Its really nice to be out of the hostels!

I moved into my new room last week. It's great to have my clothes and things hanging up or put into drawers, rather than stuffed into my bag. The house itself is in Salthill, but it only takes 5 minutes or so to bike into town. There's only 5 people in the house, and everyone's pretty friendly, (and plays music!) so its been a fun place to live so far.

I'm still handing out CVs, busking, and playing at sessions. With the bike, I've been able to get to more places, as Galway is pretty small, but so far nothing has yet worked out. However, I think there must be more tourists out, as I was busking on Thursday afternoon, and made just as much as on a (normally busier) Saturday. I also found a session at the Western Hotel that pays all the musicians a small amount for the night, which is nice.

Most of the sessions in the pubs here seem to be regular gigs for a couple of players. The musicians come in on their night, play tunes, and are paid by the pub. But, since they're supposed to be ensuring the quality of the playing for the night, its usually those musicians that pick tunes for sets, as well as being the ones that get paid. It's still fun to play at these paid sessions, but it can feel a little like sitting in on a gig rather than a real session.

The session at the Western Hotel is fun, and thats why the people who play there, play there. They're also very encouraging to anyone who comes out, regardless of ability or skill level, which tends to create a good atmosphere.

While I'm here, I think I'm going to have a go at learning the melodeon, the one-row button accordion. Anders, in addition to playing them, repairs and restores accordions, and has a number of them lying around the house. The one I'm learning on is in D, so you can play most of the tunes, and work around tunes that need a C natural note. The D one row seems fairly popular around Galway, and likewise the two row C#/D, which would be easier to transition to than the slightly more common B/C box.

While busking, a guy I've run into at the folksinging sessions came up and asked if I'd play an event he's helping organize over the weekend. It seems to be a number of buskers, each playing their act in front of the the Galway Museum, as part of a series of free shows throughout Saturday afternoon. It's not paid exactly, but there's supposedly going to be a number of pails out where people can throw their money, sort like mass busking, the money being split up afterwards. I went to a rehearsal and met a couple other traditional musicians, so I think we'll play a couple of sets early in the afternoon. It might be fun, and I'll get some normal busking in during the morning, so if it turns out to go very badly I won't have wasted the whole day.

I'll try to get some new pictures up in the next couple day!