Leave It To A Woman

One of the good things about being "a little older" is that I'm not quite so shy. It used to be painful, literally, for me to talk to people I didn't know. Now, I figure, what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained. This new found confidence came in handy recently. 

A little background:

For the last year we've had a trad music session going here in Birmingham, yes, here, in Birmingham, Alabama. It was loosely organized by members of what is known as the Birmingham Celtic Mafia. 

The session somehow landed at the newly opened Sipsey Tavern and has been there since. The folks there always make us welcome and it's got a real pub atmosphere and even an Irish barman. There are a couple of drawbacks though, one is the cigarette smoke, another is that they don't serve food. 

The food issue, we can get around since several restaurants in the area will deliver to Sipsey. That leaves the smoke. Several of us who are "a little older" have physical issues with it. The session is fun, but is it worth having a headache for two days afterward? 

What we need is an additonal venue. Enter, Beef O'Brady's. Yeah, it's kind of a goofy name, not as cool as Sipsey Tavern, but it's smoke free and they are a bar/restaurant so there is food. There is also a patio out front for those who do want to ruin their lungs, I mean smoke, and it's a family friendly place.  That means we can have a slow session for those, young and old, who want to learn tunes by ear, the traditional way. 

Well, everybody kept saying, "We need to talk to them at Beef O' Brady's," over and over and over again. So, today, I went, ordered lunch and talked to the owner about having a session there. He was open to the idea since somebody had already laid the groundwork, but it took somebody actually going there to nail down a time and other details. 

Today, that person was me. I didn't ask anybody if I could do it, I didn't hesitate, I didn't get nervous, I wasn't the least bit anxious. It felt really good to come home and tell The Music Man, "We'll be having a session at Beef O'Brady's on the tenth of April." After he picked his jaw up from the floor, he laughed and shook his head.

The young guys in the Celtic Mafia got the ball rolling but leave it to an older woman to keep it going.

We'll meet at Beef O'Brady's at The Grove in Hoover on Sunday 10 April from 2-5. There will be a slow session from 2-3,bring your instrument and a recording device. No drums at the slow session, please. For more info go here.