Every Wednesday night at 930, a group of music lovers gathers at the historic Trolley Stop restaurant and bar in the Oregon Arts District in Dayton Ohio, 530 E. Fifth Street, 937-461-1101. We play Old Time string music, which loosely speaking is made up of the old folk songs that came to us from the British Isles, and which were modified by the early American settlers.
Please bring your instrument, pull up a chair and join us if you like, or if you prefer just sit for a spell and we'll entertain you.
I'm a newcomer to the group, having moved back to the Dayton area after living in Morgantown, West Virginia the past nine years or so. In West Virginia I picked up my guitar which had lain in a closet for some 30 years or so. I took lessons from Dave Asti, a brilliant musician who happens to play banjo and mandolin professionally for the Hillbilly Gypsies. Dave plays bluegrass but also plays Old Time as well as other styles.
It turns out that Morgantown is a major world power in the area of Old Time music, and I was fortunate enough to find out that there are several jams that meet weekly, including the Brew Pub jam on Wednesday nights, Percival Pickers on Tuesday at (where else) Percival Hall on the WVU campus, Elmer Rich's jam at the Senior Center in Westover, and Irish music at the Blue Moose on Friday night. So I made a lot of friends and learned a lot about music.
I'm not particularly strong musically, but I'm interested in learning about the songs that people play, and so for a couple of years, I've been posting in a blog called the Morgantown Old Time Music Jam Wednesday Night at the Brew Pub. It's been a way to kind of organized the songs that I'm working on, and to share some information. It's also been interesting because people from around the world follow it.
Now however, my job situation has led me to pull up stakes and move back to the Dayton Ohio area. I was thinking I would have to learn some other type of music, but amazingly enough there is a very strong jam every Wednesday Night at the Trolley Stop. Organizers are Rick Good (banjo), Sharon Leahy (bass and guitar) and Sharon's son Ben Cooper (fiddle and bass). Rick and Sharon have worked together in diverse venues such as Rhythm and Shoes as well as Shoefly.
You can read about Rick and Sharon here:
They are joined by regulars Lynn (mando), Israel (bass), Big Ben (fiddle), Rick Donahoe (guitar), Ryan on guitar and vocals, and little old me on 12 string baritone guitar. We might be joined by several others on any given night. There are some ridiculously talented people at the Jam, and others who are just ridiculous, like me. The thing about Old Time musicians however, is that they are about nicest people that you could ever meet. You would never guess that they are famous or acclaimed for their work (which they are).
I really think that there is something profound that happens when you sit down with a group of people and play music together. Perhaps this is something that God wants us to do as part of living in a community. It makes you feel connected in a very special way, almost like an extended family.
I plan to stay with this hobby for as long as I'm able, and if there is a way that I can help others to discover the joy of music making I will certainly do so. This blog may be a modest step in that direction. I hope it provides a little insight about the songs, and if I can supply some tips for the beginning or intermediate players, I'll try to share what I know.
In the meantime, I'll share a few videos I made last week. Dan Gellert came to the jam and led us in a few new tunes (new to me that is).
This one is Old Mose (thanks Dan!).
And another...
Here's a song I don't know. One of the weird things about Old Time musicians is that they can generally play songs that they don't know, as long as the leader knows it.
Here's another song I
don't know.
This one is Old Mose (thanks Dan!).
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