Oil painting of an uilleann piper is by East Belfast artist Sheena Hughes.

My love affair with traditional music, and the uilleann pipes in particular, continues. Like all relationships, it’s had many highs and a good few lows. But it’s been a wonderful, enriching part of my life recently, and I’m looking forward very much to the journey continuing. In all of this, people have been key. In my experience, trad people are good people.

The sessions in Hearth in East Belfast have been a definitive part of my personal journey with trad. When we started back in October ’23 I’d no idea really how the sessions would land; turns out they’ve landed well and become a trusted part of the East Belfast community fabric and vibe.

And as I look back now at how we’ve tried to tackle the sessions, I think we’ve been guided by three things:

Quality - from the get-go I never wanted to hear: “Aye, that’s that wee lightweight / mediocre trad session up in East Belfast!” Quality has always been at the core. Since we started, we’ve been lucky enough to have attracted some of the finest, high-end trad musicians in the country. It’s been a great privilege for many of us to have had the opportunity to play alongside them. Quality has always been key, and long may this continue.
Inclusion – we’ve tried to give a big fat welcome to everyone, irrespective of age, gender, background, orientation or whatever. This isn’t just about demographics. It also includes musical ability. Yes, we’ve got the elites and the flyers. But we’ve also got plenty of others who, like me, are still finding their feet with their instrument. So long as everyone gets the vibe, observes the etiquette and doesn’t disrupt the flow, everyone’s welcome to muck in, play along and enjoy it.
Integrity - at times we’ve had to navigate naysayers having a go at us, and resist journalists, politicians and others trying to use the session for their own ends. We’ve tried to tackle such issues with integrity. The integrity of a bottom-up, locally-driven, all-inclusive initiative whose people are passionate about trad music, and just want to share the positive experience.

Video is of a wonderful young singer and Hearth local, Erin Humphrey. She's the daughter of an old mate of mine Ken, who's a Hearth-session-regular, and she's singing a well known traditional song called the Galway Shawl.

It’s all about the music. It’s everyone’s music! The journey continues.

Join us at The Hearth session each Thursday evening 8pm - 10pm for a tune or sit back and enjoy - it's everyone's music

Everyone’s music #8 – The trad journey continues