Boston

[Womandolin]

This has most likey been done, but just to get an idea... Who's in the Boston area? What are your favorite genres? Anyone been to the Green Briar in Brighton?

[MikeEdgerton]

Hey, there's a reason they're called Mandolins! Cool name.

I'm sure we have some Boston folks here someplace.

Here are some Boston threads. They may be a little out of date.

[jfbrown42]

I live in Norwood, off of Rte 128 outside of Boston. Never been to the Green Briar. I'm mostly into acoustic rock these days.

[cberrius]

I'm wherever the place right after "just starting out" is. I play a little Irish and would like to play some blues and rock, and maybe some classical. I've been to the Irish session on Mondays at the Greenbriar a couple of times, and there's at least one mandolin player there, plus a guy with a tenor banjo. The slow session at 7 is massive, with a couple dozen fiddles and another dozen flutes and whistles, plus a drum section off to the side--so a little acoustically challenging. The fast session at 9 is smaller and a lot faster. Both seem to assume knowledge of bunches of tunes, which is not quite where I'm at yet.

[Man of Wax]

Ahoy. I haven't checked out Green Briar, maybe because there are several good options for listening and jamming north of the river that are just easier to get to. I haven't participated in the jams yet (need to build a bit more skill and confidence), but there are jams at Sandy's Music and The Cantab on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Cantab has a bluegrass show on Tuesdays. There's also a tight bluegrass and western swing act at the Burren in Davis on Saturdays. The Burren also has Celtic music pretty often, but I'm not sure of dates.

I'm mostly into bluegrass myself. I also like playing old-time and swing music. Someday I might try jazz and klezmer.

[JeffD]

At various times I have had relatives and friends up there and my gosh - there are a lot of musicians in Boston. I was overwhelmend. Tons of jams and places to play and folks to play with. I am jealous. Considered moving there many years ago.

Love your loves BTW - coffee and pickin, they do seem to go together.

[John McGann]

The Cantab Lounge in scenic Central Square (Mass ave. Cambridge) not only has a featured band on Tuesdays from 10-11, but from 8-9 open stage, 9-10 warmup band, 11-1 open stage, and downstairs there are several jam sessions/picking parties going on, from 9 pm until closing. It's a great scene!

The Green Briar has hosted the Comhaltas session led by the venerable Larry Reynolds for many years, and if you like Irish trad it's a great place to visit. Being Boston, you can usually find a session any night of the week between the many pubs- I don't go to them now, but in the past there have been many memorable sessions at the Burren (Davis Sq. Somerville) and O'Leary's (Brookline).

[Womandolin]

At various times I have had relatives and friends up there and my gosh - there are a lot of musicians in Boston. I was overwhelmend. Tons of jams and places to play and folks to play with. I am jealous. Considered moving there many years ago.

Love your loves BTW - coffee and pickin, they do seem to go together.

My loves were almost beer and mando but after one beer I can't play a single note. Oh well. Maybe it's for the best

[Womandolin]

The Cantab Lounge in scenic Central Square (Mass ave. Cambridge) not only has a featured band on Tuesdays from 10-11, but from 8-9 open stage, 9-10 warmup band, 11-1 open stage, and downstairs there are several jam sessions/picking parties going on, from 9 pm until closing. It's a great scene!

The Green Briar has hosted the Comhaltas session led by the venerable Larry Reynolds for many years, and if you like Irish trad it's a great place to visit. Being Boston, you can usually find a session any night of the week between the many pubs- I don't go to them now, but in the past there have been many memorable sessions at the Burren (Davis Sq. Somerville) and O'Leary's (Brookline).

I love the Green Briar and it's really close to me but it seems there are a lot of great places in Somerville and Cambridge. It's a bit of a pain getting over there but I will have to go check it out. I've been to the Burren but not for any sessions. I can't wait until I'm a little more confident in my playing so I can get into a regular schedule of playing with other people.

[Womandolin]

Hey, there's a reason they're called Mandolins! Cool name.

I really wanted my username to be MandoLynne because my middle name is Lynne and and mandolynne is my email address. But, the name was already taken. There's another MandoLynne out there

[mandopete]

My loves were almost beer and mando but after one beer I can't play a single note. Oh well. Maybe it's for the best

Perhaps beer, mandolin and the Red Sox judging by your photo!



Is there any kind of jam scene over at Berklee?

