Updated January 27, 2014

Venues for live traditional music:

If your venue hosts sessions or frequently has traditional celtic acts, send me the information, and I'll try to post it. There is no charge for this listing. E-mail: jim@sfcelticmusic.com

• San Francisco:
  • Plough & Stars Pub-- the best S.F. place to hear Irish traditional music seven nights a week, usually starting around 9:30. The Web site has the monthly schedule of groups. Pros: Irish ambience, good Guiness; Cons: often very noisy -- make sure you get as close to the stage as you can, preferable in front of the speakers.
  • The Blackthorn Tavern, 834 Irving Street. - Culann's Hounds' home in San Francisco.
  • United Irish Cultural Centre, 2700 45th Avenue (at Sloat Boulevard) - (415) 661-2700 - Concerts, ceilidhs and other events at irregular schedule
  • Johnny Foley's  This very pleasant pub near Union Square has had occasional Irish acts in the past (e.g. Lunasa, but they currently seem to be booking mainly rock acts.)
  • Ireland's 32 Geary Street (around 4th Ave?)  They have been hosting Irish set dancing on some Sundays, but not a lot of traditional music.
  • Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub, 519 Jackson Street (415) 955-1916.
     
• Berkeley:
  • Freight & Salvage on Addison (just off San Pablo one block south of University Ave. Pros: very good acoustics, audiences there to hear music rather than talk. Cons: no beer or wine, relatively non-Celtic crowd.
  • Sally Greenberg's House Concerts  These concerts tend to feature English and Scottish music in a great, intimate setting (limited to 40 people).
  • Starry Plough Pub, at 3101 Shattuck Ave (south of Ashby) . The Starry Plough has informal sessions every Sunday night starting at 8:00 organized by Shay Black and Irish set & ceilidh dances on Monday nights.
• Alameda:
  • McGrath's Irish Pub, 1539 Lincoln Avenue is a regular venue to host Irish Jam Sessions. A Berkeley Area Slow Session (BASS) (or fast, if faster players show up) happens every Sunday afternoon  from 2:30-6:00. A nice warmup for the 8:00 session at the Starry Plough.
• Campbell:
  • The King's Head Pub & Restaurant, 201 Orchard City Drive. Celtic sessions Wednesday  night.  More info: (408) 871-2499. Proprietors: Sam and Barbara Summerscales.
• Santa Cruz Area:
  • Don Quixote's International Music Hall in Felton puts on a lot of great Celtic acts. Check on-line schedule
  • Henfling's Tavern in Ben Lomond has an exceptionally good selection of great Celtic musicians that do shows. Check the on-line calendar.
• Sonoma County:
  • The Black Rose Irish Pub in Santa Rosa at 2074 Armory Drive . Calendar of events is on their web site. Celtic/Irish jam sessions on the 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays of every month starting at 8:00 p.m. as well as an International Session on the 1^st Wednesday and a Bluegrass Session on the 4^th Wednesday. For more information, call the pub at .(707) 546-ROSE.
  • Murphy's Irish Pub, 464 First Street East, Sonoma. Murphy's has its schedule on its website.
  • Finbar Devine's Irish Pub & Restaurant in Petaluma at 145 Kentucky Street in The Old Opera House Bldg,  Finbars has live music, including Irish music, on Friday and Saturday nights. Check out the schedule and menu on their website. For more info call (707) 762-9800.
• S.F. Peninsula:
  • Millbrae  
  • Finn McCools Irish Pub, 213 El Camino Real, Bar Phone: 650.697.2403 
  • Sunnyvale:
  • Fibbar Magees 156 S. Murphy Avenue ((408) 749-8373.
• San Jose
• Rosie McCann's, 355 Santana Row #1060 (408-247-1706).  

Sessions:

For a list of Irish music sessions happening around the Bay, check out:

• my page of the sessions that I know about, and
• the Irish Music in San Francisco sessions page
• Slowplayers.org - Celtic seisiuns in California.

