The Bubbling Hot Tub of Humanity in Blanchard, Louisiana

I try to take my mandolin with me on business trips and find a bluegrass jam in the town or city I am staying in.  It such a great thing to get out of the hotel and meet some people, and it is always an adventure.  Through the powers of the internet (especially folkjam.com) I can find a jam in pretty much any town I go to.

Well this past week work took me to north Louisiana.  I knew for sure I would be able to find a bluegrass jam somewhere in the area on a Monday night, and sure enough, Blanchard, LA, fit the bill.  Through folkjam.com I was able to contact some folks and confirm that the jam was on.

Blanchard is a one stop light town just on the other side of the Texas border and about 10 minutes north of Shreveport.  My traveling partner and I were able to easily make it to Blanchard from Dallas by the 6:30 jam start time.

In fact we arrived about 15 min early.  The jam takes place in the town hall, and as we walked up we could see that there were already a lot of people inside jamming.  In fact, there were about 10 people playing in a jam circle, and then there must have been 20 people in seats just listening and tapping feet.  I didn’t know we were going to have an audience!

My friend and I walked into the room and of course everyone turned their heads to check us out.  We were a bit out of place.  One kind soul came up to greet us and welcome us to the jam.

The jam itself was….relaxing.  The pace was slow, there was no pressure other than the audience who seemed to enjoy anything that was being played.  There were a lot of guitars and the jam improved immensely when the bass player showed up.

I had a great time just soaking in the “bubbling hot tub of humanity” as my dad would say.  Mostly gospel songs were played.  Not everyone took a break, but everyone sang.  It was just a genuine and downright joyful experience.

I think I also broke out with a couple of big improvements.  On most of my breaks I stuck very close to the melody.  I was able to utilize some tasty Monroe licks that I have been working on.  Most of all, I just played to have fun.

Here are a couple of clips I am proud of.

This first one I like because it is pure Monroe.  These are actually licks from “First Whippoorwill” but changed up just a bit.

Monroe Style Clip

This second clip is from my 9lb Hammer.  I like this one because I really let loose on it and got raw.

Blanchard 9 lb hammer

The final clip I am most proud of.  “Jumbalaya” is a pretty popular song and I have always had a terrible time coming up with a break for it.  The reward for trekking to Blanchard, LA, was this break.  It is raw, and I may never be able to summon it up again, but it was sure fun when it happened.

Jumbalaya clip

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, Music Clip, My Journal, Traveling Man

Picking and Grinning in Garland

Last Saturday I was able to go jam at the town square in historic downtown Garland, Tx.   Man, I had fun.  It was a genuine hopping good time.  Nice Texas weather, good folks.  There must have been 50 pickers out and another 50 people just there to listen.

Even better is that an independent coffee shop has opened on the square – The Generator Coffee House.  They were brewing great Bolivian beans, but I had to help myself to a quadruple espresso.  I have said before and I will say it again; nothing helps a bluegrass jam like caffeine and a little bit of sugar.

The Generator Coffee shop just opened a week ago, and already they are endearing themselves to the bluegrass community.  Not only were they giving out the first cup of coffee free, but also, they were rotating in a different bluegrass band to play inside the coffee house every hour.  A band would play, and then go outside to pick, and another band would step up.  It definitely generated a lot of traffic inside the coffee house.

I was picking and grinning until about 12:30.  I finally left at about 1:00 AM with my fingers were sore but my spirit light.  Here are some clips from the evening.

These first two clips I am proud of.  They are somewhat coherent and musical – I would not have been able to do this last year.  I am employing Monroe licks that I have learned through Taterbug.  I am still tense, but getting better

blog Garland clip 1

blog garland clip 2

The next clip – Whiskey Before Breakfast – I am proud of because of the speed at which we are playing.  It is not the best solo, but I keep up with the beat at over 120bpm.

Whiskey Before Breakfast jam clip

Every little bit of improvement is good improvement – and most importantly, I had a blast.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal

Lose the Ego

I have been super busy lately.  Life, life and another dose of life.  But I have been able get in some good mandolin practice and have even gotten to a couple of jams.  And of coarse I have been plugging away with taterbug.

My practice sessions have recently taken an interesting change – for the better.  I went through about a 2-3 week period where I was really lost, but now I have nailed down a really great practice regime.

Through my lessons with taterbug I have been building a good cateloge of Monroe style licks in all keys.  I am really trying to take these licks and positions and integrate them into my mandolin vocabulary.  So, I have been playing along with some recordings of jams and applying the licks to them.  I will take a lick that is in C and transpose it to G, or A or D and try it against several different songs.

