Irish bluegrass

It was a scene I would have expected in the hills of the deep south in America. But it wasn't America. It was Northern Ireland.

A few weeks ago, whilst over in Northern Ireland for the weekend, I walked into a house I'd never been to before and took my banjo with me. A friend of mine had asked me to bring it with me because the owner of the house liked the banjo and wanted to meet me. My colleague, Mark, was with me with his guitar, so we started playing. As we played, other musicians started showing up with instruments such as the mandolin, guitar and others, and before we knew it there was a bluegrass jam session in full swing.

After we played for awhile, the owner of the house told me that they had a bluegrass band and had been asked to play for a big event in Cork for Saint Patrick's Day next year. However, they had a problem. They didn't have a banjo player, and bluegrass is incomplete without a banjo.

He said they would fly me to Ireland for the event if I would play with the band for the event. I said, "I would be glad to, but I'll be in America at the time so it would be an expensive flight." However, he was not put off by this. He said they would fly me out from America if I could just make room for the event in my calendar.

I agreed, so in a few months I'll be taking on a new role...playing banjo in an Irish bluegrass band. Life is always full of new adventures and surprises.