Jerry Agin wrote:
Carla and Bob Rogers wrote:Hi Jerry,
> Another GMHG story: I played with a random, assorted, and unpaid for
> group of musicians (a wee dram to the first person to identify the
> reference) on two seperate nights. The "star tallent" was the same on
> both nights. The attenence was much greater on the night the button box
> dropped in. I don't think the explanation is that everyone came to hear
> accordian. I think it's just the sound of that instrument carries better.
Are you referring to the music that takes place in the campground after
all the tourists go home?
I had heard that there was great music at the campground, so two years
ago I pitched my tent on top of the mountain. The first evening I
wandered around looking for a good music session to join. I found a
few musicians who knew old-timey tunes, and a smaller number who knew a
few Irish tunes, but I never connected with any Scottish musicians.
The second evening I went to the Scottish Country Dance at Lees-McRae
College, and returned to my tent a little past midnight. I could tell
from the noises that there was some wild partying going on, but it
sounded like African or Native American drumming with a few bagpipes
thrown in. I didn't even bother to cross the road to check it out. If
there had been any fiddles, or even accordions, they wouldn't have been
able to hear each other.
Is there something I missed?
Jerry Agin
Sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. Things have gotten busy at work and I've been neglecting my email.
It sounds like you arrived on Thursday. We usually go up on Tuesday to beat the crowds. Wednesday is usually a good night for music -- it's not after the tourists leave, it's before they arrive. Thursday is the big concert, so usually nothing much goes on then. Fridays and Saturdays can be ok, depending. Last year was bad for music due to the cold wet weather.
The drum circles are a fairly recent "addition". They can be annoying. There are some Scottish musicians, playing traditional tunes, including at least one fiddler actually from Scotland. There is also the occasional professional musician. I saw Ed Miller in the campground before I knew who he was. I remember thinking, "this guy is *really* good".
The guys I hang out with play electric guitar. It's sort of a slow session, because they don't know any tunes and I don't know very many. They mix things up with rock and blues, and sometimes someone else drops in. Two years ago one of them couldn't make it so the other one didn't bring his guitar. My goal is to have 20 playable tunes this summer.
Bob Rogers
South Carolina
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