I am also working on playing the melody, and playing what is in my head.   This has been a real turning point for me lately in my playing.  In the past I feel that I was reaching for notes that I knew would not be out of key, while not really thinking about the melody I was playing.  This makes for solos that start to all sound alike and that do not represent the melody.  Playing the melody has been something that does not come very naturally to me, and so I really have to work on it.

Another aspect I have been working on is the ego.  In a lesson with taterbug I mentioned how I froze up in jam and how that tension really affects my playing for the worse.  I feel that my playing at home and alone is much better than when I am in front of people.  His response was that playing in general becomes so much easier once you loose the ego.  He really just mentioned this in passing but it struck a chord with me.

The fact is that I am so worried about “sounding good” that it handicaps me.  My own ego is my belief that I should sound good, and that other people should recognize that.  I get so nervous worrying about what other people will think.  Loose the ego and you loose the nerves.  Who cares what other people think!  Have fun!

So I have been happy with the progress I have been making and I feel that my practice sessions will lead to more progress.

Below is a clip from a recent jam.  I like this solo because I had some really good ideas in it.  I used some licks that I have been learning and applied them really effectively.  But this clip is also an example of my ego getting in the way and my need to loosen up.  This solo could have been really good, but my tenseness gets in the way.  When I listen to it, I can really hear my musical idea and my insecure ego battling it out.

Loosen up, play raw, have fun.

05-07-2009 Bluebell Irving clip

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, Music Clip, My Journal, Practice Session Notes

Taterbug Smack Down

The previous two weeks were pretty stale for me on the mandolin front.  I got in two good days of practice in L.A., but that’s about it.  It showed during my lesson with Taterbug on Tuesday.  He had given me the assignment of creating my own solo to “When You Are Lonely” using some of the licks and ideas from our previous work – I didn’t really have anything to show for.  I couldn’t even play the solo off the score very well.

Mike was very cool about it – there was no such smack down at all really.  But he did want me to try again and bring something “to convince him” at the next lesson.

In truth this is what I needed.  I needed more time with the piece and more time to practice.  As I told Taterbug, I am just starting to get into the meat of the thing.

I got to jam a bit with my friend Keith this past weekend, and I sang “Blue Yodel #4″ for the first time.  My solo was good, but I was surprised that my yodel was even better.  I feel like my singing in general is improving.

So, I am pretty focused on coming to my next lesson with Taterbug.  In the last couple of days I have been doing a lot of Getting Into Jazz Mandolin exercises, and the practicing “When You Are Lonely”.  I also have been keeping up with Brad Davis.

The only thing missing is a jam – I really am itching to get to one.  I can’t wait for Garland to start up again.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Practice Session Notes , Taterbug

03-09-09 Charley’s Jam

I was able to attend the bluegrass jam at Charley’s this past Monday.  I brought the new Carver mandolin with me to put through the paces. I was pleased with it.  This mandolin has a great chop and chords very well.  I did decide that she needs heavy strings and the action lowered.  I showed the mandolin to Gerald Jones and he liked it, and even commented on how loud it is.

I played pretty well at the jam.  I was able to use some licks that I have learned from Taterbug.  I am attaching two sound clips from the jam below.

The first is 9 Pound Hammer.  I like my playing on this solo because it is very rhythmic and raw.

9-pound-hammer-03-09-09

The second is Red Haired Boy.  I have been practicing this one a lot, and it is nice to hear what it sounds like.  I also pulled off a little improv at the end.  I also liek this clip because at the end you can really hear the chop on the Carver mandolin.  It is not a big woofy chop, like with my Weber, but instead a dry, scratchy chop.   To me it sounds like a lot of the chops you hear in modern bluegrass music.

red-haired-boy-03-09-091

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music Clip, My Journal , Charley's Jam

Argyle Wrap-up

The Argyle bluegrass festival came and went this past weekend.  I have been battling the flu all week, and I was to debilitated to enjoy most of the festival.  I do have a couple of comments though.

First, I don’t have much experience with bluegrass festivals, but I can say that this is a special one.  Argyle always books top talent and the venue is great.

I was able to catch most of the Carolina Chocolate Drops on Friday.  I was really impressed that Argyle booked them – and put them so high in the lineup.  I think it is a great thing that the Argyle organizers are willing to stretch the festival mold and expose people to something different.  I was happy at the warm and embracing reception the crowd gave to the band.

