Jam at Wades in Radford - 6:30-9:00

Come out and support the jam and a local business. It's win-win, baby!

Here's a piece that was an obituary of sorts for the Coffee Mill jam that appeared in RU's online publication the Whim.
An excerpt:

Laughter and conversation mixed with bluegrass music flowing from fiddles, banjos, mandolins, guitars, and an upright bass filled the air last Monday, Feb. 22 at a packed Coffee Mill. Every seat was filled as a range from toddlers to seniors clapped their hands and stomped their feet to the music. The energy inside the Coffee Mill made it easy to see it was a special night on Main Street, and it may be the last special night on Main Street for a long time to come. After eight years of serving the City of Radford, the Coffee Mill is closing its doors for good.

“I, personally, am very sorry to see the Coffee Mill close,” fiddle player and a founder of the jam Ralph Berrier said. “Not because of the jam, but because the Mill has been such a wonderful gathering spot for downtown Radford.”

The Coffee Mill has been a popular hangout for both natives of Radford and Radford University students.

“I like the community,” junior Mark Samudre said. “I like getting away from campus and doing my work and stuff.”

Graduate student, Jon Murrill, likes the atmosphere of not just the Coffee Mill, but of the jam sessions as well.

“I try to come as often as I can for [a] couple of months now,” Murrill said. “I saw it from the road and it felt like a fun atmosphere.”

Radford University students don’t just come out to watch the jam; some participate. Banjo player Jason Wheeler comes out to the jams every Monday night and participates with the rest of the group.

“When I first started playing the banjo I was in tenth grade in high school,” Wheeler said. ”I started going to the Coffee Mill jam shortly after I started playing. I did not know many songs, and was a newbie when it came to playing, especially in public. The group of musicians welcomed me and allowed me to sit down and learn from them. I learned a great deal from that jam, and I credit it with the quickness of my development on the banjo.”

With the closing of the Coffee Mill, the Radford Fiddle and Banjo Jam loses the place it called home for the past seven years.

“It seems ironic that two weeks ago we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and now, two weeks later, we’re having our last jam,” Berrier said to an attentive audience.

It may be the last jam at the Coffee Mill, but that doesn’t mean it’s the last jam.

“The jam will survive,” Berrier said. “It’s lasted 10 years and has been held at other venues.”

The jam will move to the cafe area in Wades Supermarket every Monday from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. until it finds a permanent location. This isn’t the first time the jam was forced to change locations. When the jam first formed in 2000, the group wandered between several locations such as Mocha Joe’s and BT’s, until they settled down at Joe’s Diner for three years. The Coffee Mill has hosted the jam since they opened their doors eight years ago. The move is necessary, but the group made sure to pay homage to their home of over half a decade.

“We’ve been guests in their house for seven years, so we thank them,” Berrier said.

Cover and story photo by Thomas Bowman

New Home for Radford Fiddle and Banjo Jam

Temporarily at least...
Ralph writes:

Hi all,

The jam will be moving to the cafe at Wades Supermarket, 405 Main Street in Radford, starting next Monday, March 1. The owners will allow us to play there for a few weeks while we decide upon a permanent location.

Because Wades closes at 9 p.m., the jam will run from 6:30-9 p.m. I am sure we could start at 6 p.m. if folks want to arrive early.

I think Wades plans to staff the cafe area with a cashier, so we can pay for coffee or food close to the action. Enjoy a few chicken fingers with your bluegrass!

Wades is a locally owned grocery store that has been part of the New River Valley for 60 years. I am most grateful to the co-owners, Sarah Harris and Greg Wade, for being so accomodating. If you shop at Wades before Monday, be sure to thank them for their hospitality.

Wades is located on the opposite side of town from The Coffee Mill -- travel away from the university westward on Main Street, about 3/4 of a mile past Radford High School. You will have no problem finding it.

See you at the jam!

RBjr.

Don't let the Jam die. Support it wherever it is.

The Undiscovered Country

The Jam ended its 7 year run at the Coffee Mill in Radford last night. The place was as packed as it's ever been, and then some. The pickers got in their last licks and a lot of familiar faces were there to be part of the Last Jam, but it wasn't really a bummer at all for me. The incredible turnout of listeners and players told me that we're just being shushed off and we'll roost somewhere else.

All signs are pointing to us ending up at Wade's for the time being. I've heard a lot about groups who want to take us in, and it's great to feel welcomed like that. I've been going to the Coffee Mill Jam for as long as I've been in Radford, and it's where I've met 99% of my friends in this town. The jam is a giant reason I like living here, and I'm going to work to preserve it. I'm not alone, though, so like I said, I'm not at all bummed. This is a chance to perfect the jam!

Ruth Babylon made a cool video of the last jam. It was good one, a mostly typical one. But it's not the last jam, it's just the last jam for the Coffee Mill.

