Affording some relief from bitter and unseasonably frigid weather inherited from gusting Arctic blasts, Missouri fans and Bluegrass musicians convened at a capital city hotel and its convention center last weekend to enjoy the annual Mid West convention of the Society for Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America. While the main auditorium hosted a roster of regional bands punctuated by awards ceremonies, Bluegrass pickers converged in the hotel`s cavernous lobby where spontaneous jam sessions erupted like springtime flowerbeds heralding the long-awaited end of an icy winter.
Curious hotel guests lingered about to investigate the spirited and spontaneous music. With some wonderment, one puzzled onlooker inquired what was the “Society for the Prevention of Bluegrass Music…” all about? The jammers politely paused and courteously clarified that the Society`s goal was the “Preservation” and celebration of the Bluegrass music genre. The listener returned, “Kinda like the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans?” Smiles were exchanged.
In the face of inclement weather, folks from the Show-Me State devotedly invoke Mark Twain`s meteorological injunction, “If you don`t like the weather in Missouri, wait five minutes.” Twain lived much of his later years in Hartford, CT, and he is buried next to his wife in Elmira, NY. The actual quotation attributed to him is, ” If you don`t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.” Twain was a professed banjophile.
A requisite five minute wait notwithstanding, promptly after Missouri`s all ready frosty weekend temperatures in the teens, the thermometer plummeted to below zero in the subsequent glacial and snowy days.
P.S. Check-out the “5 string BRC open back `Fleur-de-lis` banjo” on eBay Jan.14-21.
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