The Bluegrass Jam

Kim McKinney

I live in a county in North Carolina (Iredell) with a rich heritage of bluegrass music. Growing up here I knew many families with bluegrass blood…. musical ability passed down from generation to generation. From young to old they came together to play music. Nothing high brow. We didn’t have violinists….we had fiddlers. Our fiddler’s convention had people coming from near and far to hear the best in bluegrass.

My friend Drew, who normally plays in the band 3rd Creek Bluegrass, has organized a monthly bluegrass jam in my town (Statesville, NC) that’s always a fun time. There’s no telling which musicians will show up, but if they do they are welcome to join in and even lead a song or two. All ages and instruments are welcome, as you can see. Tonight we even had someone playing the spoons!

It’s an informal night for the purpose of having a good time and having musicians who don’t usually play together get that chance. The old mentor the young….and sometimes the young mentor the old…but regardless of age there is respect for the music.

I added a couple of snips of video at the end, just so you can get an idea of the music. I always seemed to record when there was someone who needed to pass by, so tonight I never got a full song recorded. I finally gave up, snapped a few pictures and just enjoyed the music.

So this is what I did tonight in our town. What were you up to?

Published by Kim McKinney

I hate boxes....usually. Sometimes I fit, often I don't. You too? I used to want to fit in, but now I usually don't. I want to be me. Not far out there, but not quite the norm. I believe we should celebrate the unique in ourselves. I love travel, adventure, hot air balloons, live music, and kind, smart, and interesting people. Have been described as quirky and I quite like it. I love writing because it helps clear out my brain! Please subscribe to my blog and follow me on Medium (https://medium.com/@kimmckinney719). And let me know your thoughts. I'll love us to get to know each other better.

7 Comments

    1. My family didn’t listen to bluegrass….my parents were a bit more of the Glen Miller genre. But it was big in my high school, where we even learned to clog in PE! I love all music and think one reason our community is so rich in it is because of those bluegrass roots.

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  2. People don’t give this music the true credit it deserves! Joke about the banjo all you want… it takes skills and talent!! Lol! I’m not good enough so I settled for a 6 string banjo…

    Bluegrass has a way of telling a story that no other genre can. I find it fascinating!

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    1. Yes! I love all types of music but living here bluegrass is such a part of our local music scene. I love these jams. All ages, all levels of ability. This is not the only one that meets…they gather everywhere. It’s great because the talent is reproduced in all different kinds of genres. While people have been playing around our county for a long time, it’s only in the past year the number of music venues has exploded. Most weekends about 10 bars and restaurants downtown have music. I absolutely love it.

      Anyway, not sure if I got any video of the banjo player actually playing banjo (they kept swapping out instruments and were playing things I never knew that played), but he is fantastic.

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