Project 2015 Reasons to count my blessings

Reason 4

Music

As a youngster at  primary school we used to sing folk songs in our music lessons. I have always been interested in music and played in both the  school orchestra and the Folk Club, as well as singing in the choir.
When I was teaching in France, I found that the folk music from the different regions was worth investigating, and thus started my love of traditional music from a variety of world sources.

On arrival in Jersey,I found the Folk Club by accident one day. I was quickly lent a guitar, and made many excellent friends in a short space of time. I usually stuck to the Scottish folk songs I had grown up on, but learned a few lovely English and Irish tunes from some of the other musicians. The club was a lively one, with some very talented musicians, and a strong tradition of bringing over people from the UK and France to do concerts.
It was there that I was approached by the Caesarean Ceilidh Band, who were looking for a guitarist who could sing and would give the musicians a break during the evening. I joined them in 1985 and have been a member ever since. Some of the members today are more recent additions, but the music lives on.
For the next couple of weeks we will be 'Scottish' as we play for copious Burns' Night celebrations, after that we do lots of English stuff for charity fundraisers and weddings, and of course in March we can turn out the old 'Irish' music for St Patrick's Day. It's fun to be able to change styles.

On Friday evenings we choose a pub to visit. The venue is chosen and the only criteria are the quality of the real ale and the willingness to allow us to play. We send out an email to our musician friends and wait to see who turns up. This time you will get a mix of ceilidh band members, old folk club friends, Scottish pipe band players, and a random selection each week.

I can't imagine my life without music in it. I am listening to some while writing this.