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

Red Haired Boy (FAST)

Well this is a long time coming, and I am really pleased to be posting this.

Attached below is recording of me playing Red Haired Boy at the “fast” level – according to my taps at this online metronome it is around 123bpm.

My first blog post that mentions the Brad Davis DVD is November, 2008.  I remember when I first got the DVDs I thought there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to play with the fast level – at least not note for note.  It is really cool that not 9 months later I am able to play along with it.

Now I still have a long ways to go, obviously.  I can’t really play this fast with the rest of the songs on the DVDs.  Also, 123bpm is not the fastest that people play in some jams around here in Dallas – they are typically 130-150.

How did I get here?  In my opinion there are some key factors that helped -

• Slow, intentional practice.  The Brad Davis DVDs are great because the slow level is really slow.  In just about every practice session I would start out with the slow and made sure I played it PERFECTLY;
• This blog – recording my progress and being able to look back at what I have done has been key.  When you get into a rut or plateau the journal helps you pick out things you forgot about and keep things fresh.  It also held me accountable when I was not practicing consistently or being lazy;
• Form – I started taking lessons via webcam with Taterbug a couple of months ago, and he immediately identified a flaw in my left hand form.  I took two months to slow things down and fix it, and now I see there would be no way I could play this fast before hand.

I want to give some credit to the mandoliniana blog for reminding me how important it is to look at yourself in the freshest, most honest mirror possible.  Also thanks to flatpicker650 for nudging me to do this and go public with it.

So, here is the clip.  In the recording I am listening to the DVD through headphones.  Its not the best I have ever played it, and its not the worst.  I always like to improvise out the Part B of Red Haired Boy, and I especially like what I did on this take.  There is a little of my stuff, and some classic Monroe licks.  Thanks and please leave comments!

Audio Clip: Red Haired Boy (Fast)

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

Avalon Reprise – A Rekx Original

Well I finally got to recording a little tune that I have been messing with for a month or two now.  I recorded this using my Zoom H2 microphone and Audacity.  It took a couple of nights to get the sound somewhat optimized – and then of coarse I have to find a time when it is quiet – in my house usually around 10 or 11.

I named this Avalon Reprise because the guitar work is obviously in the style of Mississippi John Hurt.  The song is really just a mixture of 3 or 4 different John Hurt songs.  I play for my son every night at bed time, and many times I will segway from one John Hurt song, into some sort of “John Hurt Jam”, and then back into the original song.  This song is a jam I keep going back to.

It took a couple of tries to get the mandolin part down.  I am just noodling around on it.  I discovered that it is much more difficult to get a satisfactory track when you are just jamming then when you have a written and set solo to play.  I might like to go back and try a different mode like mixolydian and shoot for some Jerry Garcia type noodling.

So, the recording is not perfect, but I just wanted to get it out there and move on.  And I had a blast doing it.

Enjoy!

Avalon Reprise

Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, Music Clip, 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

All Things Hoss

Here it is…another Sam Bush treat for my mandolin friends.  In this installment, Sam spends a good amount of time talking about his mandolin named Hoss.

I hope you learn a lot of interesting things about Hoss, I know I did.  For instance,  it is really interesting to hear how Hoss  reacts to the weather.  I also didn’t realize that Hoss started out as such an ugly duckling.  Didn’t know that the back has been replaced.  And I would love to hear the recording of John Hartford and Norman Blake scraping off the finish…that’s right…a play by play recording of John Hartford and Norman Blake scraping off the finish…

Enjoy!

sb-workshop2009-03-29t05

Filed under: Burning Questions, Music Clip, My Journal

Sam Bush and the White Rabbit

I have a little treat that I have been wanting to share with my fellow mandolin playing friends.  I have below excerpts from the Sam Bush mandolin workshop at the July 19, 2008, Greyfox festival.

This is a really classic piece.  The crowd is very, very lively.  I think it is raining outside, and everyone has huddled into the workshop tent.

Sam Bush gives great workshops.  It seems that lately he has been starting his workshops of with a brief intro to Bill Monroe, and then demonstrates different styles with “Patty On The Turnpike”.

But this workshop is different – this is Greyfox.  Check out the seamless transition between Patty and White Rabbit.  I won’t tease anyone…the masked rabbit man is Jerry Douglas.  Mr. Douglas must be quite the character.

My only question – was this whole thing rehearsed?  Sam does a phenomenal job with White Rabbit…the chords, the lyrics, everything!  I just have to think that it was rehearsed.  Take a listen – what do you think?

sam-bush-talks-about-bill-monroe

patty-on-the-turnpike-white-rabbit

Filed under: Burning Questions, Music Clip, My Journal

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

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