Picture this: You're one of about 100 people squeezed into the candlelit upstairs room of a Dublin pub. There's a stage in front of you, but you have no idea who might be about to step onto it.
That's what it's like to attend The Ruby Sessions, a weekly showcase with a secret lineup.
Today for our Sense of Place: Dublin series, Ruby Sessions founder Conor Donovan explains how he started the series 27 years ago, and he remembers the time he accidentally let slip that a big star was playing that night.
"How many people? Did we have 7,000 people show up that night? Yeah, around that. Because I couldn't keep my mouth shut," he recalls.
Then, you'll hear performances from two Irish musicians: Aaron Rowe, who released his debut EP Exodus last year, and Muireann Bradley, whose new EP Blackwood Pew comes out in October.
Thank you to Mark Aubele for recording, Ger Murphy and John Broe for capturing today's session on video, and to Conor Donovan.
This episode of World Cafe was made possible by the Wyncote Foundation. It was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe's engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
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