Beginning in January, I hope you'll join me at our new round of jams. We have some new ones, some old ones, and help for folks just starting out. There'll be lead sheets (lyrics and chords), and if you have a song you'd like to sing, please bring it along with a bunch of copies of the lead sheet. Our Thursday night jams will begin at 7:00 p.m. as always, but we're going to dedicate the first 30 minutes of each jam to newbies, so if you haven't jammed before, we'll get you going. At 7:30 or so, we'll start picking up speed and branching out. And as always, bring a $2.00 donation for the use of the place.
Jam Beginners: I remember my first jam, at Paul's Saloon in San Francisco, 1981. I was a complete dork and had pretty much no idea how things worked, but the folks were patient and helped get me up to speed. OK, maybe not speed. Maybe justless dorkitude. But it was the start of a lot of fun.
Hootenanny: If you're as old as I am—and yet still alive—you remember the Great Folk Scare of the '60s. Hootenannies were the jam/singalong of the time, and a great, easy way to be part of making good music. We'll do songs such as "If I Had a Hammer," "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore," "Turn, Turn, Turn," "M.T.A." and more. But as a public service, we'll draw the line at "Kumbayah." Women will be required to wear long, straight hair down to their waist; men will be required to have hair.
Radio Oldies jam: I'm happy to say that Larry Goodin will be back to run the ever-popular Radio Oldies jam. And as he's pointed out before, you don't need to be a great player; if you just come to sing, that's great, too.
Bluegrass jam: I'm also happy to report that John Hassebrock will be back to lead the bluegrass jam. I'll be joining him, and as noted earlier, we'll be taking the songs slowly the first half hour to get new folks dialed in.
Fiddle Tunes jam: As always, the fiddle tunes jam isn't just for fiddles; it's for anyone who wants to play fun, traditional dance tunes such as "Soldier's Joy," "Old Joe Clark," etc. If she can get free, my wife Marianne Danehy will join us on fiddle that night. Also, you can find a good starter set of the tunes at our Colorado Roots Music Camp website. If you go to coloradorootsmusic.com/fiddle-tune-jam.htm, you'll find the (starter) list. You can download the notation from coloradorootsmusic.com/fiddle-tune-jam.pdf, download recordings of the individual tunes, or download a ZIP file containing all the recordings at coloradorootsmusic.com/fiddle-tunes/mariannes-fiddle-tunes.zip. Early in the jam, we'll play the tunes at an easier pace, as on the recordings, then we'll speed them up later on.
Kids' Jam Update
We continue to welcome all kids who play any acoustic instrument to our jams on the 1st and 2nd Saturday of every month from 10-11:30 a.m. Bring a drum if you don't play an instrument. Contact Luke Tripp at 719-287-7784 with any questions.
