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

Argyle 2008 Mandolin Workshops

Here are the mandolin workshops of Ronnie McCoury and Jesse Cobb (of the Infamous Stringdusters) from the 2008 Argyle Bluegrass Festival.

I really appreciate Ronnie and Jesse for letting me record the workshops. I think it is a wonderful thing that they took the time to give the workshops, and both of them did a very good job.

There are a couple of interesting notes to these workshops. First is the contrast in philosophy between these two musicians. They have almost opposite opinions on everything from holding the pick, how to practice, the usefulness of TAB, and more.

In Ronnie’s workshop, he goes into great detail about how he came to his Lloyd Loar mandolin. He talks about what makes the Loar sound special, how he improvises onstage, and what make the McCoury band’s sound different. Ronnie also talks about Monroe’s playing style and picks some cool tunes on his Loar.

Jesse Cobb gave a great workshop also. Jesse talks about different chord voicings and rhythms that he likes to use. Jesse also dropped a hot opinion about the chop style of many modern bluegrass mandolin players. He talks about his struggles in Nashville and how he keeps loose on stage.

Jesse Cobb Mandolin Workshop Part 1

Jesse Cobb Mandolin Workshop Part 2

Ronnie McCoury Mandolin Workshop 03/08/08

Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Show Notes & Song References, Show Reviews , field recording, mandolin, workshop