In September, 2008, I joined The Gobshites, a Boston-area acoustic Irish punk rock band. The band itself has been around since 2002, with various members coming in and out around lead singer/guitarist Pete Walsh over the years. The original idea, as I understand it, was to have a sort of revolving cast of characters, a'la Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review, however at one point a more-or-less solid, permanent lineup emerged, and stayed that way for a few years. One thing they'd never had before I joined was a tin whistle player (the tin whistle heard on our CDs was supplied by session musician Billy Novick). One thing I had never played before (well, there are many things, but this is the most relevant) is the tin whistle. It was a natural fit. My joining the band was pure happenstance. I had known the guys for years, and was looking to go out one night to see some music, when I saw that they were playing at a pub not 15 minutes from my house, so I decided against heading out in a teeming rain to see the Young Dubliners at another venue about 45 minutes away. You have to wonder what the Young Dubs missed out on because of that rain...
I grew up playing drums. My dad was a tenor drummer in a drum & bugle corps growing up, and when I was very young he bought me a pair of sticks and a practice pad and taught me how to do a five stroke roll and a paradidle. When I got older, he signed me up for drum lessons, and a few years after that bought me a used drum kit that served me through various bands in high school and college. Most of them never did much of anything, except Suckerpunch, a late 80s-early 90s Boston Hardcore band that had gained most of its' notoriety before I came aboard to replace the original drummer. That was my last band, and my last regular drumming for a long long time.
Also from an early age, I listened to a lot of Irish music. My folks were big fans of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. On summer trips to Cape Cod, we often spent afternoons at the Happy Hour of a local pub, eating and listening to the Irish bands playing there. So being a drummer, I figured playing bodhran would be a natural choice for me. I took lessons at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton, Massachusetts, and hit up a few sessions, and did that more or less as a hobby for a while.
Now back to that fateful night at the Gobshites' show. During their second set, the pub's owner jumped up on stage with one of the decorative bodhrans that adorn pretty much every Irish pub in existence, and started banging away. In between sets, Pete turned to me and said "You know how to play that, right? You're in the next set." And then he handed me a pint of Guinness, which went a long way towards overcoming any objections and/or stage fright.
After the last set, we chatted for a bit about the fun we'd just had, and when Pete asked me if I played anything else, I mentioned that I had a tin whistle that I'd been trying to learn. "Cool" he said. "Practice is on Monday nights at the Feeney's." And that was that. My learning curve on the whistle was pretty steep. I had to learn three sets worth of songs, plus a bunch of traditional Irish tunes we were going to record for our new CD, and I was pretty much learning on stage, in front of the audience. It was daunting, sure, but that's also what I liked about it. It took me way, way out of my comfort zone, and introduced me to a whole new crowd of friends and loved ones at the same time. And having become bored and disillusioned with my standup comedy career, it couldn't have come along at a better time.
Recently, after we went through a succession of drummers, I was pressed into service at the last minute during an outdoor brewers festival. It was only one 45 minute set, but at the end of it, my arms felt like they'd been rope-a-doped. Still, even for not having played regularly in years, I managed to pull it off reasonably well. And then this past weekend, I was asked again to sit behind the kit, this time for three full shows. I was nervous as could be, but amazingly, my body held out through all three nights. I guess it helps that I've been hitting the gym on a regular basis. So now, I've taken over as the regular drummer for the time being, while still practicing the whistle for recordings and such. I was a little hesitant to take on the new role, but I guess it boils down to what can I do to help the team, you know?
It's still fun, and I'll keep at it until it isn't. Check out our website for upcoming dates, and stop in if you're in the area. We're a good time.
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