Texas pickin' park

[David Newton]

Let’s Jam!
Texas Pickin’ Park
Fayetteville’s Courthouse Square
Free ~ Free ~ Free ~ Free
www.texaspickinpark.com
2008
Jam Schedule
March 14 Friday beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Custom guitar to be given away on April 19th
April 18-19-20 Bluegrass Festival & “Grand Jam”
Then. . .
Monthly on the Second Saturday
1:00 ~ 6:00 p.m.
Stay as late as you like
May 10 ~ June 14 ~ July 12 ~ Aug 9 ~ Sept 13 ~ Oct 11 ~ Nov 8
Dec ~ No jam scheduled
Pickin’ in the park. It’s a tradition in many parts of rural America. Musicians come from near and far to
meet and play together in informal “jam” sessions.
The Texas Pickin’ Park is open daily April through November. So come on over and pick any old time.
Acoustic instruments only. Family-friendly. Alcohol and drug-free.
Those who come to listen are invited to bring their lawn chairs and wander from group to group listening to
the offerings of traditional, bluegrass, and gospel music.
Let’s Jam!
Texas Pickin’ Park
Fayetteville’s Courthouse Square
(979) 378-2753 or info@texaspickinpark.com
www.texaspickinpark.com

[Joe Dodson]

Dang. I really can't wait to get out there one of these days. It's what, about 90 minutes from Houston?

How is the level of picking out there?

[Windflite]

Hey Dave -- Set your brother Tom up with a mando (or guitar) and drag him to the jam as well! #Tell him I said so! #

(Geneological reference....your brothers wife and my wife are sisters. #Love to meet you someday and I sure hope to heck I got the right Dave Newton!) #

[David Newton]

JoeD
There's a lot there who are better than me, but that's not saying much! Here's your chance to show up and be the best picker there. Plenty good jams.

Andy
If you heard that I won the lottery, no, I don't think we are related!

[Windflite]

[Joe Dodson]

There's a lot there who are better than me, but that's not saying much! Here's your chance to show up and be the best picker there. Plenty good jams.

Au contraire Dave. I'm just hoping not to be the worst. I'll certainly make it out one of these days.

[Mattman]

Question, how far is Fayetville from Killeen?

[Hallmark498]

Count me in!

[Bill Snyder]

Question, how far is Fayetville from Killeen?

According to mapquest it is 135 miles. I live just outside of Belton so I am about the same distance.

[David Newton]

I've been posting Texas Pickin' Park info since I went back in October. My son and I enjoyed it, and I played in 3 different jams with different styles. That night there was no hard blugrass, more like slowgrass. Great fun, never-the-less. Best of all, the folks treat you like a local.

Hang on in the future. It is a rapidly changing event/venue, and so far everything has been free, mainly because of the local support. Check out their website, lots there.

Fayetteville is almost equidistant from Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. That should insure well populated events. In Texas, the problem with most bluegrass events is the small number of folks ready to jam.

[Hallmark498]

Hey Dave,

Do you know what day/days the bands will be performing and the times they might hit the stage? Didnt find any specifics on the website.

Thanks,

David Hallmark

[David Newton]

No, but there is questions thingy, you can ask.

[Hallmark498]

I just spoke with Gary of the Blue-River Band. He said they were playing Fri & Sat. Thats good enough for me.

[Dragonlady]

Hey, I just put the Texas Pickin' Park in the search engine and found this forum. # Pretty fantastic! # That tells me that the word is getting around. # Someone asked about the band schedule. . . . we'll post the Festival Schedule on the website sometime within the next couple of weeks. #We've been waiting for confirmation on one more headliner band. #We've got a great lineup and the Festival is FREE. #Thanks for helping to spread the word and for helping to make this 1st Annual Bluegrass Music Festival & Grand Jam a huge success. #Check it out at www.texaspickinpark.com

Hey, Dave. . . I see by your website that you make instruments. #Have you thought about having #Vendor Booth Space for your handcrafted instruments? #Booth space is only $50. for the 3-day weekend. #The booth space is really cheap. . . but the Festival will be absolutely first class!

I hope to see you all before the Festival at the March 14th Jam. . . starting at 6:00 p.m.

[GRW3]

With serious acoustic music events relatively rare in Texas, why was the Fayetville event scheduled for the same weekend as Old Settlers?

[Dragonlady]

Unfortunately, it's hard to find a weekend when nothing is going on. #The Burton Cotton Gin Festival is also on the same weekend. The season for the Texas Pickin' Park is April through November and we wanted to have a Festival to kick the season off. Fayetteville has thousands of people on the first weekend in April for the Round Top/Warrenton Antiques Fair. There's several thousand in town the second weekend for the MS 150 Bike Ride. #So, we were stuck with the 3rd weekend. The end of March wouldn't work either, for a number of reasons. Next year the MS 150 will go back to the 3rd weekend and we'll be able to have the 2nd weekend. . . then we won't be competing with the Old Settlers weekend or the Cotton Gin Festival. #We can't schedule something in Fayetteville when there's something else going on because we need all of the accommodations. #
I agree. #I hate to have it on the same weekend as Old Settlers, but we didn't really have a choice.
The Fayetteville Festival is new, exciting, and FREE. #There's a great band lineup. # I hope you'll be able to join us for at least a portion of the time.
Thanks for your post.

[The Old Sarge]

I just spoke with Gary of the Blue-River Band. He said they were playing Fri & Sat. Thats good enough for me.

Just heard Blue River at Hunter's Place in Wylie and they were sounding good. The CD they just released is certainly worth having for the original songs on it. And they will be playing at the Argyle Festival on March 8.

[Hallmark498]

Hey I was there!

That place is to cool. I've jammed with Gary and Mike quiet a bit, but that was my first time to hear the band. They are sounding great.

[Hallmark498]

With serious acoustic music events relatively rare in Texas, why was the Fayetville event scheduled for the same weekend as Old Settlers?

Old Settlers seems to be geared for listeners, Fayetville towards players.

[David Newton]

I'll agree with Hallmark that Fayetteville is for pickers (and to bump this to the top) the open square with plenty trees and acoustic only makes it ideal for many jams going at once. The festival is coming up April 18, 19, 20. I think it should be a great event. Also there will be a buy-sell-trade area, so if any builders are listening, bring a few boxes and see what's what. I'd love to meet and greet any other builders. Oh, yeah, customers too!

[Hallmark498]

I can't wait!

[Stanley Cox]

I am still looking for Fayetteville on the map. It sounds as though ya'll are having a lot of fun. Dave in Tejas come on up to Argyle next week end.

Stanley

[David Newton]

Jam Alert!
Where: Texas Pickin' Park
When: Friday, March 14
from 6:00 pm until fingers are too sore to continue.

It's the first "organized" jam of the year, a warm-up for the 2008 season of every-day jammin' in the Texas Pickin' Park.

There's a good chance that Kristin Finan from the Houston Chronicle will be on the scene shooting video during the March 14 jam. Banjo players, comb your hair.

[David Newton]

Here's the latest schedule, I think they've added instrument workshops:

http://www.texaspickinpark.com/Texas%2....ule.pdf

Hope to see you all there.

[Daniel Wheeler]

I will be there as of last night I'm not going to old settlers.

So where is the mando cafe jam?

Do they have instrument dealers and or vendors there?