Judith Lindenau plays the pennywhistle at a recent benefit performance.

By Judith Lindenau

Executive Vice President, Traverse Area Association of Realtors

"How do we know we're not in America?" was the name of the game we played, as we drove through southern Ireland in April.

"Painted sheep!" said one of my friends, noticing that farmers dyed a spot on their sheep to distinguish the owner.

"Stone fences!"

"No trees."

"Narrow roads."

"Ruined castles."

And I, the amateur musician among the six of us, said: "Pubs!"

Of course, we have pubs in America. Friendly family taverns exist in Cedar, Northport, Karlin, Mayfield -- all around the area. But somehow, they aren't the same as The Bunratty or Paddy Burke's -- and there's one big difference: the music.

Music is community, particularly in countries where cell phones, automobiles, and television are less intrusive parts of daily life. In Ireland, people came together in pubs as gathering points, bringing children and grandparents for afternoons of music, storytelling, games, and gossip. Over a lifetime of having a pub as the center of social life, one develops skills in all of these areas -- playing fiddle, competing at darts, retelling the stories of generations past. These are the skills of a neighborhood, a village, a community -- cherished activities nurtured in the many pubs of Ireland.

It was a desire to evoke that same sense of community that led a few Traverse City musicians to gather together regularly to play the folk music of Ireland. To begin with, there were only a few of us ... and we didn't sound very good. We met irregularly, traded "tunes" and stumbled our way slowly through some jigs and reels. We apologized to each other and to anyone who might happen by the church to hear us -- until suddenly we found we were getting better! And as we became more proficient we grew more confident, and we started having fun -- and even more, wanting to share that fun with other musicians we knew!

"Come on down," we said to our musical friends. "It's a great time." And they came -- so many of them we needed a home. So, in the best tradition of our forefathers in Ireland, we found a pub, and we moved in for one night a week.

Now here are the rules we've discovered for our musical community:

1. No name. Well, we have to be something, I guess, so we are TC Celtic. Pretty unimaginative and noncommittal.
2. No members. Whoever comes, plays or dances. Our only rule is traditional acoustic instruments -- fiddles, guitars, flutes and whistles. Sounds a little scary, doesn't it? But one night last winter we had over 50 musicians playing along.
3. No paying jobs. Our group will appear once in a while for a charitable event if one of us will agree to coordinate the appearance, and we will accept donations to our ‘party fund'... but we only want to be the spark that fires some small groups of musicians, some dancers, and some appreciative listeners for the music we love.

See? We can tell you what we are NOT! What we have become is a group of friends who gather on Mondays for two hours of music. We care for each other -- weddings, graduations, divorces, even death are a part of our shared experience. In the last year we held an Irish wake for our beloved guitarist Jim, and a 16th birthday liberation party for Alex, the bionic fiddle player. Soon it will be my own birthday -- a BIG one -- and I choose to celebrate it with my good friends on Monday night at the Loading Dock.

TC Celtic welcomes diversity -- we are high school students, doctors, retirees, young professionals. People come from all over Michigan to play with us ... and from as far away as Minneapolis and Boston and Detroit. We have our regular audience and they are as much a part of TC Celtic as the musicians: We expect them to sing, clap, dance, and come up and talk to us while we're playing, just as we musicians sometimes jump up and dance.

Irish music is a joyous music, a celebration of life even in its smallest moments. Consider the names of the tunes: "The Eel in the Sink, "The Wind that Shakes the Barley," "Top of the Cork Road," and "The New Mown Meadow." It's that love of life and of the small joys and sorrows which brings us together every week in musical moments we create and share.

Music as community? It's an idea as old as the hymns we sing in our churches, the fight songs at the high school football games, our national anthem. I'd like to do more articles about the ways the Traverse Area residents use music to build community. If you have ideas for more feature stories, contact judith@taar.com.

And feel free to participate in our community, every Monday night at The Loading Dock on Cass Street in Traverse City.

How do you know you're not in Ireland? For a couple of hours on a Monday night, you may not be able to tell.

Listen to TC Celtic!

• Drowsy Maggie
• Cliffs of Moher