The Sessions
Are arranged by town/village in alphabetical order. It is by no means exhaustive!
All these sessions have a regular track record. Nonetheless, there will be times when there will be no music, particularly if a lot of the locals go off to festivals in the summer for example. Check it out by phone before you travel miles.
Click here to add your favourite session. Give us location, day, time, a few words about the ambience, phone number for the venue etc. If you spot any inaccuracies, let me know!
ABERDEEN
The Blue Lamp - Gallowgate, Aberdeen, Tel 01224 647472 -
Monday evenings, 9.30'ish till late...a legendary pub with a legendary publican...stand up Sandy Broon...!!
The Globe - North Silver St, Aberdeen, Tel 01224 624258 -
Tuesday evenings, 9.00 till late..A mixed bag of singers and musicians...
The Lemon Tree - East North St, Aberdeen Tel 01224 647999
Saturday afternoons, 12.30 to 2.30...Hosted by Aberdeen traddie band Banish Misfortune and sponsored by an oil company...what more could you ask for..?
ARBROATH
The Foundry Bar - East Mary St., Arbroath, Angus Tel 01241 872524
Wednesday and Friday Nights 9.00pm till midnight.
Accordians and fiddles, robust dance band music in a world famous session bar. Idiosyncratic customs such as everyone taking a turn in picking the tunes to play. Go before you die….***
BROUGHTY FERRY
The Fisherman's Arms -
Thursday evenings - 9'ish...A fine session with a mix of most things...***
CARNOUSTIE
The Carlogie House Hotel, Carnoustie, Angus
Wednesday Nights 9.00pm till midnight. A laid back sort of session, with a good mix of singing, instrumental, Scottish and a fair bit of Irish music played.
CLACHNAHARRY
The Clachnaharry Inn, High St. Clachnaharry by Inverness Tel 01463 239806
Thursday nights 9.00pm till midnight. Good range of instruments and singers. Mostly traditional/folk. Information supplied by Donald Jack of Champin At The Bit
COLLISTON
The Colliston Inn, Colliston, by Arbroath, Angus
Monday Nights 9.00pm till midnight Very strict tempo dance music, don't turn up here with your Bodhran! Accordians and fiddles, often wth Bass and Piano. If you're an afficionado of dance band music this is the place for you. ***
DUNKELD
The Tay View Hotel, Dunkeld, Perthshire
Hotel formerly owned by Dougie Maclean. Sessions encouraged and can happen at any time. Instruments available if you haven't brought your own. Very spontaneous.
EDINBURGH - Where to begin? literally dozens of sessions to choose from. My favourite is:
Sandy Bell's Bar, Forest Hill Road, Edinburgh Tel 0131 225 1156
Sunday afternoons 2.45 till yon time…A cracking wee session dedicated to the memory of the late Ian Grant. Gentleman, Master musician and Harmonica genius. What Ian Grant didn't know about pipe music wasn't worth knowing. He shared it with us all freely.....he is greatly missed... ***
FALKIRK
The Newmarket Bar, Falkirk
Tuesday Nights 9.45 till midnight. This usually follows on from the Falkirk Fiddle Workshop. The students (and tutors) go up to the Newmarket and have a tune. Guess what? Stong bias towards fiddle music!**
FRIOCKHEIM
The Railway Hotel, Friockheim, Angus
Monday Nights 9.00pm till midnight. The indigenous session. Accordians and Fiddles. Another of these excellent north Angus sessions featuring a dance band based repertoire. ***
STONEHAVEN
The Marine Hotel, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire
Last Thursday evening of the the month. hosted by Pete Murray of the excellent Celtic Chords music shop in Stoney. ***
TARVES
Aberdeen Arms Hotel, Tarves, Aberdeenshire
Session-Once a month - Last Sunday of every month
8p.m - 11.30p.m.
A nice mixture of music and song - mainly folk traditional, everyone welcome - performers and audience.