Jam tunes

[jamfan]

Hey all -

I would like to start going to jams and want to gather a list of the 30 or so most common tunes played in jams.

Is there anyone willing to send me some tunes that are common?

THANKS!

[Phil Vinyard]

I used Steve Kaufman's list to prepare for camp. Check out http://www.acoustic-kamp.com/html/Kamp%20Song%20List.htm . Plus this list might help you set some priorities: http://www.acoustic-kamp.com/html/Tony%27s_Kamp_Kaufman_Fiddle_Tune_List_-_May_2010.pdf

But pretty much every jam I was in we played Salt Creek, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Red Haired Boy, Soldier's Joy, Cripple Creek, and Ragtime Annie.

[aphillips]

Yay for this thread - I've been wanting the same information - thanks for starting it!

[re simmers]

El Cumbanchero if there's too many banjos.....that'll clear 'em out.:))

If not, everything that the Bluegrass Album Band did.

Bob

[jim_n_virginia]

Just about every jam I have ever gone to around here someone played....

Angeline The Baker
Soldier's Joy
Red Haired Boy
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Arkansas Traveler
Rag Time Annie
Salt Creek

:mandosmiley:

[sgarrity]

I have NFI here but these are good books. I've met the author and he's a heckuva picker and good guy!

http://www.bluegrassbooksonline.com/

[Mike Snyder]

Liberty
Gold Rush
Lost Indian
Red Wing

[Mattg]

Depends on where you live. Why not go to a few local jams and check it out? Take a recording device and a note pad (get the titles and keys).

[Spencer]

Cherokee Shuffle, Dixie Hoedown and Shenandoah Valley Breakdown are real common at Bluegrass jams around here in addition to the tunes mentioned already.

Spencer

[pickloser]

Those mentioned (although I've never heard Shenandoah Valley Breakdown at a jam), plus Clinch Mountain Backstep and East Tennessee Blues.

[JeffD]

Depends on where you live. Why not go to a few local jams and check it out? Take a recording device and a note pad (get the titles and keys).

This is exactly the right prescription. There will be regional differences in which tunes make the top 30, and where in the spectrum from bluegrassy to old timey to New Englandy to Canadian to contradancy the jam finds itself.

Go, listen, record, ask, become a known enthusiastic newbie that everyone wants to help.

[AlanN]

Funny, if a banjo is around at any of the jams I hit, SVB is never too far off.

[Alex Orr]

It does seem to depend on the region. These have been some of the more frequent tunes that have come up at the local jam I go to a couple of times a month

Old Joe Clark
This Weary Heart You Stole Away (Wake Up, Sweetheart)
Me and The Jukebox
I Am a Pilgrim
Using My Bible For a Road Map
Wreck of the Old 97
Ragtime Annie
Bill Cheatham
Don't Cheat In Our Hometown
St. Anne's Reel
Whiskey Before Breakfast
John Hardy
Wildwood Flower
Golden Slippers
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
Wabash Cannonball
Preachin', Prayin', Singin'
Pick Me Up On Your Way Down
Little Cabin Home On The Hill
Coal Dust In My Soul
Turkey In The Straw
Gold Rush

[journeybear]

Regional yes, but more important is genre: bluegrass, old-timey, country, rock, Dead-style jamming, blues - different styles have different repertoire, and what works at one campfire won't fly at another. ;)

So ... what kind of music are you planning to play?

[aphillips]

On recommendation from a thread here I picked up the Fiddler's Fakebook - and it's awesome. But, is it kosher to take that along with me to old time jams?

[raulb]

Kosher, yes. I think you will find that several, if not most, of the people will have a copy with them. Good resource.

Another good resource, especially for old time/contra dance music, is the Portland Collection (http://www.theportlandcollection.com/). It is real notation music tho, not tab.