Also Friday night I saw Tony Rice and Friends.  This was good – Tony was GREAT…but the band (Mountain Heart) seemed very nervous.  My highlight of the show was “My Guitar”. I only regret that I didn’t make it to the Tony Rice guitar workshop.

The next day I brought my son to the festival.  He brought along his mandolin…it was so cute.  He played on the playground and I jammed.  He lasted about 4 hours and then was tired.  I was tired too – still sick – so we went home and I didn’t really get to see any bands.

So, I didn’t get the most out of Argyle, like I did last year.  I did notice one thing though…I listened in on a couple of jams with experienced players.  It seemed to my ears that they were not really playing that fast!  They certainly weren’t playing as fast as the “fast” level on the Brad Davis DVD’s.  If this is true then my winter practicing might have really paid off.  If I can come to jams being able to hang with the big boys who play at bluegrass speed, then I will be really happy.  We’ll see…the Garland jams will be starting up again very soon.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Show Reviews , Argyle

Bed Time Song

It’s been a while since I have posted some audio on this blog.  I also wanted to showcase my new Brian Dean mandolin.  I put some jazzmando.com flattop strings on her, and I think she likes them.  This mandolin has such a smooth, hornlike tone.  Really great for jazz – I need to get on top of learning some exotic chord voicings.  I really love jaming on it when I am putting my son to bed.  That’s what this audio is from  – I sit in the dark in his room and just improvise something.  I mess up a couple of times in it, and if you listen carefully you can hear my dog Mojo chomping away at a bone, but at least Jude thinks it sounds nice (listen to the very end).  Family life is good.

bed-time-song-02-28-092

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, Music Clip, My Journal

Action Plan for 2009 and Charley’s Jam

I was able to attend the slow jam at Charley’s this past Monday.  Well over 20 people showed up and it was a great jam.  I think I played the best that I really ever have before.  I was just tearing it up, and I got many complements.  What was I doing?  Simple stuff, really.  Playing a lot of blues notes, Monroe style.  Letting go on the double stops.  Trying to play tastefully, and trying to stay raw.  There were many highlights to the night.  I brought my H2 recorder, but alas, I was again foiled by dead batteries and so I didn’t get a good recording.  That was a real disappointment.

But for all of the great playing that night at Charley’s, I did leave with some concern.  I noticed that when we started to play a little bit faster, the wheels came off my playing.  In particular we played an Old Joe Clark at a brisk pace, and I just couldn’t reach a couple of notes, and more importantly, I wasn’t as creative.

Now, we were not playing that fast.  It is possible that I was just “out of shape” for playing up to speed, since I didn’t have any legit practice sessions for basically the month of December.  But, unfortunately, I think that it is more the case that I am still not up to bluegrass speed.

So, that brings me to my goals and action plan for 2009.

I want to focus on two things this year; 1) improving my playing speed; and 2) learning Monroe-style licks.

You know, I started this blog in October of 2007.  So, it has been a little over a year since I started playing and practicing the mandolin seriously.  I can honestly say that the progress I have made is astounding.  The great thing about keeping a journal is that you can look back and really see how far you have come.  Conversely, it can hold you accountable for not putting the work in.  But I can say that I have put a good amount of work into the mandolin, and it has duly paid off.

So, I really think that if I put another good year into this, I have the potential of really being a capable mandolin player a year from know.

What is a capable mandolin player?  The goal for me is to able to approach any jam, any playing situation, and be capable of playing tastefully, rightly, and play according to my intuition/soul.  That means being able to play fast bluegrass.  So I want to be able to play fast bluegrass with taste.

To get there I need to work on speed and I need to study a style.

On the speed front, I am convinced that I can drastically improve my picking speed by working on my left hand movement economy.  I think that I move my fingers too much.  I need to work on economy of movement, and first of all work on keeping my fingers low to the fretboard.

I am going to start out working on speed by 1) playing scales to the metronome; and 2) playing along to fast jam songs.  I like working with the metronome for many reasons, but most especially because it provides objective benchmarks to progress.  I have recently found that the Brad Davis DVD’s are great practice for speed.

Next, on to the style front.  This year I want to move a good portion of my practice on to studying the different techniques, licks and styles of great players.  This means that I want to spend more time dissecting solos and transcribing them.   Right now, my favorite mandolin player is Bill Monroe, and I really want to learn his licks and approach.  I want to spend more time this year taking apart his solos and absorbing his style.

