Tim Smith and Eileen Regan have been playing Irish music ever since they met at the now-defunct Zoo Bar in Washington D.C. almost 50 years ago. Over four decades later, they continue to play and teach this genre of music to people in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.
About four times a year, Smith and Regan host a Celtic Jam Session in Carrboro to invite people in the area to play music with them or just come listen. On Friday, they hosted one of these sessions filled with music, conversation and laughter.
At around 7:30 p.m., a few people started trickling into the Carrboro Century Center to listen to live Irish music. By 8:00 p.m., there was a circle of about 20 people, including Smith and Regan, many of whom brought instruments of their own.
Regan plays the fiddle, using the same one her mom bought for her in high school, and Smith plays the tin whistle, Irish flute and English concertina — alternating between the three. They were joined by two cellos, another fiddle and a traditional Irish drum called a bodhrán.
Drew Pilant played the bodhrán on Friday. He recently spent a year in Dublin learning how to play the instrument, along with the fiddle and the concertina. Pilant plays with Regan and Smith in their band, Big Celtic Fun, which will be performing at the Carrboro Music Festival at the end of September.
Each jam session is different, and sometimes they mainly consist of musicians — both experienced and not. Other times, a few people join the circle and just listen to the music.
“Honestly, you have to kind of gauge the situation,” Smith said. “If there are a lot of beginners, you have to encourage them and play stuff that maybe everybody knows.”
Within the session, different players can suggest songs or join in mid-song if they recognize the tune. Most Irish music is played by ear, so understanding rhythm and beats is important when playing. The players recognize this fact and are thus able to produce melodic songs.
Regan also hosts an Irish music learning session once a week in Durham to help upcoming players build their talent. Though Smith and Regan have been playing for years, they understand how difficult it can be to grow the skills necessary to play Celtic music, so they want to build a community that is welcoming to newcomers.
