Sunday, April 23rd 2006 St George's Day
I wonder why it is that we don’t celebrate St George in England? Are we ashamed of the association of Englishness with something negative about England? I know quite a few musicians who would happily go and celebrate St George’s Day by playing some traditional tunes but there isn’t the audience enthusiasm as there is with St Patrick. May day will be celibrated by the Morris Men and then there will be the Folk Festival Season where folk music of all kinds will be played, but will there be an ‘English Session’? I doubt it. There’ll be an Irish one at every venue though.
The Irish session is exciting, pulsing, toe-tapping stuff so that’s where it scores I suppose, but nothing is nicer than good lumpy English music played on a Summer afternoon or evening, in a garden….