Participating in the pub music

I don't know about being invited to share a song but I was at a pub in Dingle and there was a musician duo who included several songs that they invited the audience to sing along with.

My impression is that tourists being welcome to join in happens less often, rather than more often. I’ve seen locals sometimes join in and jam, but they’re familiar with the very Irish tunes. Most of the many pub musical sessions I’ve witnessed have been just instrumental, with very little singing.

There was one time, in June 2011 at a pub in Liscannor, where we were staying upstairs and having dinner downstairs. The only other people having dinner were two women from Canada. Two other women, musicians with the pub, came in as we were finishing our meals, and performed several tunes. They then invited us all to stand up and sing a song relative or meaningful to us or our countries. The two women sang something - I don’t recall what it might’ve been, and my husband and I politely declined the opportunity to try and carry a tune.

You may find the right pub, but you might ask the musicians, and/or ask up at the bar if singers might share a song with everyone.

The majority of music in pubs is "performance", usually by a duo or three being paid to entertain. The pubs we seek out are "sessions" where mostly unpaid musicians (the pubs often pay the ring leader, and in some areas, everyone gets paid , and all performers get free beer). At these sessions, singing happens occasionally, and it almost always acapella Irish love/tragedy songs, sung by a "regular" audience member. Then there are "singing sessions" where the majority of the action is singing, sometimes by audience members. With an excess of confidence, you could probably ask the players to allow you to offer a song at any of the sessions. You'll find the audience is very loud and you'll have to have a strong voice. If you're lucky, you'll pick a song that people recognize and quiet down a bit to hear. One other stumbling block is the sessions are usually very crowded, and communicating your intentions may be difficult.

I'd suggest sitting back and watching for a while to scope things out.

Recent experience—early May/off-season, mid-week, smaller cities. Audience members were not invited to perform or sing at Trad sessions. However, in a couple of pubs where professional duos/trios were performing Irish folk music, on more than one occasion they asked us specifically, or others sitting near where they were playing, whether anyone would like to sing. In our very limited experience, no one ever accepted the invitation….but you might get that opportunity in a folk song venue.

Last year I was in Ennis for several days for the Fleadh Nua (https://www.fleadhnua.com/) and attended a few sessions (there are a lot this week). Many thanks to Cyn for reporting on this, as it’s a great time to be in Ennis!

They truly were informal sessions and at one, random people DID join in: some as instrumentalists, some sang, and some recited poetry. It was an amazing experience as the professional musicians (who provided the basis of the session) also sat back and enjoyed and respected the participation from younger and older people joining in.

That being said, everything was Irish and musicians joined in more than singers. It was also a slight anomaly to anything else I experienced during my month travels. So, is it possible? Maybe. Likely? Not as much. Sometimes the sessions are just local musicians and sometimes they are local but playing for tips. Your odds are better if you are ready to sing some traditional Irish tunes.

You might try googling 'open mike nights in Ireland's pubs'. There are some where locals and visitors are invited to share songs.

Thank you for the input about participating in pub music. Looking forward to hearing lots of wonderful music in Ireland.

There’s a really good website devoted to Irish traditional music called thesession.org
It lists pubs all over Ireland where traditional music sessions are held (not performances or open mike nights) giving details of days and times and other useful information. This might be a good starting point for you.

Session.org is a great resource (it's also a great resource for sheet music, words, etc.), but when it comes up empty, I usually resort to using Google Maps, enter the town I plan to be in, and click "Nearby/Pubs&Bars" then methodically look at all the bar websites or facebook pages. You can try a shortcut with a search something like::

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Afacebook.com+Donegal+and+trad+or+session

You often see that there's a session on most Thursdays, etc. There's a few other sites that try to do the same thing as session.org, such as

https://home.barsesh.com/.

I often allow the music to determine where we actually stay, not only what lodging, but which town, and in what sequence.

Be warned that a lot of places advertise "trad session" when what they really mean is "Irish drinking music". We actually fell for that three nights in a row at three different bars, all featuring the same duo of musicians. Arghhh! We invested a lot of time and beer to get good seats when the same two folks strolled in to play - not bad music, but Jackson Brown's greatest hits are a poor substitute for a genuine session.

When you're traveling can be a big factor. Many sessions are groups of locals that play year-round, not really needing an audience. The paid players are less likely to work in the off season, since the bars can't afford it.

Our 21 day trip in May resulted in 19 nights with music sessions (or very close substitutes) , although there's labor involved unless you just stay in the big music towns (Dublin, Galway, Doolin, Dingle, Cork).