What a jam session!

This past Saturday (10/31/2009) I had the extreme pleasure of being included on the invite list for a great jam session that took place in Caledonia, Michigan. A great time was had by all, and the level of musicianship that was present at the jam was world-class. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what learning to pick the banjo is all about. These musicians really made a positive impact on My Banjo Life.

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I’m proud to be part of the acoustic music scene

Mike, Foose, and Missy (click to enlarge)

This instrument called banjo has been pretty good to me. This craft called bluegrass has enriched my life in more ways than I can begin to count. I’ve made good friends and good acquaintances thanks to the instrument and the music, and I’ve been able to rub shoulders with some of the country’s best pickers over the past several years. I’m a fortunate man. Fortunate to have tapped into the camaraderie that forms the backbone of the bluegrass community. I’ve been embraced and welcomed in circles that sometimes I had no business being in. No one will ever accuse me of being the world’s best banjo player, but I sure have fun with it and I’m grateful when I get the chance to hang around to pick with really great people. Saturday night saw just such a group of people gather for a great jam session that was a lot of fun.

We have great musicians in every state of the union, and west Michigan is no exception to that statement. One such picker is a man named Kevin Gaugier. Kevin has been west Michigan’s little closely guarded secret for dozens of years, but it looks like the rest of the country is sure to be finding out about him now. Kevin happens to be the banjo player for the highly acclaimed group Detour Bluegrass Band (http://www.detourbluegrass.com). After Mike Sumner left in recent history, they tapped Kevin to take Mike’s place. I had the opportunity to see them at a bluegrass festival this summer, and what an experience. They are a fantastic group. But the great thing is that I’ve known Kevin since the late 80′s, and I alreay knew he was phenomenal.

The jam was 12 kinds of awesome!!

Kevin Gaugier and Jeff Rose (click to enlarge)

I‘ll tell you this, when you receive and invite to go to Kevin’s house for a jam session, you don’t say no. Kevin and his beautiful wife Ilsa hosted a fun night for a handful of pickers, and I’m grateful to have gotten an invite. Kevin is one of the best banjo players I’ve ever heard, and he’s phenomenal on guitar and mandolin too. I heard a rumor that Kevin had invited his band-mate Jeff Rose to come to the jam, so I knew that I likely was going to be spending much of the evening with my mouth gaping open. Sure enough, Jeff found his way over to Kevin’s house, and what a treat it was to meet him! I don’t know how old Kevin’s house is, but he can rest assured that the floors are level because the drool was coming out of both sides of my mouth as it hung open for most of the night. This man is solid and professional, and what a nice guy. WHAT A MANDOLIN PLAYER!! I’ve often advised my students to spend some time picking with people above their ability level because, as they say, the rising tide lifts all boats, and you can’t help but become more polished and technically better by being around people who exude talent and ability. I’m sorry to report that this didn’t happen Saturday night. Instead of them lifting me up to their level, I’m worried that they were all dumbed  down to my level. But hey: at least no one slipped in the drool.

Mark Zickefoose & Kevin Gaugier (click to enlarge)

I‘ve loved reading various histories of bluegrass or hearing the philosophies of the greats who’ve gone before us. One phrase that always struck me as kind of profound was the description of this music as containing “ancient tones”. That puts the words to the feeling that we all have as we pick and sing acoustic, roots-level music like bluegrass. There is something so primal and satisfying about hearing a tight 3-part harmony and a smooth guitar, along with the earthy, woody tones of a mandolin and the current and flow of the banjo. Add in that sternum-jarring bottom end of the bass, and it’s like magic. One of the attendees of the jam was Melissa Armstrong, and she did a song that I recorded with my little Tascam digital recorder that I brought to the jam that I think speaks so well to this idea of roots-level music capturing those “ancient tones”. Click this link and listen to how haunting and moving these vocals are. Melissa is formerly the band leader of Missy K. & A Mess ‘A Bluegrass; I have to admit that I don’t know her complete background or I’d credit the rest of her musical experiences here, but nonetheless, click this link and listen to how nicely this turned out: Rock Of Ages. Melissa is a phenomenal singer who is a master with her instrument: her voice. And what a beautiful lady with an infectious personality.

