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Jamming

BRC Activities, Cell Perches & HVO, Jamming

A Jam Endures

December 17, 2022

About 40 years ago, a weekly jam session was inaugurated on Thursday evenings in the basement of local hardware store that was owned by an avid Bluegrass guitar/mandolin picker. Attendance at this soon popular year round musical get-together was by invitation only, and the included participants showed-up faithfully regardless of rain, ice, sleet, or snow. The musicians came from different walks of life and embraced diverse sociopolitical agendas,  but the respectful climate of the jam was friendly interaction and tolerant camaraderie. Because of the shared love of Bluegrass music, the meeting succeeded as a mini societal model of mutual acceptance. In the below photo, the gracious jam host Windell is standing (second row) far left. It was not unknown for Mitch Jayne, the bass player for the Dillards, to stop-by on occasion and enjoy the fun and music.

As many years past-by, and some members aged-out, relocated to another state, or passed away. The jam session endured for decades until host Windell sadly passed away earlier this year. Two of the jam regulars, however (blue shirts far left front row), have continued the rich  tradition of this special Thursday night picking session by convening it on an alternating week schedule between their two nearby homes. Participation is still by invitation only, and the jam session has survived the covid pandemic. To celebrate the continued success of the cheerful climate orginally cultivated by store owner Windell, the BRC founder (holding banjo) crafted the “Fiddlin` Bill Cell Perch” for his teammate Bill (blue plaid shirt) as a thank-you gesture signifying their successful partnership in sustaining this enduring jam tradition.

The sturdy red oak smartphone holder bears treble clef signatures, stars, fiddles, and guitars. The heavenly star-swooshes represent musicians who have passed away with the years, and the small mother of pearl stars represent the current active members. On the top of the center post is a slight larger star that represents a nonagenarian original jam session senior member (green vest front row center group photo) who still plays music with us regularly.

The underside of the cell perch is a signature location for a BRC inlay. A hand saw and claw hammer signify that the original site of the jam session was the basement of Windell`s hardware store.

Fiddlin` Bill received his cell perch at the weekly jam session with much gratitude and has stationed the desktop implement in his home recording studio as seen above. We are privileged to continue this weekly jam legacy.

Combining musicians from all three local jam sessions,  a recent festive Seasonal gig at the local brewpub was filled with Holiday sing-alongs enjoyed by the audience and performers alike. As usual, all tip money was donated to the nearby Children`s Hospital.

From the BRC: Happy Holidays to all BRC readers from all of us.

 

Jamming

Autumn Harp Tones

September 3, 2022

With the arrival of autumn, students have returned to the campus, and the average age of our university township has fallen to 21 years.  E-scooters traverse the leafy streets and sidewalks while the trees artfully repaint their foliage. The local music scene is slowly reviving itself. On a recent Sunday afternoon, a blues harmonica player (yellow T-shirt below) sat-in with the G&F jam band at the brewpub.

Bluegrass music is no stranger to harmonica players. Earl Taylor played the mouth harp with Flatt & Scruggs in the 1950-60s. Doc Watson not infrequently played a mouth organ, or so-called French harp, on a neck holder simultaneously while picking his guitar. Jimmie Fadden, drummer for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, is heard playing the harmonica throughout the ground-breaking 1972 “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” album.  Grammy Award winning and multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy is probably the most famous and recorded country harmonica player in Nashville.
When our guest musician above is not playing blues harmonica, he is a full-time oil-on-canvas painter whose impressive brushwork is exhibited at the Columbia Art League gallery on a regular basis.

Lastly, the BRC archives corroborate that the Harptone Manufacturing Corporation made instrument cases for C.F.  Martin Company guitars in the mid 1930`s.

From the BRC: Keep on keepin`  the blues away.

