Tonight Lorien and I went to see Druha Trava, a bluegrass band from (of all places) the Czech Republic. I don't know much about the Czech Republic, other than the people are pretty nice. I picked up a couple of hitchhikers while driving through Northern Scotland. They were really nice hitchhikers, and not the dirty crazy kind.
Anyway, I'm not a huge bluegrass fan—I prefer my music to not only have Celtic roots, but to just plain be Celtic. We had free tickets, and although it had been a long day (I worked until 7pm), at my wife's behest I drove downtown and caught up with her and her father. We had free tickets because the band stayed (gratis, if I'm not mistaken) at my inlaws' inn. So what the heck. The opening band was okay, but not great. They seldom are (except when I saw Great Big Sea open the Portland Celtic Music Festival back in '99 or whenever it was I went there. They weren't really an "opening band" per se, but I digress). Columbia Bluegrass I believe was what they were called. They weren't bad, just didn't have that kick that makes you really want to get up and move. More like the kick that makes you look funny at the other people that actually got up and are moving…
Back to the story: the band played two sets with about a 25 minute break between them. It was a long break. Their banjo player was really good, though. John S. would have liked it. He also played the Irish Low whistle in a beautifully haunting air that really made me sit up and listen more. He later switched to the normal tin whistle and finished the tune, it was quite good. I'm pretty sure he played Overton whistles—I love my Colin Goldie D whistle! The low whistle had a real silky tone that hung in the air, it was really terrific. I believe that tune got the most applause, shy of the obligatory "bring them back onstage to play the encore" applause at the end of the concert.
Probably half of what they sang was in Czech (it reminded me of the Numa Numa song, if not the creepy dancing. I kept getting these pictures in my mind of them performing it, once in bluegrass style, but I'm re-digressing). They also sang in English. Their lead singer was an older guy with Albert Einstein hair, but he had a great voice.
Overall, it was well worth the $12 I didn't have to spend on a ticket, and I'd not spend $12 on them again. I will not, however, drive down to St. Maries for their concert tomorrow night…