🎻 I was too scared to sit in the circle

Hi Reader!

Take a little trip down memory lane with me for a second...

It's 2014 and I am attending my first ever Swannanoa Gathering Celtic Week. I've signed up for all four class slots (rookie mistake), and I know absolutely nobody going into the week. I've never attended a session nor taken any sort of private lessons specifically for Irish fiddling.

I was terrified. But committed to being there and learning more about this Irish and Scottish music that captivated my hands and heart.

That first year I think I only stayed out late to play tunes one of the evenings -- I was too shy to take a seat in the circle until later in the week. It was a Thursday night and a couple of the girls near my age in the dorms encouraged me to experience it.

And while I don't remember that first session, I do remember that I was hooked. I very much remember deciding that I wanted to make Irish music my life's work and that one day I wanted to be standing up onstage in the Kittredge Theater shoulder to shoulder with instructors playing the final set of the evening...

Now flash forward to last week. I was on that stage having an absolute blast.

But this is really the part of the story that I want you to hear. It took me 12 years to achieve that goal.

Multiple asks, multiple "no not yets", multiple periods of self doubt and questioning if I really wanted to stand on that stage after all.

And now that I'm looking at this goal in retrospect, I truly believe that despite the wait and the temporary no's (always graciously given), this timeline was exactly what it should have been for me.

Those 12 years were 100% worth it.

2026 Hannah is still learning, but she has come a long way from 2014 Hannah.

There were important lessons I needed to learn. Not just how to play my instrument. I could do that already, and that first year at Swannanoa unlocked how to play Irish tunes with lilt.

I also needed a deeper understanding of the history of the music. The session etiquette. The experience of running sessions, of performing this music for a vast range of audiences, of teaching students for about a decade.

Weekly Tune Library Update

Our slip jig section could use some rounding out, so this month I am adding a new slip jig tutorial each week! Keep an eye on the announcement bar over in the studio site to see what's new, and I'll also share the latest tutorials here!

Request-wise, The Gold Ring is now live in the Library, and I'll be releasing Martin Wynne's No. 3, Trip to Durrow and Martin Wynne's No. 5 next. You can request a tune at any time -- it just may take a little longer for me to get a tutorial if there are a lot on deck!

It may sound cliche, but if you want a goal badly enough and put in the work to make it happen... the timeline itself doesn't always matter. It can happen, even if it looks nothing like we expect.

There is a wonderful mix of people who read this newsletter, and your goal could be anywhere from playing in your first session to taking your music to further reaches of the globe.

We are given limited time on this Earth, and we may not check everything off the bucket list. But keep going for it anyway, and who knows what might happen?

Happy playing!

~Hannah