So many good pickers there!

One of the many acquaintances I’ve made over the last couple of years is a gentleman named Mark Zickefoose. “Foose”, as we all call him, is quite a guy and I’m thankful to say that he’s become a good, close friend. With Foose, there are no strangers; once you meet him, you are his friend. A few of us lucky people get to say that we’re in his “inner circle”, and I’m proud to be part of it. Foose is known wide and far and has a TON of friends in the music world. He is a former member of Audie Blaylock & Redline, and through that association, he’s rubbed shoulders with many pickers from Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Carolinas. If you can name a professional southern bluegrass picker, Foose has probably jammed with him or her or he’s on their speed dial list on their cell phone. I’m very fortunate to get to share the stage with Foose currently as part of the group Rogue River Grass (http://www.roguerivergrass.com). He’s fun to pick with, but my God what a set of lungs that man has. Everyone loves to hear Foose sing. How about a little taste? Here’s my recording of Foose from the jam singing Webster’s Definition. Click this link: play song.

We all had a ton of fun at the jam session. Much of the fun came between songs when we all had a good time conversing and laughing. This group of people seemed to mix very well…but musicians usually do. Kevin and his wife Ilsa have a beautiful home and were very gracious hosts. One of the hallmarks of a good jam session is good grub, and they didn’t disappoint! Great chili, guacamole, chips, lots of cold drinks and cider, cookies, etc. It was a great night of music made even better by the accomodations. I thought it was pretty neat that the Gaugiers are in the process of having friends and acquaintances donate to their “ring of friendship”. This is a ring of stones around their fire pit outside, with each stone inscribed with the donor’s name. It’s a great idea that I hadn’t heard of ahead of time or I would have brought a stone for sure.

I have a page over on my website where I am featuring sound files that I record at jam sessions with my Tascam Dr-1 digital recorder. This is a great little recorder that makes good quality sound files. It’s a new page for my site, and I featured this jam session’s sound files as the first entry on the page. There’ll be more to come in time, but if you’d like to hear the songs we picked and sang this night, please click over to my website to listen: www.banjosrule.com/jams.html

Rick Williams & Kevin Gaugier

If you are from the Michigan, Ohio, or Indiana area, chances are that you know many or all of the names that were present at the jam session. There was Mike Crofoot, who is a a great guitar picker and bass player, and a veteran of several Michigan music groups. Mike’s wife Sue was also there, and she’s quite a bass player herself. Also in attendance were two members of Jonas Ridge: Christee McNeil and Rick Triplett. Very solid and able pickers and nice people. We also had the bass player for Lucky Dog with us, Steve, but I didn’t get his last name. There was Rick Williams from the Williams Family Bluegrass Band handling the resophonic guitar and occasional banjo breaks, and of course there was little ol’ me, Banjo Paul.

It don’t git no better ‘n this ya’ll!

Nights like Saturday night are the reason I learned to pick banjo. Since I took up this craft, I’ve been on the television, the radio, on albums, on the stage, on the internet…but no matter what spotlight I get to play my banjo in, nothing compares to sitting down in a circle of people just having fun and singing our hearts out, especially if you get a certain caliber of people in the group. If you are presently starting out on an instrument, I’d like to encourage you to stick it out. Practice as often as you can, and for heaven’s sake get out and rub elbows with other pickers. Make yourself known at the jams and the local music events. If you just get out and have fun with your instrument, you’ll be amazed at the roads you get taken down. I highly recommend it. After nights like Saturday nigh, I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world.

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I’d love to see your comments!

At the bottom of this page is a comment area. Would you mind creating a username and password and sharing some of your jamming experiences with me and my readers? I love hearing from my blog visitors. Thanks so much!

As always, those are my lousy opinions. As always, I’d love to hear from you. As always, I’m Banjo Paul. And as I always say: pick ‘em if ya got ‘em!

Banjo Paul
“Wunse, I coodn’t even spel bango pikker…now I are one!”
www.banjosrule.com (main site)
www.mybanjolife.com (blog)