

We were excited when we found out that there was a local group of musicians who gather weekly to play Irish music. Surferman and I try to get Grom there once a month. It's fun, but has it's awkard and strange moments.

1st - The place they play is basically a bar. They serve food and it's not a "21 and over" labeled place, it's a brew pub. I'm ok with it because the crowd is very un-bar-like. There are other kids and I've never encountered anyone who has had too much. I have no idea what the place is like when the Irish musicians aren't there.

2nd - Their food is puzzling bad. Tonight they had 3 things on the menu: Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl, Beef French Dip Sandwich, Turkey French Dip Sandwich. The chowder was served with a side of potato salad??? The dip sandwiches were served on croissants???? The pub draws quite a crowd when the musicians are there. I would think that they would want to take advantage of the crowd and serve a bunch of food.

We think the restaurant sold a while back and have noticed that the new owners are making some changes. Tonight they moved out the pool table while we were sitting there. They've built a good sized stage, but Irish musicians don't typically play on a stage so they were crowded onto the floor with the patrons. We'll see how it all turns out.

And I guess in the end...it doesn't matter... Grom sits there enthralled. Watching the guitar players, the flautist, the drummers, the fiddlers and asking me about the stringed instruments that I don't know the names of. We clap when the songs end. He smiles when he puts the money in their tip jug.

A night out at ARsh Msick is always a strange good night