Jams O'Donnell

My real name is Helen, and I live in the U.S. (Virginia). I've been playing the guitar informally and sporadically since I was 10. In my 30s, I got a little more serious and got into fingerstyle blues guitar, which I still love. Now, at 41, I've decided to try to learn traditional Irish music, which I always considered way beyond my ability. We'll see.

I'm also a fan of sean-nos singing -- in fact, I love it all, from the real trad to the fusion stuff. Only thing I'm not wild about is when it gets too new-agey.

I'm of Irish descent, but my introduction to Irish music began when my German-descent folkie father played Clancy Brothers records for me when I was a kid back in the 60s. In fact, one of my earliest memories is my father dancing me around the room to "I'll Tell My Ma" when I was about 3. The Clancy Brothers as a kid led me to The Chieftains and Planxty and the Bothy Band as a teenager and college student, etc., etc., etc., and my CD collection is now 20 years a-growing and fairly diverse.

I love the pros, but my real joy is stumbling on an amateur session of unknowns who are hitting on all cylinders (preferably in a pub in Ireland, since that means I'm in Ireland, too). Unpredictable, serendipitous, unable to be reproduced -- trying to find these kinds of sessions is an addictive hobby -- with the added benefit of knowing that even when the session isn't "mighty," it is still better than most anything else I could be doing that evening!

A long way of saying that I'm a dedicated and appreciative punter.

Jams O'Donnell is the stray cat who adopted me a while back by showing up at my door emaciated and constantly "talking." I was reading "The Poor Mouth" by Flann O'Brien at the time, and as part of my chatter to calm the cat down while I opened a can of tuna for the starving little thing, I told her "Hush now. You don't need to be putting on the poor mouth for me . . . . " and decided then and there to name her Jams O'Donnell. If you've read the novel, you understand. (The woman at the front desk at the vet's office, however, could not understand how my new cat could have a different last name than mine. I told her that I almost named her Bonaparte O'Coonassa, and she wisely decided not to ask me any more questions.)

Tunes in Jams O'Donnell's tunebook: 8