Trading the Fiddle for Funk: Jamming at Flanagan's Harp & Fiddle

in Bethesda not only transcends the usual Irish bar image when it comes to their music, but their happy hour — which extends from 4-7 p.m. —  continues with nightly specials all the way until closing.

Have family and friends visiting from out of town this holiday season? Come in from the cold with your whole crew and choose from an array of tasty late-night deals any given night, or root for the Redskins while devouring Redskins Specials during this season's remaining games.

At Harp & Fiddle, any last call with old friends in town for the holidays is sure to be a memorable one. Pitchers of Shock Top and Bud Light are $10, and wings and nachos $5 each.  

Yes, you can come for the food, but if you're ready to bring the funk, my friend, Tuesday nights are the night to show up at Harp & Fiddle — if only for Brandon Combs and Gary Grainger, two big names when it comes to the Maryland music scene. Their Tuesday night shows get everyone out on the dance floor, and that is no exaggeration. The jam session, hosted by Grainger and emceed by Combs, is one of the best jam sessions around, luring some of the most talented musicians from Maryland and Washington, D.C. to Bethesda.  

Grainger and his brother have hosted the jam session for over five years, and front man Combs — a great singer and an even better entertainer — has been the emcee of the jam session for its entirety. Combs is hilarious, cracking up the audience and leading The Brandon Combs Band in covering old-school favorites like "Flash Light" by Parliament to the oh-so-addictive "Blame It (On the Alcohol)."

In the words of a District bassist who joined the jam session, "They're better than most cover bands because they play a wide range of musical genres — from classic Motown to up-to-the-minute pop R & B."  

After shaking it on the dance floor, enjoy a Tuesday $12.95 T-Bone steak — a delicious cut for the price. Avoid the fish n' chips, though — more mealy than flaky. Only apropos for such an atypical Irish bar, I suppose. To Harp & Fiddle's Irish street cred, however: The Guinness Beef Skewers are delicious (served with a tangy, jump-start-your-tongue sauce), and Dubliner Ronan Kavanaugh (playing again Thursday the 30th) joins H & F weekly to play, among other genres, traditional Irish and Irish ballads.

If you can't bring the funk but love embarrassing yourself with old pals in town for the holidays, Drunkie-Okie Karaoke, held on many Wednesdays, is sure to get you onstage.

And if some of you aren't quite relaxed enough to sing your heart out, split a $12 bucket of Coors Lights and warm up to the idea of shamelessly following lyrics you thought you knew but didn't.

Stay tuned for next week's winterific hot spot: less eclectic, more posh.