Retirement blog and Celtic music

Retirement blog. As I’m performing in another Folk fiddle gig today in Keighley this time, I thought it might be opportune to look back a few years to my early days of musical ambitions. Ireland in this case. You might say I’ve come a long way in three years given gigs are almost  common these days. I’m not sure because I still find the whole thing quite stressful, but hey, what’s a guy to do? The challenge goes on.

Last night (Friday) I finally achieved something I’d been wanting to for all the years we’ve been coming to Ireland. At least in the last five or six years of our time here. And now I get to write a retirement blog about the experience. What is it, you ask? What have you done? Well, I’m glad you asked and the clue is in the picture above. In case you can’t see, it’s moi playing my guitar at an open-mike session in one of our local pubs here in Dunquin / Ballyferriter.

I know that doesn’t sound like a great achievement but it is, take my word for it. I know it is because, for the last three years at least, I’ve been returning home with this goal unfulfilled. I’ve been very annoyed with myself as a result.

 

It’s not like I haven’t played guitar in public before. Why only 24 years ago I played with a guy on stage in a bar in South Island, New Zealand. Mrs Summerhouse had to remind me of the occasion so that’s how memorable it was. I guess you could hardly call me a prolific performer. True there was the night quite recently at the jazz gig when I played the piano for a couple of numbers along with the house band. Not to mention the Otley gig I wrote about a while ago. But I’ve been going to the Monday night sessions for quite a while, so the leap of faith wasn’t as great. All that preceded this appearance was a couple of Monday night sessions (when the jazz was taking an Easter break) at one of my local pubs in Leeds. That, and a little twiddling away to Irish CDs, was about it. However, I knew I couldn’t allow myself to take the cowardly way out – again. Last year I’d discovered the Friday night sessions in this pub but found it easier to hide behind the ‘you’re retired, why put yourself under this kind of pressure?’ line. I’d gone home unfulfilled.

Yes, it’s back to that old ‘comfort zone’ problem that has featured quite frequently in these retirement blogs. Is setting oneself various challenges the way, or at least a way, to ensure that retirement doesn’t mean becoming brain-dead? But how big should these challenges be and I only mean for myself, not for retired people en masse. It’s clear to anybody that reads what’s happening in the world that retired people are off doing all kinds of demanding things. We all have our lines in the sand, just that some people’s sand is further away, probably on some remote desert island, than others.

It’s not that I haven’t always pushed myself to step outside my own ‘comfort zone’. I did it while I was working in our spells living abroad in the USA, New Zealand and Australia as well as various contracts in places like Turkey and Georgia. So I know that the restless and demanding gene is in there somewhere. It’s more a question of should that particular gene be encouraged or discouraged when a person retires?

As I have written before in these retirement blogs, you can argue it either way, depending, I suppose, on your view of what retirement life ‘should’ be like. Kick back and relax or make the most of every second you have left even if the discomfort levels are higher. You could say, when you start examining your life from a physical perspective (developing arthritis, shaking hands, wobbly walking etc) or worse still a medical one, life throws up enough challenges without trying to generate any additional stressors.

But back to last night. I succeeded by using all the psychological tricks at my disposal to make sure I showed up rather than ran away. I knew, from last year, what the place looked like, who the people were, what they played, or rather what kind of music rather than specific tunes, what time I should get there to be up and running before the crowd arrived. I knew they’d all be speaking Gaelic and that, from that perspective alone, I should feel a bit excluded.

I knew to take my guitar into the pub, rather than leaving it in the car and to have it out of its case and ready to go. I knew, from my two Monday night Celtic sessions, that I could just about blag my way through a few tunes without them helpfully letting me know what key the tune was in. They didn’t (tell me the key) on Monday nights and they didn’t last night either. But I was ready for all these additional challenges, this time. And my secret weapon, Mrs SH at my side whispering in my ear, you sound great, even though I knew I didn’t. I’ll take whatever reinforcement I can get under these difficult circumstances.

I was OK, not outstanding, but good enough. True, when they asked – do you have a song for us? I demurred, even though this point was a significant moment in my acceptance by my band mates. No way could I follow the regular guitar player when he played, and sang, a beautiful song, in Gaelic of course. As I said to them, thanks but no thanks, I know my limitations.

I did briefly consider giving them, what used to be my ‘go to’ song for semi-public performances. Take it Easy by Jackson Browne. Some great lines – ‘I was standing on a corner in Wilmslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see; it’s a girl my Lord with a flat-bed Ford (or flat Bedford as Mrs SH used to sing it) slowing down to take a look at me’. But, after a moment’s madness, I decided it wouldn’t quite fit the evening. Poetry, yes but not for tonight. Maybe next year I’ll have a tune ready.

There is another session next Friday night and I could, if I choose, go to that one. But the point is I don’t have to. Having performed last night, the monkey, as they say, is off my back. Strange expression, just means, like the jazz week, I’ve done it once, proved I can and don’t need to repeat the challenge, unless I really want to. At this point I have no idea whether I will be motivated to repeat the challenge. Continue to follow these retirement blogs as I reveal the outcome.