Claire Nelsen File #532 11/25/13 Jam Session Utah Old Time Fiddlers Jam; 11/23/13 West Valley

City Hall; 11:00 am Utah Old Time Fiddlers & Country Music Association Utah Old Time Fiddlers Jam Session When we were first assigned to attend a jam session, I wasnt so sure how that would go down. At first I pictured myself sitting in a coffee shop listening to various hipsters rock out on their guitars or sing some depressing punk songs. However, the jam session I did attend exceeded my expectations so much so that I actually enjoyed myself. The only jam session that I could find current information for was the Utah Old Time Fiddlers. It wasnt immediately appealing; if theres anyone who hates country or bluegrass music, its me. But this group of old timers completely reversed my expectations. The room was set up in a large circle with about twenty people all over the age of sixty who all had many different talents. Mostly everybody played the guitar, but some had banjos, a few had fiddles, many of them played the banjo, two of them played mandolins and one guy played the bass. In addition, all of them sang. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. The guy in charge, I believe his name was Bill, was super uptight and grumpy about everything. He made sure that nobody was talking during a performance; he even passed out the seven rules of jam session etiquette. They would go around the circle and each person had prepared a song for the jam. He or she got up and asked certain people to come up and back them up. The main few would play in the middle, but everybody would join in. All the soloist needed to do was announce what they were playing and in what key, and everybody would play along. The rules were to play forcefully when it was time to do your solo and to make sure that when somebody

else was doing their solo you didnt play over the top of them. They all just seemed like such good friends ad you could tell that they absolutely enjoy what they do. Each person had an incredible talent and put emotion and energy into every note until the end of their song. Ken, who had apparently just returned from Missouri whistled How Great Thou Art. He whistled the whole verse while he was backed up with a harmonica and guitar. It was much more western styled than Im used to, and kind of sounded like it was underwater. It was new and it was super interesting. Mountain Church was performed by two guitars and a banjo. It was like a country song, but it didnt sound depressing or angry. It was a happy kind of reminiscing tune. It was also relatable, talking about church, family and Sunday dinner. Another homey song called Richest Man in the World was played; it talked about how he didnt have a lot of money, but he had his family, his faith, water, a gardern, his fishing pole, and the simple things in his life that made him happy. He started out by saying what key he was in so everybody could follow along, but it must have been a more difficult piece because the circle seemed to just watch and not really play along. Another man played Too Fat For the Chimney in the key of C. He was interesting because before he started to play, he taught the circle how he wanted specific parts played. Even though he did this, nobody really played along. One fiddle and one guitar attempted, but most of them just watched him play. It was a cute song about how Santa has to go through the front door because hes been eating too much cookies and milk. It was festive in light of the holiday season coming up. There was a woman named Sherlon who sung a love song; I missed the title of it, but it was in the key of C and the fiddle backed her up. She was a super high soprano with vibrato to the max. It was probably the slowest song that was played in the circle, but it still flowed perfectly and she made it beautiful.

There were many songs that I was hearing for the first time, but I was surprised when I heard a few that I knew. All of the songs had similar beats and sounds, but I kept thinking of Home on the Range and somebody named Jill finally played it! She was backed up by the fiddle and mandolin, and everybody was singing along. That was the only song that people sang along to, probably because it is widespread. One woman named Lynn played Amazing Grace on the harmonica. The harmonica gives off a sound that Ive always liked, and to hear her play it so well was neat. A man named Jerry played My Grandfathers Clock which was the first song that I learned on the piano. That song brings back many memories of me sitting next to my mom on the piano bench as she patiently plunked the notes out with me. Jerry even had hand actions and did the tick-tock-tick-tock part on a block of wood. It was very interactive and fun to watch. I could go on forever about who played what and who sang with who. One man started yodeling in the middle of his song which was completely unexpected. They played a beautiful song called Beyond the Reign that was a tribute to all the people in the group who had passed away. Its really sad to think about; they have lost at least ten people in their group in the past year, some of which had been in the group for a long time. The tribute was well done and filled with emotion not only from the soloist, but from every person in the circle who was playing along. This jam session was a perfect example of a music scene. Scenes generally evolve around entertainment-oriented phenomena, such as music, theater, and dance (PM 34). Obviously, this group gathers twice a month because every single one of them loves music. They wouldnt be taking four hours of a Saturday to do something that they kinda sorta enjoy. Each person in the group is passionate about what they do! I could see it in their faces when they sang

a song about a loved one who had passed on or reminiscing about their childhood. They interact with each other; they plan songs that everybody can play along with, they catch up with each other if they havent seen each other for awhile. Its their way of connecting with each other, and if thats not a music scene, I dont know what is.