[Womandolin]

Perhaps beer, mandolin and the Red Sox judging by your photo!



Is there any kind of jam scene over at Berklee?

Probably... but I'm not even comfortable playing at pubs yet, nevermind with a bunch people good enough to study music in school. My mandolin teacher teaches at Berklee I think.

[mandopete]

Probably... but I'm not even comfortable playing at pubs yet, nevermind with a bunch people good enough to study music in school.

...well you could always tell them them that you're into bluegrass!

[Man of Wax]

My mandolin teacher teaches at Berklee I think.

Who is it, out of curiosity? August Watters? (I met Watters at Joe Val; I don't know of any other mando people at Berklee, apart from the illustrious Mr. McGann above.) I'd be interested to know your impression since I'm thinking of starting lessons with someone in the fall.

[Womandolin]

Who is it, out of curiosity? August Watters? (I met Watters at Joe Val; I don't know of any other mando people at Berklee, apart from the illustrious Mr. McGann above.) I'd be interested to know your impression since I'm thinking of starting lessons with someone in the fall.

Yup it's August. I just did a google search for teachers in the area and found him that way.

[Man of Wax]

I'm reviving this thread because registration for the Cape Cod Mandolin camp (http://nemandolins.com/Camp-reg.html) has just opened. Anyone been there before? Care to share experiences?

[Mike Bunting]

Any of you Bostonians ever hook up with Richie Brown, mando player for the Reunion Bluegrass Band? He's from Cambridge, great player and a nicer guy. They played at Johnny D's Uptown Lounge in Somerville on St. Patrick's Day and have something coming up at Cantab.

[Man of Wax]

This might also interest the Boston crowd: Sam Bush workshop and concert at Fitchburg State a week from tomorrow.

[Matt Bowe]

Cape Cod Mandolin Camp is absolutely worth the weekend you'll spend in Sandwich (Be warned... they have a police department - the Sandwich Police) on Cape Cod Bay playing your mandolin or whatever instrument you happen to bring up to the cottage with lots of nice folks like Butch Baldessari, Matt Flinner, Carlo Aonzo or this year's guest Don Stiernberg.
And the sand shakes right out.
Oh, and the food is good.
No. The food is great.

[solarbean]

Who is it, out of curiosity? August Watters?

I met that guy a few years ago. He was selling a Gibson M6. The M6 is an interesting little instrument that Gibson made for a few years then discontinued. It is a 6-string guitar made from an A-style mandolin body. It was a lovely little instrument.

I am a guitar player of many years and wanted a different sound - the M6 seemed like an easy way to get the different sound without learning new fingerings. So there I was at August's house trying desperately to convince myself to buy this M6 from him, and he was desperately trying to convince me that I should really just man-up and buy a mandolin.

I wound up getting a Mando a year later. Thanks August!

[Michael Gowell]

Another endorsement of Ritchie Brown. He was one of the presenters/performers/teachers at MCN this past weekend. A very nice guy and a penetratingly incisive bluegrass mandolinist.

[Penn]

So here's a thought - what about a Boston Mando session for those of us who just aren't that good yet?? I've been playing about 6 months, got my first real mando this past week (Ratliff RA-5) and would love to bump up my playing in a session - but I'd be a painful, pathetic waste of space in most jam circles. So what about a <1 year group in Boston, or something like that? I'm loving playing Irish/old time right now, maybe BG a little later....

The idea of "someday I'll...." seems like not much of an action plan and will only lead to regrets that we all didn't do it sooner.

So what about working some fundamentals (scales, hand position, whatever??), and maybe a 3 song max, that type of thing??

[evanreilly]

As an ex-resident of The People's Republic of Cambridge, I'd let youse all know there was a Boston-area mandolin list for a while: Bo-Mando. Maybe someone of you yankees can track it down now.
P.S. - it is snowing here today! Do I miss that white stuff? Nahhhhhh....

[tallmike]

So here's a thought - what about a Boston Mando session for those of us who just aren't that good yet??

I'd definitely fall into this category and would be down for a meetup. I'm way too intimidated to even think about joining a tried-and-true jam session but something where we're at the same level, not taking ourselves too seriously, would be a great first step.

[Michael Gowell]

Bomando seems to be on hiatus...I believe I got an email from them within the past 6 months, so someone must be the keeper of the flame...