 

BRC Activities, Cell Perches & HVO, Jamming

Amigos & Pals

August 20, 2022

This has been an off-center summer with blanketing heat waves almost everywhere, a global omicron surge, and troublesome wildfires out West and beyond. Although local musicians have been sometimes scarce to find during the current and previous calendar year, pickers and singers are slowly emerging from covid hibernation to volunteer and entertain at the mid-town brewpub on Sunday afternoons in support of the Children`s Hospital. On a recent weekend, a trio of physicians took to the stage for a benefit performance and described themselves as the “3 MD Amigos.”.

A very special pal of the Gainor & Friends jammers is a secretary at the University orthopedic hospital who for many years has supervised the monthly forwarding of all collected jam band tips to the Children`s Miracle Network.

In gratitude for her devoted administrative management of these monies, she was gifted a “Paws for the Cause” smartphone holder earlier this month celebrating the total G&F donations which had recently surpassed the $28K milestone. A treble clef inlay is seen on the back of the sturdy red oak desktop implement signifying the homespun music that brings the tip money to her desk for the benefit of our pediatric medical center.

To view other similar items from the BRC workshop which are decorated with banjo fretboard spare-parts, enter “smartphone” in the webpage search engine and scroll down.

Sojourning a 130 mile round trip to our University township, Bluegrass musicians from a weekly Wednesday afternoon jam session in a rural Ozark burger shop trekked north a few weeks ago in the middle of vacation season for a Sunday gig at the brewpub. Afterwards, all enjoyed a BBQ picnic at the lakeside BRC domicile. We applaud the generous civic spirit and fellowship of these pickers and singers seen below.

From the BRC: Who could have better pals than these good amigos?

Art Shows, Jamming

A Puma and Parting

June 25, 2022

For the summertime members-only show at the local community art gallery, the BRC craftsman fashioned a “Puma”  banjo for the exhibit. The open back instrument was decorated with laser-cut wood inlays of mostly birch. The truss rod cover was made of laminated maple. Although unknown in Missouri, the mountain panther is a solitary species that roams southern Florida and the remote regions of the Western US. Years ago, the BRC family lived a while in the wooded lake district of Florida where sightings of the furtive feline were rare but reported. Later, we resided twice in California- once overlooking the sea and once in the shadow of wilderness mountains where the big cat allegedly prowled, but only yipping coyotes were heard at night.

At the gala evening reception, curious art gallery visitors discover the Puma 5-stringer. The scientific name of this species of cougar is Puma concolor.

Last month, the yogurt shop in our capital city hosted its farewell Bluegrass jam session on the eve of the enterprise being sold to another vendor. Most of the musicians wore signature tie dye T-shirts which were a popular promotional item that the proprietors offered to faithful customers during our 6 year tenure of quarterly gigs at the main street snack bar.

From the BRC: Happy Trails to all and and thanks for the neighborly venue and free yogurt!

Cell Perches & HVO, Jamming

Back among the Outback

May 28, 2022

In the sprawling Lake of the Ozarks countryside, a small village burger shop nestled in the foothills has hosted a mid week jam session for decades. Noontime featured a classic country music songfest, and bluegrass musicians stepped up for the afternoon hours. Eventually, the country pop jammers dwindled away, but the bluegrass pickers endure to this day. The pandemic, however, silenced all music at the eatery for nearly two years- until now. With the apparent waning of the covid infestation, the weekly acoustic jam session has happily revived. Customers enjoy the renewed live music scene while our clogger (striped shirt) tutors patrons` children and grandkids to dance to the festive rhythms.

To celebrate the long-awaited revival of this southern Missouri jam session, the BRC craftsman fashioned an “Ozark Wilderness Cell Perch” smartphone holder with leftover banjo fretboard inlays to portray the hilly outback that surrounds the rural village where the burger shop resides. The table top implement is decorated with flora and fauna images including the occasional bald eagle and bobcat that inhabit the nearby rugged Show-Me State countryside.

The cell perch is destined for a community end-of-summer “Scapes” art show which will be thematically focused on the world of escapes: landscapes, seascapes, and dreamscapes, etc..

From the BRC: Keep on picking,  no matter what.