Dancing and Dance Instruction:

Dancing:

• Irish set dancing
  •  2nd & following Thursdays each montth  7:30-9:30pm at the United Irish Cultural Center,  2700 45th Ave at Sloat Blvd San. Francisco.
  • The 1st Thursday of the month at the Plough & Stars Pub, Clement & 2 Ave, S.F. If interested contact Josephine Brogan at: josephinebrogan@yahoo.com
• Irish ceili dancing
  • in Berkeley at the Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave  on Monday nights 7pm-11pm.. Lessons at 7pm, dancing 9-11pm.
  • in San Francisco at the Irish Cultural Center - check the schedule at the Cooley-Keegan Branch of Comnhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann
  • in Cupertino at the Brittania Arms Pub.  Check the website for schedule or contact Micael Murphy, (415) 786-1337 or irishboogieman@yahoo.com.
  • in Petaluma at Finbar Devine's Irish Pub Check  website for calendar.l
     
• Scottish dancing
  • Scottish Country Dancing

Dance Instruction

These resources are listed under the specific traditions:

• Irish step and set dancing
• Scottish dancing
• Cape Breton dancing

Where to Buy Traditional Celtic Music:

• Down Home Music Store, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito, CA (510 525-2129) has far and away the best selection Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Canadian music in the Bay Area including a lot of hard-to-get imports.
• Amoeba Records, 1855 Haight Street, San Francisco store has a large selection of Celtic records, with a heavy emphasis on Irish CDs. (The selection at the Berkeley store is much smaller). The Virgin Superstore in S.F., has a much smaller selection. Rasputin Records & Tower Records on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley, and Borders Books in Emeryville have quite minimal selections.
• See also the Mail Order and Internet Dealers listed under general resources.

Music Agents:

• Nancy Carlin Associates, agent for Nomos, Anam, Carreg Lafar, Andy M. Stewart, (510 372-4260), 411 Ferry Street, Suite 2, Martinez CA 94553, E-mail: nancyc@well.com
• Celtic Crossings represents over 50 traditional Irish and Scottish musicians and dancers for concerts, weddings, and other celebrations. Contact Cecilia at CelticXing@aol.com.

Music Teachers:

• Fiddle:
  • Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School. Each year Alasdair Fraser, the great Scottish fiddler, holds a week long camp, recently in the Santa Cruz mountains. Other fiddlers who have taught in the past include Martin Hayes and Buddy MacMaster, so the range of celtic music covered is broader than simply Scottish. Extremely highly recommended from those who have gone.
  • Paul Chafee Paul has been playing in the S.F. area since 1988. He has played with Tipsy House and Gnarly Pilgrims. ph: 510 620-0616, email: paul@paulchaffee.com
  • Susan Draheim - Experienced professional fiddler/violinist. (510) 534-7694, e-mail: suefiddle@earthlink.net.
  • Cáit Reed - has over 30 years experience as a teacher and performer of Celtic music. Many of her students have gone on to be professional musicians in their own right. When she teaches, (group classes and private lessons), Cáit focuses on technique, ornamentation, regional styles, phrasing, creating variations, playing "by ear" and having fun.  Her own solo CD entitled The Rolling Wave will be released this year. She plays (and teaches) fiddle, transverse flute, tin whistle, mandolin, tenor banjo, bodhrán, back-up guitar and cittern, as well as song accompaniment and arrangement.  My style is definitely archaic, having been learned from some of the old players from Galway and Clare."  I  also perform in SF and the general Bay Area and will soon be finishing my album and would like to send you one when it gets released.  Phone: 415-564-9674 (SF)
  • Michael Mullen   I teach both individual students and group workshops. in Scots-Irish fiddle. More info on my website email: me@michaelmullen.net Tel: (510)336-1535 or (510)414-6063
   

• Guitar:
  • Duck Baker, legendary fingerstyle guitarist has moved back to the Bay Area ans is now accepting serious intermediate and advanced students of all styles of finger-picking: Celtic, Old-time country and bluegrass, blues, ragtime, swing ,etc. East Bay, S.F. and Marin locations. Call (510) 237-8804.
• Harp:
  • Mary Hopkins - celtic and classical harp, performance and instruction, P.O. Box 475102, San Francisco, CA 94147 (Phone: 415-646-0612)

Local Record Labels:

• Aniar Records This San Francisco label has produced a variety of celtic records by artists such as Bill Dennehy, Séamus Egan, Theo Paige, Dale Russ, Todd Denman and Deby Grosjean.
• Gourd Music This Felton, CA label features artists such as guitarist William Coulter.

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