memorable jam experience

[keymandoguy]

What has been your most memorable moment at a jam ? Mine was spring 2004 at Beanblossom. I played in the gate jam and was supprised to see that I was the only one with a mandolin ( very unusual for a bluegrass scene ) ? Anyway I got to play right next to Melvin Goins and Marty Rabon. Was a real treat for me to play with top talent like was there . http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[legendarytones]

Well I have quite a few. I guess one of the best was when the band I was playing in called Southbound in Atlanta GA. in the underground at the Apothecary Club in 1972. We were playing our next to last set on a Saturday night, and in the door walked Vassar Clements and John McKuen. The Dirt Band was playing at the Omni that week-end, and they had come to underground with picking on their mind. Well in the next set, John had his banjo, and Vassar his fiddle, and Vassar kicked off Little Georgia Rose in the key of B, and we absoulutly BURNT IT! After our set, and the club closed, we stayed and picked till daylight Sunday morning. It was great. On Sunday night me and the rythm guitar man went to see them at the Oni. We got in free of charge, and went back stage to talk to them. They were all good fellows. Another time I remember, I was at Camp Springs Festival about'74, and Frank Greathouse of the New Deal String Band and myself squatted down in the grass and played twin mandolins on a bunch of old-timey tunes for about 30 minutes. Also about the same year, while playing at a club in Centreville Va., Ricky Skaggs and Boone Creek came in on our last set, and afterwards we went to a guys house and jammed till sunup. I was very fortunate to have been involved in the band I was with. Some of the members were Lou Reid, and Jimmy Haley. I've gotten to pick with some outstanding players in my life.

[Rich]

My most fantastic jam experience was a Rockygrass 4 years ago. #I was trying to learn improvisation on the mandolin and things hadn't been clicking into gear. #I had been at the festival jaming with different camping groups for 3 nights - on the fourth night something meraculous happened and everything just came together. #I was playing phrases that I had been hearing but had never played before- at tempo with good timing. #Man was that a cool moment. #I've had several other "ah-ha" mando experiences since, but that was the first and most dramatic. #It was like someone else- who actually new how to play well- had taken over my hands and head. #Very cool stuff. #Good topic thanks!

[giverin]

Mine has to be a few weeks back. Long story cut short, i ended up in a small jam session with Tim O'Brien!wow! it went on for a few hours and we must have done at least 25 songs!

[adgefan]

I was in the same jam with Tim O'Brien, but was too exhausted and rubbish to keep up with anything more than 4 or 5 songs. If you look here (http://www.bristolbluegrass.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/album/sf2005/117_1714.JPG) you can just make out my mando's headstock on the far left...honest http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

However, I think my best moment in a jam was the same week when I got to play in a session with banjo player Bill Evans. I must say, he's the nicest person I've ever met in a jam circle. Shook me by the hand and introduced himself as I sat down beside him and then didn't mind one bit as I did nothing but chop along and repeatedly bang him on the head with my mandolin (accidentally, of course).

[Patrick Gunning]

The best jam I've ever been in was at Wintergrass this year. The band Old School Freight Train was staying a few rooms down the hall from me at the Sheraton and as I was stumbling by at 3 AM I heard music in there, so I checked it out. OSFT was in there with Joe Craven and Sam Grisman and the fiddle player from Pupville too, and I broke out my guitar and sat in with them until about 5:30. Just an amazing jam, everybody was really clicking and there was some kickass versions of some old songs (particularly Summertime in some weird key, I'm too tired to remember) going on. Just great.

[Wayne Webb]

My most memorable jam to date.
We just got back from our vacation on English Mountain near Sevierville Tennessee. Come Sunday morning, we popped in to this old timey little Baptist church near the foot of the mountain where we were staying, not knowing what to expect. The place was packed and preacher preached like the house was on fire. That night we went back and brought our instruments and picked and sang with them. Everybody was so sweet to us. One man invited us over to another man's house for a jam they were having Monday night so, the next night we headed across the mountains to his house. As we pulled up to his driveway beside a beautiful mountain stream, we came to an old shed with coon hides and tails nailed all over one side next to two dog houses complete with coon dogs. Inside their humble home at the foot of a steep hill they had a big, wood-floored living room that must have taken up almost half the house it seemed. It was full of people playing fiddles, guitars, standup basses, a steel guitar, mandolins, banjos and the finest pickin' an singin' you ever heard. The brother to the man who invited us told me "well, you finally got to pick with some REAL hillbillies". This is his site: http://www.jimbowhaley.com/

[keymandoguy]

These storys are great so far. love reading everyones experiences http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[jim simpson]

Mine was showing up at an outside festival jam and seeing a mando playing friend of mine hand me this Loyd Loar to play. he said the owner didn't mind and was not a player. I must have played that thing for an hour or so. It was a real pleasure. It's too bad I didn't have the funds when it came up for sale.

