Brogues by way of Bristol

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JACK FIRNENO / WIRE PHOTOS
The River Drivers play a session in the main room of the Kelch House in Bristol Borough on Tuesday night. The group comprises five local residents but as the session goes on, more musicians join. “It’s very communal. That’s part of how Irish music works. You bring people in, and all levels are welcome,” explained Meagan Ratini.[/caption]

The River Drivers invite everyone to jam with them.

By Jack Firneno
Wire Editor

Usually it’s impolite to talk while the band’s playing, but every once in a while it somehow seems appropriate.

That’s the case at the Kelch House in Bristol Borough on Tuesday nights. There and then, the River Drivers hold sessions in the main room, tucked cozily in a corner near the back bar that overlooks the Delaware River just a block away.

The group comprises five local residents: Meagan Ratini and Kevin McClosky in their 20s; Meagan’s mother, Mindy Ratini; Marian Moran, Mindy’s old college roommate; and Paul Notwick.

The quintet alternately plays acoustic guitars, bass, mandolins, banjos, fiddles and flutes with a repertoire consisting of traditional Celtic music, American folk and bluegrass.

But at the Kelch House, they don’t stay a quintet for long.

“It’s very communal,” explained Meagan. “That’s part of how Irish music works. You bring people in, and all [skill] levels are welcome.”

As the session goes on — they start at 7:30 and last as late as 10:30 — more people join: a few more guitar players, a gentleman with a frame drum. Sometimes the band greets them as they approach, other times a warm greeting for a player who slipped in mid-song is saved for right after.

“It’s very traditional for Irish sessions to work this way,” said Meagan.

It’s in keeping with the “trad” music, as they call it, that’s played at traditional Irish sessions. Modeled after the meetups in pubs in Ireland, the group draws from a seemingly bottomless catalogue — “Kevin knows about 350,000 songs,” laughed Meagan — for songs where everyone can join in.

It’s an informal affair, where etiquette dictates that players unfamiliar with a song lay back until they become comfortable with it. Those who know it better take a prominent role in embellishing on the melody or maybe singing harmonies.

In this casual atmosphere, the focus isn’t on performing for the crowd or any one player taking a spotlight. Sessions like these are more like conversations, dialogues between the players as different people weave in and out of a song, interjecting when necessary and laying back other times.

And, that informality and sense of dialogue is supported by the other restaurant patrons, who act almost as another instrument.

The group’s low volume — other than a vocal microphone on a table-top stand, all the instruments are played acoustically — allows the people sitting at the tables even just next to them to carry on conversations as the music permeates the entire space.

That’s not to say the River Drivers are ignored. Rather, the crowd regularly stops and warmly applauds each song before returning to their food and chit chat. And when they do, their light chatter adds to the music, the hum of the voices and clinking of silverware filling out the performance like light orchestration in the background of a pop song.

“The Kelch House has been great, they’ve been very supportive since the beginning,” said Moran. “We were trying to describe to them what an Irish session is… that’s a leap of faith for a restaurant.”

Of course, it’s been working out well since the group set up shop in January. And, the Kelch House isn’t the only place taking that leap on the group. Since forming last February, the River Drivers have performed regularly in and around Bristol this year. But instead of formal venues, they’ve generally played community events like Canal Fest, performances at the Grundy Library and even an appearance at the Bristol Clean-Up Day in early May.

In fact, their first performance, the one that brought them together, was at St. Mark’s Church early last year. They were brought together to play at Mass there, and, recognizing their “immediate chemistry,” as Mindy put it, have stuck together since.

“We just liked playing together and we sounded good together, so we kept doing it,” she explained.
But for the most part, the River Drivers prefer events like festivals, local events and restaurants — places where the performers and audience don’t stop and start at the end of a stage.

“It’s not about performance,” continued Mindy, “It’s about participation.”

Even if it’s a little light chatter to accompany the light music.

For information, visit www.theriverdrivers.com