Live folk music by locals?

[HoosierOldLady]

I am wondering if anyone has any tips for finding out about small gatherings of local folks playing live (folk, traditional) music in towns along the Frances/San Salvador/Primitivo that I might tap into. I am NOT a musician, but I will be missing my circle of friends who play roots/old time/bluegrass and It would be so sweet to be able to attend small gatherings of local folks who sit around and play traditional music. Do I just ask the Hospitalera for tips? Is this something that typically happens after all good pilgrims are in bed? Music is the universal language and local/roots/traditional music is such a great way to make friends with locals.

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

I am wondering if anyone has any tips for finding out about small gatherings of local folks playing live (folk, traditional) music in towns along the Frances/San Salvador/Primitivo that I might tap into.

I can only speak for rural Portugal, not Spain, but at least in Ptgl it seems most often that kind of group generally plays for community occasions like Saint's Days, town festas, etc. I get the impression that they're pretty private about jamming. Cafés are more likely to have the football game on in the afternoon or evening, rather than live music.

So keeping an eye on local posters, or perhaps an online version, if available, of the community news in the area you're walking through, might be a good way of finding this kind of gathering. And more likely to happen on weekends than during the week--everybody works pretty hard, and often a second job if available, so weekday evenings tend to be family time. And remember that unmarried youngish people tend to be living with their family more than is typical in North America.

 

[Gringazolana]

Hey fellow old lady Hoosier

 

[Tincatinker]

I am wondering if anyone has any tips for finding out about small gatherings of local folks playing live (folk, traditional) music in towns along the Frances/San Salvador/Primitivo that I might tap into. I am NOT a musician, but I will be missing my circle of friends who play roots/old time/bluegrass and It would be so sweet to be able to attend small gatherings of local folks who sit around and play traditional music. Do I just ask the Hospitalera for tips? Is this something that typically happens after all good pilgrims are in bed? Music is the universal language and local/roots/traditional music is such a great way to make friends with locals.

I've encountered live traditional music sessions in Bilbao, Santander, Gijon & Llanes on the Norte; Mieres on the Salvador, Oviedo & Lugo on the Primitivo; Potes on the Lebaniego and in Santiago itself. Along the Frances, nothing I can recall bar the odd Albergue sing-song

Pays Basque, Asturias and Galicia have strong folk traditions and are where you are more likely to enjoy those moments of serendipity

 

[HoosierOldLady]

Bilbao, Santander, Gijon & Llanes on the Norte; Mieres on the Salvador, Oviedo & Lugo on the Primitivo

Well, those are great tips! As it happens, I am flying into Bilbao and spending one night there. After a short stretch of the Frances from Logroño to Leon, I'll be walking the San Salvador and the Primitivo. I'm hoping to take extra/long days in Lugo and/or Oviedo, so hopefully I will luck into some traditional music there. And I will look more closely at Mieres as well. Thanks a ton.

 

[Charte57]

In a bar in Fromista there was a flamenco guitarist, it was wonderful! The locals were doing Palmas and singing, a few of us even danced! Last year in Finesterre there was a band on the street, crazy fun music!

 

[SabsP]

When in Santiago do try Casa das Crechas.
Very decent live music on some days.

 

[HoosierOldLady]

In a bar in Fromista there was a flamenco guitarist, it was wonderful! The locals were doing Palmas and singing, a few of us even danced! Last year in Finesterre there was a band on the street, crazy fun music!

Thanks! I’m hoping to have time to walk to Finesterre!

 

[HoosierOldLady]

When in Santiago do try Casa das Crechas.
Some very decent live music on some days.

Thanks, I’ll check that out!

 

[Tali]

Don't forget the TUNA band in the Prala Obradoiro every night at 10pm under the arches.

 

[Tali]

Video of the TUNA band - June 2022

 

[J Willhaus]

I think you will also find quite a few buskers depending on the time of year in Santiago. There is usually a gaita/bagpipe player as you come down the steps to the front of the Cathedral and around the old town there were various folks playing music around outdoor dining areas. Yes, the TUNA band is really fun to experience, too.

We also experienced a Flamenco show in Santiago at one of the bars with music, singing, and dancing. Very serious stuff and a standing room only crowd in the back room of the bar. In another town between Ponferrada and Villafranca de Birzo we passed by a Gaita school. Another really fun thing is when there is a guitar in the albergue and pilgrims will often play and sing together. That happened often in the albergues where we have served and also stayed.

 

[J Willhaus]

Also if you are on the Camino in the summer, you may encounter festivals and there is almost always music then, too.

 

[Kiwi-family]

San Roman, June 2014 (on the Primitivo)...he just appeared and started playing...magic

 

[oursonpolaire]

I am not much fun on this, as I tend to follow jazz. Keep an eye out for Luar na Lubre, a very succesful Galician Celtic music band, as they frequently do gigs in Galicia and northern Spain. Santiago is a town of students and young people and I have seen semi-traditional bands and dances set up in the city, such as in the Praza de Feixoo. At a nearby bar, accompanied by a German handball captain and an Australian wine merchant (hola Adrienne!), I wandered into a performance by TéCanela, who energized three really really exhausted pilgrims that night. At our reunion three years later Ariadna Rubio's voice rang out from a cabin in the Blue Mountains near Blackheath a month ago, cheering up local marsupials.

If you hit a fiesta, there will be dancing in the streets, but you cannot always count on the music being folklorico. In Lugo I was witness to about 400 senior citizens (I lost count after 300) swingdancing in the main square.

In the way of Spain, ask the hospitalera, ask the bartender, ask a young waiter or waitress, maybe even the Guardia Civil!

 

[trecile]

I've been eating dinner in a bar more than once when a group of locals with instruments came in and played. It was a lot of fun, and quite a few people got up and danced too.

One year in August I arrived in Muxía during a festival that was a lot of fun.

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