[JimRichter]

I've had a few, but one of the most fun was when I was performing here in Bloomington a couple years ago with my duo partner, Gordon Bonham, and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings came out to hear us play. GIllian and David spent a good chunk of time here in Bloomington in the 90's and are good friends of Gordon's (they were part of a whole Bloomington roots contingent that also included Jeff White, David Steele, and Jason Wilbur). So when they were in town for a gig , they came to see us. David came up and did our entire second set with us on Gordon's D18. It was amazing to stand next to David and analyze his playing--he's got such a graceful touch. Gillian came up for the last two (a couple of Neil Young tunes--think we did Down by the River and Old Man).

I've had other great jam experiences, but this is my favorite one from any gig I've done.

Jim

[James P]

Years ago now, several of us skied into a mountain hut with a couple of guitars, a banjo, and a mandolin. #During a lull in the endless succession of Neil Young and Grateful Dead songs a young man with no (zero, zip, zilch) musical experience picked up the mandolin and asked, "Could you show me something we could jam on?" #

So I sez, "Umm.. okay. #Try playing around on these open strings with maybe a change up to these other frets every once in awhile. #The important thing is to keep the beat going." # And with only that we started-out upon a droning modal journey thru the Key of Emu that to this day is one of the more memorable jamming experiences of my life. #

"The kid" had not clue one as to where-what-note-went-when, but he had huge ears and a great sense of timing. #Starting out quietly, we traded cues in an almost conversational way, using eye contact and shrugs to indicate which way the tone center and dynamics were shifting. #After about six minutes this jam had progressed into an anthemic folk explosion of sound that we then, with cues, began winding down before bringing it all back home to a final ringing power chord. #The strings decayed away and after a short silence someone in the room went, "Wow..."

I see him around every so often. #He still doesn't play. #When I say he should he says, "Yeah, that was really cool." #And it was. #
Then again, maybe it was the weed. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Joe F]

I regularly attend a local bi-monthly beginners bluegrass jam. #It's fun, the tunes are played at a reasonable speed, and the leader calls out chords and keeps things from becoming too chaotic.

A couple of weeks ago, during the jam, I had one of those rare "whatinthehell?" moments. #The tune was "Old Home Place," which I don't really know very well, but I decided to try and hack my way through a break. (It's a beginners jam; crashing and burning is a normal part of the process). To my amazement, my fingers somehow managed to find the right notes, and the break sounded clean and smooth. #I stared at my left hand and said, "How did you DO that??"

Every once in a while, I'll find myself picking a tune faster and cleaner than I know I'm able to do. Those kinds of moments are few and far between, but they are what keep me going. #It's especially fun when it happens during a jam.

[mandogrrl]

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Mandolin Camp North. On Friday night after the faculty concert, I hung around for the advanced jam which was being led by Sam Bush. Even though I knew a lot of the songs, they played them so fast that I could barely keep up on the chords. It was fun though. At one point I was playing away furiously next to Sam Bush and he turned and smiled approvingly at me. That totally made my day.

I have also enjoyed playing at the Saturday night bluegrass jam at the Skellig in Waltham, MA. The jam is hosted by my mandolin teacher Howie Tarnower and his friend John Stey. A couple of months ago, I sang "Wheels" with Howie. It sounded great and we got a lot of applause. It was very satisfying. Last weekend I played there with my husband on bass, Howie on banjo and John Stey on guitar and lead vocals. We were amazingly tight, especially considering it was the first time we had played a lot of the songs together. I played a few adequate breaks but at the end of the night Howie played a couple of mandolin breaks that absolutely knocked my socks off. Afterwards, people told us that they loved our "band".

Also, I played at a jam at a friend's house once and during one particular song (I think it was "Helplessly Hoping")the vocal harmonies were so unbelievably perfect that we were sort of stunned afterwards. It was a very cool moment.

O.K. I have more, but I'll stop now. :-)