Friday (5/15), I went to Oolenoy to jam. This has become, over the last 5 years, a very well rooted part of my life. For those who have not been, let me describe the atmosphere. On highway 135, head north out of Easley, towards Table Rock. Just half a mile before 135 meets and intersects highway 8, you will see a quaint wooden schoolhouse of old on the left side of the road. It's interesting, to me, that the schoolhouse is still standing. It's been around for quite some time and has housed school lessons, church services, festivals, and other gatherings for the entire time it's been standing. There is a history on the wall just as you walk in, so I would invite anyone interested in the history of the building to visit and take a look.
The building has 2 rooms, a main hall, and a smaller room. The large hall is around 30 feet wide by 60 feet or so long, with a stage on one end. When the Bluegrass jams began, they centered around the stage, with a sound system pumping out all the tunes. However, years ago, they decided to form a large circle at the foot of the stage, akin to a symphony box. Just outside the circle that forms are some church pews, after that they set out chairs for the audience to enjoy the music that proceeds. The circle is a very efficient way of sharing the microphone among the many pickers that attend. You can pass the mic, as soon as you finish your song.
The other room is mainly used by hardcore jammers. Some people refer to this as the "Battle Jam", but as negative as that sounds, I don't consider it to be bad. If you aren't good enough to take a break on a song, or sing, you just back out of the small circle that inevitably forms, or shake your head "No" when you're offered the opportunity. This is the room I usually hang out in during the winter months. There are at least 2 other places to jam at Oolenoy. One is the front porch/walk. This is usually where I hang out in the summer months. The other is the renovated back porch. Sometimes some of the best jams can happen in the oddest places, and Oolenoy is no exception. I have been in jams in the small hallway between the large room and the back porch, which were some of the best jams I've ever been a part of. Cramped as it is, the acoustics in that room make it very desirable to some of the better pickers, so things can get a little tight.
Friday night was not an exceptional night for me, other than I played mandolin most of the night. I'm not a good mandolin player, but I enjoy it when I play, so I'm not sure why I don't do it more often. I haven't played mandolin in at least 5 months (maybe longer), and it showed. The night ended early, as I took my wife and youngest daughter (1 year old) along. Just as I was leaving, Gerald Elenburg walked in, and I wished at that point that I could hang around a bit.
One night, about 4 years ago, Gerald walked in as the jams were breaking up. He jammed for a little while and Matt Oglesby started asking him about his songwriting. If you know me at all, you know that I have written several songs, and am very interested in the methods or madness of other songwriters. I cued in on this and listened intently to their entire conversation. We sat at Oolenoy until nearly 4:00 am Saturday morning listening to Gerald talk about songwriting and meeting some of the biggest names in the business. That's one of the coolest things that's ever happened at Oolenoy.
On Saturday night, my wife wanted to go out with my sister for a "Girls night out". I certainly didn't have a problem with this, since my Bluegrass habit causes her to get mad at me for going out so frequently. I decided I'd go to either Brazeale's store (178), or Owings. Both have advantages and disadvantages. One advantage Brazeale's has over me is distance. It's a 40 minute drive to get to Owings, so I don't get down there much.
I decided, since I was starting late (8:20), to head down to Brazeale's. It ended up being a good decision since Don and Oregan had decided to do the same. I played mandolin once again and enjoyed my time. After Don broke 2 strings on stage, he decided that was enough, and left. I hung around for a little while longer, talking to David Clark, but I left before 10:30.
I have a tendency to "bang" on the mandolin in between songs, when there's a "lull". There was one of these moments where I was working on a lick on the mandolin, when I heard something familiar. I started trying to figure out on the mandolin what I was hearing in my head. It sounded so familiar, yet so strange. I worked on it for a while, but was unable to figure out what song it is, or if it is a song already written. If I can't figure it out soon, I might just have to claim it for my own.
They had had a hot dog supper Saturday evening, which went well as far as I could tell. As I said, I didn't get down there until later, so I wasn't able to enjoy the festivities. Maybe next time.
