ANDREW FINALLY PERFORMS FOR US

Andrew tuning up

As I've said earlier, our visitors from Connecticut were three, Ginnie, Hugh, and their son Andrew.  Grandpère and I were in Hugh and Ginnie's wedding 50 years ago.  We all left Mobile, Alabama, and, after a few years, we lost track of each other for a long time.  Several years ago, I searched for them on the internet, and, after reaching several dead ends, I found them.  Since then, we've stayed in touch and visited back and forth between Louisiana and Connecticut several times.

Each time we've gone north to Connecticut, or our friends have come south to Louisiana, we've wanted to hear Andrew sing and play one of his instruments, but time passed, busyness intervened, and we never did.  Andrew is a folk musician, specializing in Irish folk music.  He had with him his Irish bouzouki, which you see in the photos.

Andrew playing and singing

Finally, in the last minutes of their visit, it happened.  Andrew entertained us with a private performance.  He played three tunes for us before his dad said they had to get on the road.

 An instrumental version of "Madame Maxwell" by Turlough O'Connor

"The Lakes of Pontchartrain", a traditional song which was a surprise and delight to us.  I have Paul Brady's version in my music collection.

And last, but not least, "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson

What a treat!  Andrew plays and sings quite well, and I'm so pleased we had the privilege of hearing him.  He performs at pubs and halls in his area in the Northeast.  He is a member of the  Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society and, on occasion, writes about Irish folk music concerts for the Newtown Bee.  As you see, Andrew is wearing his Catskills Irish Arts Week t-shirt.  You can catch glimpses of Andrew playing with a group of musicians in the Catskills in this video at YouTube at the 3:15, 5:59, and 9:38 minute marks.  I wish we'd been able to record Andrew's performance, but since we didn't, I'll settle for words.

UPDATE: I meant to say that Andrew's Irish bouzouki has a lovely, sweet tone.