Y'all stay tuned for updates on our next stop!

Side Door Tomorrow Night! Sat Feb 20th

Don't miss it y'all!

The Side Door Sessions ride again this Saturday night at the intersection of 3rd and Grove in Radford.

Music will feature our old friend Jackson Cunningham, performing with Martha Spencer - the Whitetop Mountaineers.

Also performing will be Ken Richardson, Indian Run, featuring fiddler Paul Herling, and our own Nancy Corey, and Laura Beth and the Clover Hollow Boys.

Doors open at 7:00 and the music starts at 7:30.

Jam Exodus

Apparently the Jam is being cast into the Wilderness. Ralph passes on the sad news:

Hi all,
As many of you learned last night, The Coffee Mill is closing next week. It appears that next Monday's jam will be the last there. I'll keep you posted on what the plan is -- an "executive committee" met post-jam at Sharkey's to discuss the situation, but after two rounds of beers we forgot what we were meeting about.

We have some options we'll explore for where to go next. We may just play somewhere briefly as a stop-gap until we find a new home. We might even take a couple of weeks off before settling in somewhere else. Another option is to simply retire the jam after 10 good years, but nobody seemed enthused with that idea. So, we'll keep looking as we thank The Coffee Mill for letting us be their guests for the past 7 years.

Any suggestions? Just e' me.

Anyway, to clarify, there WILL be a jam next week at The Coffee Mill. Hopefully by then we'll know what we're doing next.

RBjr.

Bummer. Where will we go next? Retiring from jammin' is unthinkable. Don't let our sweet love die!

Side Door February 20th -Whitetop Mountaineers

Mark your calendars!
Side Door XV is coming and we've got a great lineup featuring the Whitetop Mountaineers.


Also appearing will be Indian Run, Ken Richardson, and Laura Beth and the Clover Hollow Boys.

Do yourself a favor and don't miss it!

Who's up for Galax?

On a snowy day like today, think about the long hot nights and long scorched days pickin' at Galax.
I've got to start planning now if I want to make it.

Happy 10th Anniversary Fiddle and Banjo Jam!

Amazing! Tempus fugit, indeed. The jam just turned 10 and it was a typically excellent one. Somebody told Doug he could miss it, and that Joe could bail out on a blistering version of Roanoke, but it was still great. A fine cake was there. Our fine friends were there, miss Lucy was there and Ms. Ruth. Our long lost pal Wilson. The prodigal Susie Gaskins! I'm gettin' teary eyed just thinkin' about it.

Wayne told me the theme was to play the first song you could remember playing at the jam. I do not have a distinct memory of a first song so I tried a likely one - Bill Monroe's "On and On" in G. Later I decided that "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms" might have been more likely an Ralph agreed, though he doesn't know either. Wayne said he played "Little Georgia Rose" which is probably the first one I remember him playing.

I'm gettin' to feel like an old-timer. I came to the jam when I moved to Radford in June of ought-three and I've been comin' out Mondays ever since. I've said that it adds about $10,000 to what I think my house is worth, but it's probably more than that. Not every town has a solid regular jam like this where people can come out as beginners and become really good, just by sittin' in and playing. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you come to the jam week in and week out, you'll GET good. And you'll have a good time doin' it. Once you get a jam like this in your back yard, you'd have to be crazy to move away.

Back in 2003, I remember Tom Layton was there a lot. We used to see a lot more of Vernon Elkins. Susie was usually the bass player. I don't think I had a conversation with Wayne for the first year. I know the first couple times I made the jam I got lost on breaks, I lost the beat, I forgot words, but the jam was always super supportive. No matter how I butchered a break, they told me to take another one. Thanks!

So let me go back to my other point (if I may ramble...where was I????) Not only does every town NOT have a jam, very few towns do. And fewer still have a regular every-week jam, and fewer still have a friendly jam that encourages anybody and everybody to join in and be a part of it. It's very special, and we know that we owe the biggest debt to Ralph Berrier for being the anchor, and showing up week after week to keep the jam going as it was getting started, and over ten long (short!) years as musicians came and went and were replaced and came back.

Here's to Ralph and here's to the musicians, and here's to ten more years!

Jam report 2/1

A fine group of musicianers and listeners warmed themselves by the fire of the jam Monday night. More than 15 music-makers plowed through songs like a VDOT truck through a snow-covered street. Well, better than that actually, considering my street. There were about 40 people in the place most of the night.

We dusted off old favorites "Big Scioti," "Cattle in the Cane" (which Chris led on fiddle! Last 2 weeks: bass, fiddle, no mandolin), "St. Anne's Reel" and many sing-alongable tunes, too.

Coming soon: 10 Years of the Radford Fiddle and Banjo Jam.