Music Monday/Lyric Lundi

One of the great things about living where I do is that in the summer time we get a free concert every Sunday night. Lancaster's Longs Park Summer Music Series brings in bands from all over to play all types of music. It's an outdoor concert, rain or shine, and everyone picnics around the stage.

Last night, we got to see the Saw Doctors. It's been raining on and off here for the past few days -- something we've hardly seen all summer, but that seemed extremely appropriate for welcoming this Irish band, especially since it wasn't a violent, summer thunderstorm, like we usually get around here. No, it was a misty, not-really-raining-but-sort-of rain, exactly what one might expect to encounter in August in Ireland.

I'd never heard of the Saw Doctors until I read the description of them in the summer lineup for the concert series and decided they sounded just like the sort of band I like. Bob did some exploring online and told me he was sure I'd like them, so we made plans to go. That was, of course, before we knew it was going to be raining. But why should we let a little rain get in the way, especially since we have Gortex raincoats and nice big umbrellas?

We were not disappointed. What a fantastic band, the sort that you can tell are just having so much fun on stage. I loved all their songs and the way they encouraged audience participation (that's just so Irish, isn't it? I've never been to Ireland, but it seems to me that in every "Irish" pub I've ever been in, from Alexandria, VA to NYC to Boston, audience participation, when a band comes out to play, has always been a big part of the show). I also loved discovering that we have more than just Germans in this area. You should have seen all the Irish flags flying (of course, I later found out that people had come from places like Delaware and Philly to see them here, but still. In fact, one family had come all the way from NYC. He was Irish. His American wife has a sister living down here).

If one of the great things about living here is the Longs Park Summer Music Series, one of the great things about being married to Bob is that he is not the shrinking violet that I am. He likes to do things like, oh, meet the members of a band instead of worshiping them from afar (my standard means of dealing with talent that impresses me). He decided he wanted to wait backstage after the show to get them to sign the CD he had just bought. We patiently waited with maybe a dozen or so others, and our patience paid off.

Eventually Leo Moran (composer, guitarist, and singer) came out. He didn't just come out and sign CDs; he came out and hung around and chatted with those of us who stuck around (that would be two young men and Bob and me) for quite a while -- long enough for me to hear stories of huge moths flying onto one of his band mates during an outdoor concert, long enough to know that he'd like to live in Scandinavia for a winter, that he likes the four seasons (enjoyed our hot weather during the two weeks he was in the States on this tour), long enough to get his opinion on the Amish -- see? It was more than just a quick "hello." By this point, Davey Carton (composer, singer, and guitarist) had come out, and Bob had gone off to get his autograph, but I just stayed and chatted some more with Leo. It was just too much fun. I actually think that if he could have gotten the others in the band interested, he might have joined us for a beer at one of our local brew pubs.

All this is to say that my Music Monday song today is not a long-time favorite. It is a brand new favorite, one that was played last night and one that I found put to these beautiful photos of Ireland. Unfortunately, I can't get the YouTube video to embed and actually play (it will embed, but all you get is a lovely photo of a rainbow), so you will have to click on this link to hear "The Green and Red of Mayo." Looking at those photos, I am reminded yet again that if all the trees were suddenly to disappear from coastal Maine (God forbid), Maine would look an awful lot like those isles to our east. No wonder I love Maine so much.