The Irish Travels of
William G. Harloff

"Banjo" Bill Harloff is a fixture on the Colorado Springs roots music scene; he plays--obviously--the banjo, plus concertina, guitar, fiddle and bones (his "orthopedic percussion").  He's the kind of guy who can regale any crowd with sailing songs, bluegrass songs, fiddle tunes, and sings a pretty mean rendition of the fiddle tune Soldier's Joy.  He recently traveled to Ireland and was good enough to regale us with this, uh, rendering of his travels.

Arriving in Dublin early morn, we proceeded by bus to Wicklow.  Exhausted, we found the place by about 11:30.   Upon examination of the local conditions, I decided to go stay down in Bray where I knew some people and would be closer to the music.  Karen’s friend, Angela, as well, opted to go with me rather than stay, so the two of us got some rooms down on the Strand, right off the beach.  After a couple of days Angela had booked herself a week long bus tour and Karen was content where she was, so that left me free to go explore the music scene and find the local hot spots.       

I was finally able to contact an old friend of mine who had originally brought me to Bray once before.  He was now secretary of the “Bray Arts Journal” and, “Could I come to the meeting tonight at the Heather House?”, so I did, and they made me play.  I was a hit and immediately sold every CD I had, save one, cause I still had a couple of weeks to go.  Somebody took our picture and a newspaper article resulted…

Living right above Clancy’s made it easy to make all the “sessions” when they occurred and I was soon fast friends with many of the locals.  The first time I showed up there were no other instruments present, and, though I told 'em the banjo was just for looks, they made me play it anyway.  Next night it was all the same people, but this time they had all brought their instruments and were raising a proper ruckus.  I joined right in and continued playing with them whenever they had a session, often late into the night, though I often had the impression that some of us were impaired.

When I arrived they were playing only Tuesday, Thursday, & Sunday nights, though, by the time I left we were going strong every night with great crowds.  I am still stunned when I think of the reception I received in Bray!  People were stopping me on the street to shake my hand, waving from passing cars while yelling to me, and generally making me feel welcome and appreciated.  I’m forever grateful and must now go back.

Pressing on to Ennis, “the heart of traditional Irish music”, I landed in the right spot.  There was to be a session that very night in my hotel, the “Barge Rooms”.  I joined in and the boys must have liked me because soon they were telling me, “Tomorrow night-Brogans-9:30-Be there!”  I continued to play with pretty much the same gang of people the whole time I was there, though others floated in and out as we went different places.

I only spent a week in Ennis but I played a lot of music there.  They burned me up doing their Irish stuff and I burned them up doing bluegrass.  They liked the bluegrass very much, (I could have easily gotten a job there), so I did my best to corrupt them to the greatest extent possible.  I’m sure that some of them got converted!  In Ennis, people speak more of the Gaelic language than in Bray, and the “band” used it almost exclusively between themselves.  I often knew what they were saying to each other though I couldn’t understand the words.  It was strange but somehow it made sense.

Ireland is a wonderful place.  I was amazed at how they tried to take care of me there.  My last mourning: first the baker, PJ, showed up bringing some just-baked scones (we’d call them jelly rolls or filled doughnuts), then, unbidden, Henry showed up to give me a ride to Shannon airport and on the way said, “I’d better call him if I was ever in this part of the country again or I’d be in trouble.”  He offered me a free room and a car to use if I wanted, next time I came to town.  There were many other examples of the generous hospitality of the folks there, and magical things happened every day.

I can’t say enough about the exceptional people, music, and times to be had there.  The musicians included "Ellen" (actually Uillean) pipers, guitarists, banjoists, Irish drummers, fiddlers, singers, and more, many of them at the highest skill level.  The tunes are mainly jigs, reels, and hornpipes, i.e. instrumentals, but you can squeeze an occasional song out of 'em too.  Some of the tunes you’ll already know, some not.  I only had a couple of rough times there: once they jumped me in a pub-just to test me-I did OK cause I’m full of sheotsu and bullshedo, another time when I protested the rough way in which a fellow was thrown out they told me, “Bill, we know him!”, and I had to defend the policies of our government a time or two.  These were all very minor incidents and quite mild when considered in context.  No real harm was ever intended, only play, and play we did.

I traveled light, carrying only a small pack and my banjo in hard case.  The banjo outweighed my pack but traveling light made moving about easier.  I’m convinced it was the right way to go.  All in all, it was a most memorable trip.  I was alone, for the most part, and so many opportunities appeared which might not have, had I been accompanied by someone else.  At times, I regretted not being able to share my experiences with anyone, but in hindsight, the experiences that did occur were all the richer.  I hope that by this article I can share this small synopsis with my stateside friends and, perhaps, to so encourage others who may wish to take a musical trip to Erin’s fair land.  If you play music at all you will have a warm welcome and the best of times among beautiful people.

Bill Harloff