I Am Sooooo Guilty!
Eight of us gathered at the home of Ed and Becky Betts for a jam last night; Matt Hayes on fiddle, Kenny Innis on mandolin, Clay Johnson on Dobro, Deek McCluskey on guitar, Harvey Arbo on banjo, Glen Vautour on upright bass, Ed Betts on guitar and me on second banjo.
I had a good time at the jam but I broke a rule. You see,on occasion frequently I complain about the noise level at jams. Last night I was part of the problem rather than the solution. I was thinking about the jam this morning and came to the realization that I am sooooo guilty. Guilty, guilty, guilty!
I was a good boy at first. Since we already had one banjo I decided not to play much. When I did play, I made sure I was non-obtrusive. After sitting out for several tunes I started adding my banjo into the mix, again very softly at first. But now that I've had time to reflect on the evening, I realize I was stomping all over Harvey's playing. There were a couple tunes where I just plain took over. I'm sorry about that Harvey, it wasn't intentional - I just got caught up in the moment. It can happen. I think "dang me, dang me, they ought to take a rope and hang me" would be fitting lines right about now.
Overall though, I think the night went pretty well and I enjoyed myself. It was good having a couple new members for a change, Glen and Deek. I don't remember getting any dirty looks from Harvey even though they would have been well earned. On a couple of occasions I actually received the nod of approval from him; I think that happened when I threw in my newly learned Sammy Shelor lick on New Love.
We tried to play Third Shift At The Mill last night, a David Parmley & Continental Divide song. I came to the realization there are some tunes that just can't be done in a jam situation unless everyone in attendance knows the tune - this would be one of those. I think we've tried this song on three occasions now, with the same result each time. Time for a little practice boys! Groundhog is another tune that requires some knowledge beforehand, although we didn't try that one last night. Some tunes are very easy to jam along with even if you've never heard them before, while others are not.
I'm sorry for making a little too much banjo noise last night. Somebody needs to put me in my place!
I had a good time at the jam but I broke a rule. You see,
I was a good boy at first. Since we already had one banjo I decided not to play much. When I did play, I made sure I was non-obtrusive. After sitting out for several tunes I started adding my banjo into the mix, again very softly at first. But now that I've had time to reflect on the evening, I realize I was stomping all over Harvey's playing. There were a couple tunes where I just plain took over. I'm sorry about that Harvey, it wasn't intentional - I just got caught up in the moment. It can happen. I think "dang me, dang me, they ought to take a rope and hang me" would be fitting lines right about now.
Overall though, I think the night went pretty well and I enjoyed myself. It was good having a couple new members for a change, Glen and Deek. I don't remember getting any dirty looks from Harvey even though they would have been well earned. On a couple of occasions I actually received the nod of approval from him; I think that happened when I threw in my newly learned Sammy Shelor lick on New Love.
We tried to play Third Shift At The Mill last night, a David Parmley & Continental Divide song. I came to the realization there are some tunes that just can't be done in a jam situation unless everyone in attendance knows the tune - this would be one of those. I think we've tried this song on three occasions now, with the same result each time. Time for a little practice boys! Groundhog is another tune that requires some knowledge beforehand, although we didn't try that one last night. Some tunes are very easy to jam along with even if you've never heard them before, while others are not.
I'm sorry for making a little too much banjo noise last night. Somebody needs to put me in my place!
posted by Michael Floyd at 9:33 AM
1 Comments:
Hay Mike Dont be so hard on yourself.Jams are meant to be a place to try new things out and to have fun.I dont think that you were being pushy with the banjo last evening.You were trying new things out and from what I could tell you were having fun too.Lets remember that Jams are there for us to enjoy.Ive been to a lot of jams and they are always fun.People at jams try things that they are fearful of trying in public.Sometimes they are surprised at how it turns out.Jams are the GREATEST learning experiances around...Thank you for letting me be part of those learning experiances.Enjoy the jams and take advantage of the Lay Back atmosphere and learn from them..Good to have new faces at the jam too I enjoy meeting and playing music with new people.I find that we learn easier from the new and try harder when they are around...at least I do...FUNGUS
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