Sundays I usually spend with my parents at the farm. We have dinner, then usually sit on the front porch and watch the kids play. This Sunday was no different, other than the rain prevented the kids from playing in the yard. I pulled out my mandolin and worked a little while on that tune in my head. I asked several times if any of my family recognized the song, but since they don't keep up with Bluegrass like I do, they wouldn't know the difference between Salt Creek and Old Joe Clark (which is not much). It's still bugging me, even now that I can't figure out what the song is, and it sounds so familiar that I don't believe it isn't one.
So, at the end of the weekend, it was rather uneventful. Hopefully I will have more to present during the week or next week.
Oolenoy
State: SC
Town: Dacusville
Cover charge: $0
Bands featured: Jam only
Opening/Starting time: 7:00ish (pm) (some of the older crowd gets there earlier)
Type of music: Bluegrass/Old time/Old Country
Contact: ?
Brazeale's Store
State: SC
Town: Closer to Pendleton than anywhere else
Cover charge: $0
Bands featured: Jam with open stage
Opening/Starting time: 7:00 (pm)
Type of music: Bluegrass/Old Country
Contact: Don Acevedo
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Blind Horse jam night with One Eyed Jack
I’m not sure that my first post should be about Country, since I’m going to tailor this blog towards the Bluegrass jams/shows, but I will mention that I went to the Blind Horse last night (Thursday 5/14/2009). I read somewhere online that Thursday nights are “jam” nights, so I decided I’d see what kind of response they were getting. I don’t know of any other Country jam in the upstate. I stay pretty well in-tune with the Country scene in the Greenville area (or at least I THINK I do).
The band “One-Eyed Jack” is the house band for the Blind Horse. They are exceptional musicians. They kicked things off with some rocking Country, featuring several new and old styles. They didn’t play a slow song until they returned from their break, which was a sigh of relief from me, and apparently the many line-dancing students that were there. Several of the line-dancers graced the floor the entire time I was there, which was well over 3 hours.
I really enjoyed hearing One-Eyed Jack this time. They didn’t leave much time for talking (or losing interest) in the music between songs, so it made time go by really quickly.
As far as jammers, in the Bluegrass sense, there were none. The protocol is to give your name, choice of instrument (voice included), and song choices to the sound engineer, and after a few numbers from One-Eyed Jack, they would invite you onstage to either play with them, or solo. There was a guitar player that played with them all night, that was obviously not part of the standard band. He was really good, but I could tell he was nervous. I’m sure in a different setting he would thrive and really show-out. Two drummers joined the band, on different occasions, and faired well, but I could tell that without the standard drummer, the other musicians in the band were having a hard time predicting certain cues. One guy did a solo bit, which was not great, but I’ve heard a LOT worse. The band seemed to know him, so he must be there a lot.
The overall atmosphere was great. The bartenders were really helpful, especially when I asked for a beer that they don’t stock. Instead laughing egregiously at me, he simply suggested an import that might be comparable. Nice touch. The waitress was cordial in asking me if I wanted any refills, or anything else for that matter. There was a $3 cover-charge, and they asked for ID so they could either mark both of my hands with an “X” (under 21), or slap a disposable hospital type bracelet around my wrist.
I had a very enjoyable evening in the end. I didn’t jam, sing, or dance, although several times I wanted to. I’ll definitely go back, and am looking forward to the trip.
The band “One-Eyed Jack” is the house band for the Blind Horse. They are exceptional musicians. They kicked things off with some rocking Country, featuring several new and old styles. They didn’t play a slow song until they returned from their break, which was a sigh of relief from me, and apparently the many line-dancing students that were there. Several of the line-dancers graced the floor the entire time I was there, which was well over 3 hours.
I really enjoyed hearing One-Eyed Jack this time. They didn’t leave much time for talking (or losing interest) in the music between songs, so it made time go by really quickly.
As far as jammers, in the Bluegrass sense, there were none. The protocol is to give your name, choice of instrument (voice included), and song choices to the sound engineer, and after a few numbers from One-Eyed Jack, they would invite you onstage to either play with them, or solo. There was a guitar player that played with them all night, that was obviously not part of the standard band. He was really good, but I could tell he was nervous. I’m sure in a different setting he would thrive and really show-out. Two drummers joined the band, on different occasions, and faired well, but I could tell that without the standard drummer, the other musicians in the band were having a hard time predicting certain cues. One guy did a solo bit, which was not great, but I’ve heard a LOT worse. The band seemed to know him, so he must be there a lot.
