More, MOAR Bluegrass!
One of my earliest posts on this blog was about my regular Friday Night Jam group, and then I recently posted about another monthly jam I discovered here in Chicago. However, now that I’ve got my folding banjo that I can stuff into my backpack, I’ve discovered that the real fun is to hunt for open jam sessions when I travel around the country!
When I was in eastern North Carolina in September, I got word of a great local bluegrass group playing in a tiny town 30 minutes away. So my father-in-law and I drove over to Fountain, N.C. General Store, and it was quite a scene!
The ‘general store’ had odd books and knickknacks for sale on odd shelves… in the back was a candy and ice-cream shop. The town was extremely tiny, and the audience was a bizarre blend of urban hipsters (just driven in from bigger cities) and small-town people straight out of central casting (presumably from the town itself?)
The group began to warm up and tune the instruments. I eventually got photos of the banjo player, bass, and guitar player using a super-wide aperture lens, sans flash. And oh yeah, the music was excellent as well! Of particular note was the fiddler, who invited his 12-year-old daughter to come up and play duets with him. She really roused the crowd!
Finally, when I was in Bay Area last week (a standard visit to Google HQ), I got word of a monthly jam at the Atlas Cafe in San Francisco. I drove up with some other Googlers, and we crowded onto stage with 15 other musicians. I always love the thrill of playing songs you’ve never heard before — all by ear. And then they force you to take a solo anyway. 🙂
Let me know if you ever want to take a shot at gypsy jazz on banjo — we’ve got a few regular jams here in Chicago!
By “central casting,” I assume you meant “authentic.” The blue grass at the Fountain General Store is rural North Carolina at its realistic best (not to mention that the banjo player was head of the Economics Department at the local university [East Carolina], and the bass player was director of the Greenville, NC public library system. Beyond that, the rest were true locals.)
Thanks for the comment and review. I’d love to know who you are and who your father in law is since he at least knows me by reputation. BTW, the fiddler and the guitar player were the locals. Tom on mando has lived all over the country. But after all the time we have spent here, we may as well be locals.
Thanks for the comment and review. I’m the banjo player. I’d love to know who you are and who your father in law is since he at least knows me by reputation. BTW, the fiddler and the guitar player were the locals. Tom on mando has lived all over the country. But after all the time we have spent here, we may as well be locals.
for Buddy.
i forgot your e-mail, thi is my new contact, please sen your e-mail. Ciao Michele