There is a festival coming up in Glen Rose, TX. The lineup isn’t as slick as some posted here, but I suspect it will be a good time. See flyer below.
I was there last weekend for the monthly jam and it was by far the best circle I have been in. It’s pretty neat to play in a group where you don’t know a soul, but you end up clicking together right from the start. Everyone got quieter or louder as was appropriate… it was really cool. We were mostly on tempo most of the time. I suspect some of them play together often, so having a solid core was nice. One odd thing, we weren’t overrun with guitars. At one point there were 3 mandos, 2 dobros, an upright, 2 fiddles, 1 banjo and 3 guitars. Another odd thing… it was all BlueGrass, all the time, and it was almost all moderately up-tempo. Down here in TX, whenever I get with a group, it seems there is usually a few who pick western swing or old country songs (but not there). There were several circles by the time I left and I think I might have ended up in the “faster” circle by accident. I brought the new mando and just chopped along. That was a blast. It’s probably because it was something different, but I found it to be much more fun than playing rhythm guitar. Once the mando/guitar balance got too mando heavy, I switched to guitar. There was one guy playing rhythm GTR and played slick continuously walking swing progressions. That was inspirational. Anyway, sorry to ramble, but it was a fun time.
http://www.glenrosebluegrass.com/uploads/8/2/2/9/8229055/6441982_orig.jpg
Festivals
Sounds like you hit the jackpot last weekend. I’d consider it odd too that the jams weren’t overrun with guitars. Ususally there’s 3 or 4 guitars to every other instrument at the jams I go to. And I’ve also been to a lot of “bluegrass jams” that turned out to be heavy on the old country songs and light on the fiddle tunes and flatpicking. Frustrating for me.
I saw Louisiana Grass in the line-up at Glen Rose in your last post. I love those guys and have seen them many times at festivals here in Arkansas. They’re always a crowd favorite. Matter of fact I’ll see them when they play at Turkey Track in June.
turkeytrackbluegrass.com/
I’ve got FRONT ROW CENTER seats to see Rhonda Vincent and the Rage in concert at the Ozark Folk Center auditorium the end of June. I know thats not really relevant to this thread but I had to tell somebody!
I’m pretty sure that’s just a dream Mike had. Who ever heard of a bluegrass jam with bluegrass songs, a balanced number of guitars, and good dynamics?
It was really enjoyable. If it was a dream, then a few weeks from now may I sleep again in such fashion. With that many instruments, it was good everyone was mindful of dynamics or the vocals would have been unheard. Of the two dobros one was a very loud Regal and the other was very quiet (no visible label). When the quiet one played a break we were all playing at just a whisper level. It was almost humorous. There was one very experienced fiddler (probably in his 70s, maybe 80s) who had a unique internal timing. He’d get way off on his own during his breaks, but he’d typically catch up again later on. I considered it character as opposed to a flaw. Warts and all, it was the best I have been fortunate enough to have participated.
Definitely sounds like a jam worth catching again. Of course, it will probably be mostly guitars and ballads next time. 