The overall atmosphere was great. The bartenders were really helpful, especially when I asked for a beer that they don’t stock. Instead laughing egregiously at me, he simply suggested an import that might be comparable. Nice touch. The waitress was cordial in asking me if I wanted any refills, or anything else for that matter. There was a $3 cover-charge, and they asked for ID so they could either mark both of my hands with an “X” (under 21), or slap a disposable hospital type bracelet around my wrist.
I had a very enjoyable evening in the end. I didn’t jam, sing, or dance, although several times I wanted to. I’ll definitely go back, and am looking forward to the trip.
Welcome.....
With a myriad of jams and live music venues out there these days, it can sometimes be hard to decide just where to go to get your weekly “fix” of music. I aim to either help this, or make it worse. I have a few places that I go to frequently, which will probably end up being a regular feature here, but there are a few places that I go, where I get to hear bands that don’t go to my regular haunts, and I want to make sure that they are covered as well.
The format will not be very structured at first, at least by my standards, but I will eventually come up with a review method that I like and will probably evolve into a standard format. I’ll not only discuss the band whom I’m listening to, but also the venue, the people, and probably the most important part (to me), the jams that inevitably break-out around the hallways and openings of the various places.
I’m hoping to not only express my feelings of what is going on, but to give a full picture of the overall feel and what is happening at each of the places I visit. Many of these places don’t have a web presence, and may not ever, so I hope I can do them justice here with this format. I subscribe to the phrase that pictures are worth 1000 words, and I will post pictures as I can remember to take them, but I rarely think about taking pictures when I’m knee-deep in a Bluegrass jam.
I’ll say now that I’m not going to be objective about some things. I have a very rigid structure in my mind about good music, and if things don’t fall into that structure, I’m going to speak my mind. This may make some folks mad, in fact, I hope it does. I don’t want ill feelings, but if someone is doing something that they shouldn’t I feel someone should let them know how bad it sounds so they can decide whether to continue or not. I think I should also say that I am not a standard audience either. I have had 20 years of musical training and experience, so I’m not going to be hearing things from a layman’s ear. I will hear certain intricacies that a general listener will not hear, and I hate that to an extent, but it’s the way things are, and I’m not going to apologize for it.
So here’s to hoping for a steady blog topic, and many, many opportunities from such. I’ll post my first review/comment blog later today or tomorrow, after my weekly visit to the Oolenoy schoolhouse jam (Pumpkintown, SC).
The format will not be very structured at first, at least by my standards, but I will eventually come up with a review method that I like and will probably evolve into a standard format. I’ll not only discuss the band whom I’m listening to, but also the venue, the people, and probably the most important part (to me), the jams that inevitably break-out around the hallways and openings of the various places.
I’m hoping to not only express my feelings of what is going on, but to give a full picture of the overall feel and what is happening at each of the places I visit. Many of these places don’t have a web presence, and may not ever, so I hope I can do them justice here with this format. I subscribe to the phrase that pictures are worth 1000 words, and I will post pictures as I can remember to take them, but I rarely think about taking pictures when I’m knee-deep in a Bluegrass jam.
I’ll say now that I’m not going to be objective about some things. I have a very rigid structure in my mind about good music, and if things don’t fall into that structure, I’m going to speak my mind. This may make some folks mad, in fact, I hope it does. I don’t want ill feelings, but if someone is doing something that they shouldn’t I feel someone should let them know how bad it sounds so they can decide whether to continue or not. I think I should also say that I am not a standard audience either. I have had 20 years of musical training and experience, so I’m not going to be hearing things from a layman’s ear. I will hear certain intricacies that a general listener will not hear, and I hate that to an extent, but it’s the way things are, and I’m not going to apologize for it.
So here’s to hoping for a steady blog topic, and many, many opportunities from such. I’ll post my first review/comment blog later today or tomorrow, after my weekly visit to the Oolenoy schoolhouse jam (Pumpkintown, SC).
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