South Jersey Accoustic Roots Music Society is brining a bit of Irish into town for its May meeting, performance, and jam session.
On May 9, members will gather at the Medford Arts Center for some time with McDermott’s Handy, a Celtic duo featuring Kathy DeAngelo — one of the most noted Irish fiddle players around, who has been performing acoustic Irish music for over 30 years.
In addition to guitar and fiddle, the group often incorporates the Celtic harp, flute, mandolin, banjo, bodhran, tin whistle and bouzouki in their performances.
McDermott’s Handy will begin the evening with a performance and then demonstrate for how a traditional Irish jam session works.
SJARMS is a meets the second Monday of each month. Every other month the society hosts a concert while other meetings consist of jam sessions, open mic nights and lectures.
If any of our jammers are interested in participating in the Irish jam, McDermott’s Handy will be leading us in the following three tunes:
One of SJMARMS founders, Drew Podolski, says that part of what sets SJARMS apart, is that you don’t have to necessarily be a musician to see a concert, hear a lecture, or attend a meeting.
“We distinguish ourselves not as musicians, but just as people who like this type of music,” Podolski said.
That type of music, he said, falls under an umbrella description of traditional acoustic and contemporary acoustic.
“It could be bluegrass, blues, folk, Celtic, a lot of different traditional based music,” he said. “We sort of keep the theme American, traditional music.”
Members of SJARMS pay an annual fee of $35 or $45 for a household. Membership is not mandatory, and non-members are always welcome to attend meetings and house concerts at a cost of $10 per meeting, starting with their second visit.
For information about becoming a member or attending a performance, visit their Facebook page or E-mail them at southjerseyarms@gmail.com. The group also launched a new Web site recently. Visit them online at www.sjarms.com.
Those who are interested in participating in the upcoming jam session with McDermott’s Handy can check out the following songs.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Swinging on a Gate
The Merry Blacksmith
Chord charts for these songs will be circulated in advance of the meeting so that anyone who wants to can follow along.
There is also a list of traditional Irish tunes listed on the SJARMS Facebook page.
Following the Irish session, there will be a normal, acoustic jam.
