St. louis music scene

[midmando]

I find that I may be moving to the St. Charles/St. Louis area soon - does anybody know what the music scene is like there? Jams, local flavor, etc.
Thanks,

Brad

[John Flynn]

It's a great music scene. There a lot of great groups, players and jams in blues, bluegrass, old-time and Irish trad. There are some great mandolin players in town. The St. Louis Folk School is a going concern that teaches roots music in an ensemble format. Focal Point St. Louis is an intimate concert venue that has a steady stream of acoustic music concerts. Music Folk is a great acoustic music shop. Also Fazio's Music is a Weber and Breedlove dealer with a decent amount mandolins on hand. I could go on and on. It depends on what you are interested in. I will say that I travel a lot on business and I check out the music scene wherever I go. Most other cities the size of St. Louis and larger don't seem to have nearly as much going on.

Let me know if you have any specific questions on anything about the area, whether it's music or anything else.

[Don Christy]

I'll add to what Johnny said. St. Louis has a great music scene. Lot's going on, especially with bluegrass and old time. Folks are very welcoming. There's also a decent house concert scene here and a good music venue scene. I also think there are a ton of good restaurants (at least in St. Louis). I don't get out to St. Charles too often.

For more info about the Folk School check out their website.

Feel free to contact me about anything related to St. Louis as well.
Don

[midmando]

Thanks both of you for the info - that really helps. I can't think of any other questions I have right now, but if I do I'll be sure to contact you

[hellindc]

There's an acoustic jam every Thursday night at Focal Point, in Maplewood (you can write me for more info, if you want). Monthly meeting of fiddlers, several good festivals. Any instrument, as long as you don't plug it in. Beginners and advanced players manage to co-exist. The Sheldon Auditorium is a great hall -- evocative of Ryman. Lot's of other stuff to learn about through Folk Fire, which you can find on the web.

Focal Point web site: http://www.thefocalpoint.org/

Also, the community radio station --- KDHX -- does a number of weekly bluegrass shows. It's weekly calendar is a good place to get an idea of what the music scene is about. If you go to Keith Dudding's page (Keith's a mando picker), you'll find a calendar there geared to folk/bluegrass.

Best kept secret: Webster U. has an orchestra that give six concerts per year for $5, and you get great classical music for much less than the St. Louis Symphany (which does, however, have all the grammies!).

[midmando]

I'm quickly moving from resigned to excited about this move

[John Flynn]

Best kept secret: Webster U. has an orchestra that give six concerts per year for $5, and you get great classical music for much less than the St. Louis Symphany (which does, however, have all the grammies!).

Well, if we are getting into non-mando content and classical music, a couple more best kept secrets: Opera Theatre St. Louis is a nationally acclaimed company coming up on its 32nd season. It is on the cutting edge of innovation in opera, presenting classic operas in new and different ways and also presenting the best in contemporary opera, including premiering several brand new works. My wife and I were not traditionally opera fans, but we have now attended over 20 productions there over the last 12 years and we enjoy it immensely.

Similarly, Dance St. Louis does much the same thing with contemporary ballet.