A Couple Links and Thoughts
I thought you might like to see the web sites connected with the Bluegrass Jam Camp I went to last weekend.


First is the camp itself. Run by Lenore and DannSiemms it is called Do North. The web site will have pictures in the not too distant future.




Second is the band that provided the leadership. They are Monroe Crossing, one of the Upper Midwest's Premier Bluegrass Bands. And they are a great group of people that puts on a dynamite show.



So what's this old postmodernPilgrim doing playing around with bluegrass? Well, it's hard to say. I didn't grow up on it. I only "discovered" it first when I was living in York, PA, in the early 1980s. The public radio station down the road in Maryland has a bluegrass show every Sunday evening that I fell in love with. The driving guitar, the twang of the banjo, the unending number of notes being played on the mandolin, the mournful yet playful moan of the fiddle, the solid foundation of the bass. They were (and are) the roots of bluegrass.

I began to hear names like Doc Watson, Flatt and Scruggs, and, of course, Bill Monroe. The Nitty Gritty Dirt band had already come out with the first of their three Will the Circle Be Unbroken compilations. There was something unique about it.

One of the things I think is that is built around community (you just knew I would find that in here somewhere!) The bluegrass "subculture" or even "alternative" culture is a world unto its own. Festivals, contests, jam sessions are being held all over the place all year long. There is a bottom up kind of life to bluegrass. It is the "jazz" of country music, if I can mix music styles so boldly. Yet it is also quite open to everyone. The beginner is as welcome at a jam as the most advanced professional.

It is also just a lot of fun. So, if I have to give up my dream of being a trumpet player in a rock and roll band, at least I can be a guitar plucker in a bluegrass jam.