Jamming til we drop

[Earl49]

That is coming up for me soon. The third week in June is the National Old Time Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, ID about an hour northwest of Boise. Three campgrounds with dozens of jams going on until the wee hours for ten straight days. You can hear everything from old time to bluegrass to Gypsy jazz to contemporary rock & pop. If you don't like something then just move on to the next jam circle.

I'm getting too old to take full advantage as in previous years. I just cannot stay up that late jamming night after night any more. I am building up my callouses by playing guitar about two hours per day right now. Extended jams are also a big social aspect of guitar camps, if you haven't been before.

[The Growler]

Great way to spend the weekend! Looks like a lot of fun.

[jessupe]

YOU CAN'T STOP US!!!

[MikeBodd]

That is so freaking cool Amy!

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[amyFB]

Philadelphia folk song Society retreat called Spring Thing. About 235 of us in cabins (10-15 per).
The rain held off until about 11 pm and it's been pretty steady since then. It will be a wet load out in a few hours.

We have to be off site NLT 10am.

My fretting finger tips have blisters - the good kind.


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[Mbroady]

Very cool!!!
There are a number of folk festivals happening this weekend around the country, which I know you are a fan of. So the question is, which one is it?

I was hoping to make it to Kerrville again this year but it was not in the cards.

Edit...ahhh, Philadelphia.

[NJ Guitar man]

"I'd like you to know, at 4 in the morning, things are coming to mind" -- Randy Bachman, "Blue Collar."

[M19]

"Four in the morning and the rain is pouring down..."-Jesse Colin Young

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

Very cool!!!
There are a number of folk festivals happening this weekend around the country, which I know you are a fan of. So the question is, which one is it?

I was hoping to make it to Kerrville again this year but it was not in the cards.

Edit...ahhh, Philadelphia.

This event is a seasonal retreat , Held very Memorial Day weekend. The venue is a summer camp for kids. Communal cabins, dining hall, performance stage, pool , lake with water activities , etc. (In the fall is a similar retreat at a different location, on/near Columbus Day weekend. )

It is held by the Phila Folk Song Society and you don't have to be a member to buy a ticket. (There is a member discount).

Participants can choose to volunteer to lead a workshop on any topic. They run the gamut from a "themed" song circle (Dylan, Beatles, songs with the word Crazy in the title) to hands on teaching sessions.

If you are lucky there are no interesting to you workshops that compete in the same time slot. Rarely is a workshop unattended but can be just a few people or forty.

The three I went to were:
-My favorite songs - open mic style, first come first serve, play YOUR fave.
-Improv - guided improv practice that covered rhythm , volume, dissonance and other nuances of improv.
-own the stage - really effective how to on walking up the mic after you have been announced as the next player. Starting with - get the nod from the sound guy BEFore you plug in.
-Haiku - my second year at this one; learn how westerners have embraced the concept in the transistor from Japanese pictographs to western alpha numeric writing. (Forget the "so many words in each line " thing; replace it with "three lines that can be said in one breath."). We broke out for about then minutes to "capture the moment " that inspired us and then regrouped to share our fledgling efforts. Word play fun.

We have golf carts for taxi service and sign up to takes turns driving and toting folks and their gear from here to there and back again (if you don't want to walk).

There are plenty of folks who attend as audience for the musicians who just want to play and sing til they drop.

Nothing like 30+ folks singing "I can't help falling in love with you" and hitting all the harmonic niceties. Goosebumps doesn't even come close to how satisfying that is to us.

We love "newbies" and had some exciting infusions of new musical energy amongst those who return year after year, beginner to advanced musicians - mostly guitar but some flutes , banjo, fiddle, a dobro. Someone had a CF harp , and a penny whistle .

It's almost an overdose of Vitamin M that will hang over me for the next few days.




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[Neil K Walk]

Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing!

Pictures like this remind me of the annual McKnight jam in central Ohio - which is coming up in just a couple of weeks. I'm getting excited! I love this time of year.

[Jobe]

Originally Posted by amyFB

It's 2am and there is no sign the music will stop anytime soon.

We did this last night night and we don't have to go home til Monday morning.

This does
Not stink.


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That 'Exit' sign over the door seems to have been disregarded. That's the good stuff!

[tippy5]

Why stop if you're having a great time?

Thanks for the reminder of what I wasn't doing the other night.
Wish I was there.

[Captain Jim]

That sounds like great fun! Thanks for sharing that with us!

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by Jobe

That 'Exit' sign over the door seems to have been disregarded. That's the good stuff!

Funny, five of us have been assigned to
That cabin for the last five years at least; i don't think we have ever noticed that exit sign! It's a window, btw.




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[Jobe]

A "Window" makes more sense I suppose.