The Mersea Session

4 June 2012

Thursday 31 May 2012

Thank to Christine Macintyre - on a visit to Mersea from Argyll - for some of the pics above.

29 May 2012

Greg and John have started a new ceilidh club on Mersea Island. Called (with some inaccuracy) the "First Friday Ceilidh Club", it will be launching with the Regatta Ceilidh Band providing the foot-stompin' music, on Friday 8th June at the MICA, 8 pm. See poster below for full details and diary dates for the rest of the year. Please tell all your friends, and bring along everyone you know! Suitable for anyone between the ages of 8 and 108, it will be huge fun, as any of you who've been to the annual Regatta Christmas Ceilidhs will know.

The club has its own Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MerseaFirstFridayCeilidhClub . If you're on Facebook please nip over and 'like' it to show your support.

17 May 2012

Mersea Island Food, Drink & Leisure Festival 2012

All Coast Inn Session musicians are invited to play in the Acoustic Tent at the Mersea Island Food, Drink & Leisure Festival on 2nd and 3rd June

Sponsored by Black Diamond Accordions, the Acoustic Tent will offer two day-long programmes of widely varied acoustic music on the lower lawn at Mersea Vineyard.

At 2.30 pm each day, we'll be attempting to re-create a 'Typical Thursday Night at the Coast Inn' for half an hour, so please come along with your instrument/s - and your family and friends - and join in the fun.

Admission and parking are completely free and the festival offers two fantastic days out for all the family.

Links for further info:

Mersea Island Food, Drink and Leisure Festival website http://www.mersea-fdl-festival.com/ and Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Mersea-Island-Food-Drink-Leisure-Festival/116347698378527

Session Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Mersea-Session/118091451568964

Black Diamond Accordions: http://www.blackdiamondaccordions.blogspot.com/

17 April 2012

An invitation

29 March 2012

The Coast Inn and the Session in the press

Lots of good publicity for the Coast Inn and the Session in the press this month.

In Essex Life, the "Here's Cooking With You" slot (p 121 of the April issue) features Belinda. The piece is largely about the Coast Inn's justly famous menu, but the Session gets a little mention in Belinda's answer to the question "Any celebrity moments you can share with us?": "I remember a night when Billy Bragg joined in with one of our acoustic evenings here . . ."

The March/April issue of Colchester Circle - a vibrant new free magazine with a wide circulation in and around Colchester, and which is now available on Mersea - carries two Mersea-related articles. One (on p 30) is the first of a regular series featuring the island. Shanty Night at the Coast Inn gets a brief mention.

Also in the current issue - a familiar face (!) on pp 20-21, in a feature based around Black Diamond Accordions' forthcoming "Lunch Time Show Off" - at 15 Queen Street, Colchester on 19th April.

Finally, the most recent edition of the island's own free paper - The Courier - features the Session in its series of articles about Mersea music and musicians. There's a brief history of the Session in its current and previous incarnations, and quotes from musicians explaining what they most enjoy about Thursday nights at the Coast Inn.