Bog Down in the Valley-O

Mary and Kate love Ella Jenkins, they enjoy Justin Roberts and Ralph's World but the Larkin and Moran Brothers, an Irish pub band, is my daughters' favorite band. I slip one of their CDs into the player in the car and Kate screams, the Larkin Brothers! Irish pub music, while fun and silly, is not always geared toward children, Whiskey in the Jar being a fine example, and Mary and Kate love to sing along with that one. Their very favorite being Bog Down in the Valley-O, a fun song that is sung progressively faster and faster until you can understand very little of what is being sung. Not Mary and Kate, they know all the words and keep up, singing and spinning as fast as they can go.


No complaints, we love them also and if Mary and Kate want to spend some time hanging out in a pub listening to music, that's just what we must do for our daughters' music education. Saturday the Larkin and Moran Brothers played at the Celtic Festival in Grant Park. Far from the warmth and shelter of a pub, we stood outside in the rain, in a downpour, record rainfall, four very wet music fans dancing and singing like mad.
We skipped the sheep herding. Disappointed as I was, I couldn't complain too much knowing that friends in Texas were dealing with much worse. I'll try not to imagine what all those wet sheep may have smelled like.