Boston’s roots band Session Americana for Monroe’s

Session Americana will play two dates in Monroe’s Live next Thursday and Friday, August 21 and 22.

The Boston-based band is aptly named – if you like rootsy, impeccably played American music, then this is the show for you.

In concert, Session Americana assemble around a circular table, playing originals and some choice covers. It’s not your everyday set-up and was the brainchild of the band’s guitarist and singer Ry Cavanagh.

“I was trying to make a less formal kind of a gig, and I was inspired by the casualness of the Irish sessions, but I had no interest in playing that kind of music,” he says.

“So we decided to do a similar format with a little café table. We got a little bass amp, and we got a small condenser mic to put on the table, so that when we sang it would get a little bit louder, get up over the din of the bar.”

Ry is a big fan of Townes Van Zandt, the Texan songwriter whose songs were covered by Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Van Zandt died from alcoholism in 1997, and never really became the star he deserved to be.

Galway fans of the Texan singer, and there are many, can expect to hear a Van Zandt song, as well as some of Ry’s own tunes in a set that will linger in the memory. n Tickets are €15/€13.50 online.