Green Briar's Closing Means The End Of An Era For A Legendary Irish Music Session

For anyone who has ever set foot in an Irish pub, it's a familiar sight: a group of musicians clustered in a tight circle, filling the beer-stale air with the bright strains of jigs and reels. The session, as it's known, is an informal gathering of players who share a common repertoire of traditional Irish tunes. They enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the bars that host them — the musicians provide the atmosphere, and the pub becomes their second home.

The Green Briar, a beloved Irish bar in Brighton, is host to what may be the longest-running session in Boston. Every Monday night for the past 29 years, musicians of all ages and abilities have descended upon the bar, filling up its big back room for a massively popular, beginner-friendly session in the early part of the evening, followed by a more experienced (read: faster) session that lasts into the wee hours of the night. As the Green Briar prepares to close its doors for good on May 6, its beloved Monday night session faces an uncertain future.

I visited the second-to-last Green Briar session — click the red player button atop this post to hear sounds from that night, and scroll below to check out the scene: