After many, many requests to once again play and sing together as we did before the pandemic, we are resuming our Musical Jam sessions at the Mantua Center Christian Church on July 16 from 6-8 PM. The address is 4118 Ohio 82 at Mantua Center Road. This will be the first time in 15 months that we have been able to do so since Covid descended upon us and many of us are chomping at the bit to play together again. Not that we have been idle, no, many of us have continued to play together with partners and colleagues during the pandemic and have taken the opportunity to develop our musical skills. Learning new expertise and developing skills frequently spurs one on to newer and better instruments. John Buchanan’s got a new stand-up bass fiddle to add to the mixture. I’ve got a couple new banjos and a guitar, and Kathy Hughes has her mandolin ready to go.
Our American and Old Time Country Jam music signals a return to our original objectives which are to focus on the less skilled group members during the first hour, then move on to more contemporary, and often complex songs during the second and even third hours for the more skilled members (Yes, we frequently go beyond 8PM). For the beginners during that first hour, we consistently play a series of more basic songs the likes of “Camp Town Races”, “Angelina Baker”, “Wildwood Flower”, “Whiskey before Breakfast” and such because these songs are easily recognized and can be played by most everyone. It allows the members to become familiar with a set of somewhat repetitive songs and to be able to practice them at home and play them again at the next session. Thus you can develop skill levels and build on them. During the second and third hours we can branch out into more complex music and address the more skilled members.
The songs during the second half of the Jam will progress to more contemporary 1960s and 70s materials the likes of John Hartford, Crystal Gayle, Creedence Clearwater, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson and such. The objective is to build a supportive artistic community wherein people at all skill levels can be comfortable and draw on the resources of the extended community. We have always tried to be sensitive to feedback from the group and new members in particular.
The attendance patterns tend to fluctuate from month to month. Some evenings there are 4-6 of us, and other times 12-15 of us. Often the group consists of regulars, some of whom have played together here and elsewhere for several years. Sometimes not. Some new people that attend are skilled with their instruments. Some are novices: others are simply intimidated by playing and singing with a new group. We work hard to make people comfortable at whatever level they come to us at.
In assessing our past performances prior to Covid, it became clear to us that we are becoming an artistic community that offers a great deal of extended services like teaching to our members, and fixing, adjusting instruments. We have stressed that we will go to great lengths to get novice and beginning people comfortable with their instruments and do whatever it takes to get people started. This is something that is not done at most other jam sessions held in the area. We have been able to help a novice fellow with a new banjo to get it properly set up and tuned so that it could be played. (Oftentimes musical instruments bought through the mail arrive in a basic state and it’s up to the recipient to put them together and properly set them up for tuning. Banjos are complex instruments requiring a great deal of know how to get them ready to play and tune). Furthermore, we are able to offer beginning lessons over the course of the coming months to get a person up and going with that banjo or guitar even if it means teaching at his residence. We also have helped a family to realize that the non-professional guitar they had was not really appropriate for their teenager. It was hard to play and this is discouraging to new players. Another thing we realized as we went along is that most of us take advanced lessons from other musicians and singers, thus setting up an extended network of playing, teaching, and sometimes repairing instruments. We really do have an extended artistic community and you can take advantage of it.
Here are some actual questions that we field: What actually goes on at an old-time country music jam session? What do they really play? It is held in a local church—maybe it’s all church music and gospel? Then again, what if you’re not a church goer, maybe not even a Christian? Maybe your Jewish or some Eastern religion, or maybe not religious at all. What if you can’t sing or are afraid to sing? What if you have this banjo, or mandolin, or guitar heirloom from the family? It is neat but you don’t know much about playing it. What if ? The ifs go on and on. How are you going to know if you don’t take a look or a listen?
Here is an actual play list so that people get a sense of the breadth of what we are playing. It is not centered on religion, rock and roll, old time country, or contemporary music. Rather, it is a good mix of them all.
As John Fogarty of Creedence Clearwater Revival sings, “C’mon the risin’ wind, we’re goin’ up around the bend, Whooaa!” Do you like this kind of music? Come along, come along with us on July 16.
