Do you remember your first fiddle/OT jam? Where you were sharing your talents in person for the first time? Possibly even being the only fiddle?
The first REAL OT jam I attended I ended up playing bass the whole time which was incredible, but wouldn't have dreamed of opening that fiddle case that night. Well, this Thursday I have 2 accomplished OT players coming over for a pick. Banjo and Guitar. Needless to say, I'm nervous but hopefully I don't let them down...lol
Meaning, they each have about an hour drive. I can play along with a lot of records so I'm excited to give it try. Afraid to record it. Mainly because I'd rather be live in the moment instead of listening back and being highly disappointed. Regardless, I'm pumped!
My first few jams were with my fellow David Bragger students. Of course, we stuck to the tunes Bragger taught us. Yeah, we often sounded horrible, but it sure was fun! It was only later that I'd venture to other locales and take my chances with "other people."
In any case, when I'd go to a non-Bragger jam I'd get more than my share of admonishment from the Jam Leader to do nothing else than chop.
Exciting!
Have fun, and hope they know all your tunes!
Sounds like you'll have a good time. I hope you enjoy yourselves and decide to get it going regular.
IMO:
Closed Jam--yes
Open Jam--no
Open jams at festivals and whatnot are prone to feature some potentate seated at the center directing the performance of several tunes no one has heard of, yet ensuring everyone has heard it at least 537 times straight by the time he's through with you.
The first time I really jammed with another fiddler was at a hippiegrass festival where I met, in the dark by my Jeep, the only other fiddler there v who was from an earlier band that I missed. It was just the two of us in the dark dark, no moon, no nearby fire, nothing. It was so cool and my first taste of how two fiddles are greater than two somehow. He was so good at seconding. The main reason we wound up playing together was because I was messing around with a Kenny Baker tune called "Cross-eyed Fiddler" that I had learned vai a website, possibly Tuttle's. It was so fun, I have no idea how long we played, it wasn't pitch black when we started but it was when we finally quit.
Clifftop is always a super time because I get to play with folks who are good listeners/great players who know a gazillion tunes, and they let me play with them. FHO's own CarlB and Lee are among them. Also GapBob and last year RincoErnie. The local jams here in IA are great but Clifftop is a full immersion situation where the music is still playing somewhere when I'm drifting off to sleep and often not far from starting up when I wake up. Glorious.
I've been the leading proponent for jams all my days. But lately I been having to weekly, endure 3 hours of booming guitar out of time and out of key. And when the song/tune ends all he wants to talk about is collecting guitars. Something has got to change. I think I'm gone.
I sympathize, Steve!! Bummer. Can you secretly gather up a small group of you...
i have a certain cello player like that at our sesh...her attendance is impeccable, and her intonation is spotty...other way round would be better LOL. Luckily from years of school orchestra i developed "selective hearing" channels...I can mute people and unhear them.
My first Irish jam was the slow tune learning session. Lots of friendly folks in a circle, we played tunes slowly and learned one tune together weekly. Sheet music allowed. I made my first fiddling friend there, but when I graduated myself to the "no sheet music" jams, I see her less often. ( Great player but didn't see the point of memorizing stuff...still in a classical mindset, I guess...)
Here's what I'm working with! I'm super excited. I'll be pretty tired to tell ya the truth by the time we get through these tunes. In fact, I'd like to have my phone handy to pull them up to get that melody in my head. That's how I practice in the morning. I pull up one from this list and play along. I've only added Ducks on the Millpond as of late. But this is enough for me for now. Thanks for sharing in my excitement.
Angeline D
Ashokans D
Tenn Waltz D and G
Soldiers Joy D
Faded Love D
Whiskey before Breakfast D
Spotted Pony D
Barlow Knife D
Midnight On The Water D
Ducks on the Millpond D
Cold Frosty Am
White Face Am
Billy in Lowground C
Tenn Waltz C
Cumberland Gap G
Golden Slippers G
Barlow Knife G
Big Sciota G
Tipping Back the Corn G
Big Footed Man Sandy Lot G
Flop Eared Mule G
Shove the pigs foot G
Flat water Fran G
Amazing Grace G
Spootiskerry G
Red Wing G
Old Joe Clark A
Cherokee Shuffle A
Cripple Creek A
Clinch Mountain Back A
Blue Moon Waltz A
The Old Horse and Buggy A
Red Prairie Dawn A
Flop Eared A
Kitchen Girl A
Red Haired Boy A
Salt Spring A
Benton’s Dream A
Also, thanks for your responses too! It's a big deal in my world. I REALLY REALLY want to catch a sample to share.
Welp, I did it! Success all around.
Banjo, Guitar and Fiddle. How easy and sweet that is.
We gathered and went through a handful of tunes. We did not get to all of those tunes which is great!
That's because my buddies are eager to come back! I am happy with deciding on not recording this first jam. Although, I do think about what it did sound like. It's great because the only thing I remember was, "I'm doing it!" The memory is all there. Next time, I'll try and grab some audio. What got to me was the stamina. It's easy to stop or reposition when playing to a recording but leading??? Forgetaboutit!
It was fun and they knew my limitations but I must say I held my own. I really felt how tense I am when playing. I need to work on that. The banjo (Phillips) was SOOOO fun to play with. So talented and inspiring.
I am excited to try this again. I think we'll sit a little closer to each other so I can hear a little better. I was sawing away and playing REALLY hard. Need to work on that. There were moments where the bow wandered up over the bridge...lol...I was feeling it! Anyways, wanted to share my excitement! Oh I don't eat pie but my buddy's wife brought a pie...that's what she does and wow....gotta keep a handle on that! lol A blueberry peach pie that was not too sweet!
Giddy Up!
Woohoo that sounds great!
Pie is definitely a bonus, yum!
Yea I know what you mean about being ‘into it’…sometimes in a loud fast jam my playing changes _ — and in my case, not for the better!
