Working at Fun

Abstract

Today, in Irish music pub sessions that are structured to attract tourists, the majority of musicians are engaging in what is for them a leisure activity. However, complicating their leisure activity is the fact that pub sessions are increasingly commercialized, as the profit motive becomes primary for pub owners. As more and more commercialized sessions aim to attract tourists, many musicians must participate in the new economic session structure. This makes problematic the leisure activities of musicians who believe they are playing music for fun, when they are in effect working to increase the profit of pub owners. The study looks at a form of leisure that takes on certain characteristics of work. Six years of fieldwork in nine Irish pub sites in Ireland and Chicago, and 50 in-depth interviews with pub session musicians, highlights the complexity of trying to construct conceptual boundaries around fluid human activities. This research takes into consideration the meanings that participants give to their activities as it explores the ways in which Irish traditional music pub sessions function as both leisure and work at the same time.