Billy Connolly a big fan of Irish traditional music

By: Brendan Patrick Keane | Published Thursday, June 17, 2010, 6:57 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:38 PM

Billy Connolly the Scottish actor and comedian stopped into Lillies not too long ago, standing transfixed, listening intently to the sweet traditional Irish music at the session that happens there every Saturday afternoon near Union Square.

Connolly is also a singer and banjo player. You can watch a documentary he made in Ireland, where he visits the historic Cobblestones pub in Dublin to join in a session going on one night. The link to this film is here. He opens the clip describing the "wonderful session culture where people play for no other reason except that you can." He's a bit nervous before he goes, as he hadn't been playing in a session for a while, limiting his practice "picking by myself at home."