Bluegrass Break Down Under

Here's a link to our Aussie pals' blog. Many familiar faces and places.
http://australianbluegrass.com/index.php/exploring-the-south-travelogue-usa-3/

Check out the posts from Galax and Tennessee, too.

Hot. Steamy. Sultry.

No, we're not talking about some trashy novel Wayne Frye's been reading at the beach, we're talking about last night's jam at River City Grill. The place, the people and the pickin' were hot, hot, hot as the RC still deals with its AC issues. They're on it, and hope to have things fixed this week.

Anyway, Chuck and Co. set us up away from the solar-panel windows and closer to the bar (!) as a way to keep us from melting. Had a little smaller group than usual -- maybe due to the heat, but partly due to vacations -- but by 7, the place was pretty darn full. The RC has treated us well during our brief time there ... they set up the chairs, move everything back and are genuinely happy we play at their venue.

The group consisted of Doug, Joe, Jason, Chris, Nancy, Mary, Frank, Kendall, Christian, Tim P, Mike D and the guy who plays harmonica who I don't know. Eventually, Bill, Kendall, Tim P, Alan Surface and Jason(?) got a jam going in the nice cool breezes outside. Lately we've had some good jams inside and out, which makes for a good scene.

Tim M and maybe a few others were getting into the act as I left. Somebody can list the tunes played. All in all, a good jam was had.

Heckuva Jam

The jam hit it's stride down at the River City Grill tonight. Maybe it has before, but it was cookin' tonight. We had some excellent new players. John from Australia sitting in on bass was a real asset. Playing left handed like Paul McCartney crossed with Ralph Stanley, he sang good bass, and he knew just about every tune we threw at him.

Ginny is relatively new and sittin' in with some fresh tunes. Mike Dowdy is a familiar face, but he sat in to pick some, which was a treat. We got a rare visit from Slash who anchored the jam out on the sidewalk. Dale was back with us, Kendall was back with us, Christian was back with us. Mary, Larry, Wayne, Ralph, George Smith, Jason Wheeler, Chris Burgoyne, Larry and Bill with their dueling dobros, Mary, Nancy, and some other. Laura Beth and John of Laura Beth and the clover Hollow Boys sat in, too and we hope they'll be back. With the jam splitting in two, we busted out a ton of new tunes. Great vibe tonight.

I'm thinking of about 4 of our die hard regulars who weren't there and the jam was still bustin' at the seams. That's a healthy jam, I tell you what.

LandJamNation

We missed Joe and Doug, but were most happy to have Java Half-Brothers Jason and Mike fill in during the New River Land Trust Land Jam. We had a good crowd inside the barn, played well considering we had one practice, and we sold 1 CD and gave away 3. (The one we sold, the buyer asked: "Is Jason on this?")

And we got free drink tickets for Shooting Creek beer. I had fun, anyway.

How'd it go?

Went down hard with some kind of summer cold.
Jamming not an option.
Netflix online.
Nose dripping.
Wish you all could see it.