Now, I am not going to set any hard goals for myself.  I am not going to say, “I want to have transcribed 5 Monroe solos by July and 10 by the end of the year”.  Equally, I am not going to set a bpm goal on the metronome.

Through all of the hobbies and phases I have gone through I have learned something about myself; things change.  The fact that I have kept this interest going for over a year now is to me a HUGE success.  The key has been to be flexible and not burn myself out.  For example I practiced like the devil for most of October and November.  Then I didn’t practice at all for December…and that’s O.k..

So I guess that the real goal for 2009 is to just to become a better mandolin player than I am now.  If I can look back on this blog a year from now and marvel at the improvements I have made, as I did this year, than 2009 will have been a success.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Practice Session Notes

The Best Christmas Present

My country music star cousin Ben was very generous and invited me to play with him at a concert the day after Christmas.  In particular, he wanted me to play on his pirate song, and even take a solo.  In fact, Ben was recording this song to put a live track on his next album! The venue was Shooters Bar and Grill.  Shooters is a very large honky tonk outside of Gainesville.

I queried my friends on the mandolin cafe about what equipment I should have for this gig. I have to say that I am a complete noobie at plugging in and playing in front of people.  After many good suggestions, I decided to go with the L.R. Baggs Para DI and the L.R. Baggs Mandolin Pickup.

Me getting the crowd worked up.

I got to the venue 5 hours before show time, as my cousin suggested, in order to sound check and rehearse with the band.  This turned out to be a lesson in show biz…the modus operandi is “hurry up and wait”….we ended up sitting around waiting for the sound guy for a good 3 hours.  We did get to rehearse the pirate song once, and my solo was awful.  I couldn’t hear myself!  Those drums are loud!

I wasn’t nervous so much about playing on stage as I was nervous about my rig.  Playing plugged in and loud is completely new for me, and in the 10 minuets of rehearsal, I felt very disconnected from my instrument.   But, it was time for the pirate song and I got up on the stage with the band and did my thing.  I think I pretty much flubbed it, because, again, I couldn’t hear myself.

The best picture of all time - I am lost in the music during a solo.

The next set, Ben wisely decided to preform the pirate song with just me and him.  This went a lot better.  I could hear everything and I think we sounded pretty good.

All in all it was the experience of a lifetime.  I had a blast.  There were probably 150 people up against the stage.  It was a thrill to look out into the crowd and see drunk guys cheering at the top of their lungs and young girls dancing pirate jigs.  Thanks cousin Ben for the awesome Christmas present!

The Pirate Song is a crowd pleaser!

Filed under: Jam Reflections, My Journal , Cousin Ben

12-08-08 Charley’s Jam

This past Monday I was able to attend the bluegrass slow jam at Charley’s.  This would be the first time in many months that I would be able attend the jam from start to finish.  I was really excited to put my skills developed through the past several months of practice to the test.

Unfortunately I was not able to make a recording because my batteries were dead.  That turned out to be a disappointment because I would have gotten some really good clips.

Actually, the first hour or so I didn’t play to well.  I think I experienced why it is important to warm up.  After the break and starting the second hour, I really got into a groove.  One highlight for me was red haired boy where I really went out on a limb and improvised a really cooled lick to the part B side of the song.  At the end of the second hour we played Blackberry Blossom.  This is a song that I haven’t put as much time into as I should, and I usually have problems play the A part of the song.  I was surprised to watch my fingers fly along with the beat of the song and really nail the intro and A part.

It was a really good jam.  We played a lot faster than normal and that was a good thing.

I know that I have reached a new stage in my musicianship.  At jams in the past I focused on playing the notes, playing the melody, and playing up to speed – I was very focused on my playing.  Now, I can play as I wish.  I am relaxed and creative.

But there is something more important that has changed.  Because I not so focused on myself, I can focus on everyone else.  I have a better feel for the music and a better ear for the jam.

And there is an even more important change.  I spent a lot of time at this jam watching Gerald play and listening to the licks he was playing.  I tried to copy some of the cooler licks and I observed how he approached songs and solos.

I think that this is a step in which I will start to develop my own style and sound.  I have learned how to play the instrument.  I can play the melody and the notes.  Now, I have to study the styles of other players and gather information from them.  I can observe other styles of play and integrate them as I wish.

There is a feature to this which comes to mind – I need to surround myself with good players.  Luckily there are plenty of good mando players in my area.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, My Journal , Charley's Jam