Couth Buzzard Books

This is a new session, it’s first meeting coinciding with this used bookstore/cafe’s Grand Opening weekend on Jan. 16, 2010. I will strive to keep this a friendly and opening session. Based on the turnout so far I would have to consider it a solidly intermediate level session, whatever the heck that means. Send me an e-mail if you want to be sent reminders of upcoming sessions.

E-mail to <mkchen@comcast.net> to get on the mailing list…

Please use mkchenarnp@gmail.com. I’m fed up with Bombast.

This Saturday (1/15/11) marks our session’s one year anniversary! Though the early start time is a bit put-offish for some, the regulars have found the bookstore/cafe to be a most genial setting for our music. No competition from noisy punters or football fans. The food and coffee is good, so you can enjoy brunch between tunes, or go browse the bookshelves. They even serve beer and wine now, if that ’s what it takes to get you going in the morning.

Gaak! I realized just now that I used an inappropriate apostrophe in the very first line of my first post on this thread. I hate it when people do that. Mea culpa, mea culpa! Oh, the session is still going strong…

Geez, Ming, as much as I have enjoyed the session for the last year (and its a good one, folk’s), if you don’t know where apostrophe’s are suppose’d to be, Ill probably be having some second thought’s about attending you’re session.

Just so you know we’re not one of those undead sessions that now exist only in cyberspace through their thesession.org listing that no one’s bothered to update in years. This improbably timed session at the bookstore with the improbable name is well into its third year.

We’ve reached our four year anniversary and the session is still thriving! A great way to start the weekend. Visitors welcome. E-mail mkchenarnp@gmail.com for details or to get on the mailing list.

attended a couple times, this is a very welcoming session. Not as snobby as they often can be, and backup instruments are welcome as well as melody instruments. Come on down!

Yup, we’re still going after 5 years. Yesterday was our “official” anniversary and we were blessed with several new people and a guest from out of town. Thanks, James, for your endorsement. It is indeed my intention that this session remain welcoming to all (within reason) and I would want to be called on it if we fall short.

Ming

PS No apostrophes were abused in the writing of this post.

I went out to this session last week for my first real experience playing with a group (!) I found it very friendly and welcoming. I even got the chance to start a tune (Thanks Ming)

So there was a good core of experienced musician, and a couple of session-newbies like me to learn from them. Great fun!

Time for my annual check-in. This session is definitely alive and well so don’t hesitate to come join us if you’re in town! The Couth Buzzard has a new sandwich menu now so the selection of available lunch time fare has improved considerably.

Through all the tumult and the strife (in the outside world) this session continues to thrive. We just passed our seventh anniversary! Thanks to all of our musicians, guests and listeners, and especially to Theo and staff at the Couth Buzzard for giving us a home. A gentle reminder to all: please patronize the cafe, buy a book or make a donation while you’re here to help keep our venue financially viable!

Time once again for my annual check-in. The session is alive and well and we just celebrated our eighth anniversary. The cafe’s menu now offers breakfast sandwiches and breakfast wraps! Also once again a gentle reminder to all: please patronize the cafe, buy a book or make a donation while you’re here to help keep our venue financially viable! The Couth Buzzard is a unique and invaluable asset to our community, not only the immediate neighborhood but to all lovers of acoustic and traditional music and jazz. And poetry. And stand-up comedy.

…and we made it past our ninth anniversary! Everything I said in my last post still applies, except that we’re a year older.

…and now it’s been 10 years! Proprietor Theo has signed a new 5-year lease on the store, so hopefully we’re good to go for at least that many years more. Session runs from 11 am to 1:30 pm. If you’re looking at the store’s calendar page, we’re the “Celtic Jam” but don’t be deterred. This is a straight-ahead Irish trad session (realizing, of course, that there are plenty of non-Irish tunes in the canon). I am not responsible for the calendar entry. Do drop in!

As you might expect, due to current social distancing recommendations and the temporary (hopefully) closure of Couth Buzzard Books, this session is on hiatus until further notice. We did manage to have a small, outdoor session last Saturday at a nearby park, sitting 6 feet apart from each other. However, it is highly likely that more stringent regulations such as shelter-in-place or lock-down will soon be imposed in our community so that even small outdoor gatherings will not be allowed or advisable. I will post an update when we get the all-clear!

With no end in sight to our King County’s current stay-at-home regime, the Couth Buzzard session has moved on-line, as have a number of other sessions around the country. We are currently using Zoom, on the same schedule as the normal sessions were, 1st and 3rd Saturdays from 1100 to 1330. If you would like to check us out, email me at the address listed above and I’ll add you to my mailing list. I send out a reminder email usually the Thursday before each session. To participate in a session, you need to email me prior to that session and I will send you the link. To enhance security, I use a unique meeting ID for each session, and only provide that to people who specifically indicate to me that they want to participate. If you’re from Planet X and always wondered what this session was like, or at least what we look like and individually sound like, here’s your chance!

Way past time for an update here. The CB session is still thriving on its regular schedule albeit virtually. We were close to resuming in-person sessions in July but then as it became clear that we were in for a fifth surge of COVID here in Washington state I decided to play it safe. The venue is still open and has resumed serving food and drink, so if you’re in the area do please patronize the Buzzard to help us keep it alive! Since the transition to virtual sessions we have been blessed with the addition of new friends from afar, and it is my intention to include them when we do resume in-person sessions by live-streaming the session from the bookstore. If you would like to join us, just email me at the address listed above, or DM me.

Aaand, we’re back! Thanks to decreasing COVID-19 case counts and a decent vaccination rate in our state and county (as of November 15, 80% of Washingtonians 12 and over had received at least one COVID vaccine dose, while 73.9% are fully vaccinated), we were given the green light to return to in-person sessions at the Buzzard this month (with certain restrictions, of course). So on November 20 eight of us vaxxed and boosted sessionistas brought live Irish music back to the store. Not wanting to leave our new, online friends behind (from as far away as Winnipeg and Cork, Ireland, such is the wonder of the Internet) I took a stab at hosting this as a hybrid (in-person and online simultaneously) session, and it worked pretty well. I’ve already got some ideas for improving the experience for the online players. We are currently limited to 12 in-person players at a time, so I am having people sign-up ahead of time on Google Sheets. Send me an email (mkchenarnp@gmail.com) if you are interested in joining us at the store or on Zoom. Here’s a set of 3 jigs that I led on Saturday (Killavil, Humours of Trim, Carraroe) and Rick M. added Trip to Sligo at the end: https://vimeo.com/648920466

Quick update: we’re still at it after 13 years! The session continues in hybrid format, so if you can’t make it into the Buzzard, you can join us via Zoom. I’m using a decent quality mic, so if you have a large screen and good speakers, you can have a decent session experience, even joining in the between-sets banter. (Since that previous video was recorded, I’ve repositioned the camera so you can see most of the musicians present.) Send an email to the address listed above to get on the mailing list and get the Zoom link twice a month.