Bluegrass Jams bring friendly "pickers and grinners" together

"Lively tempos, full vocal harmonies and syncopated banjo licks . . ."  That's what appeals to Jim Zethmayr, who leads our monthly Bluegrass Jam at Two Way Street Coffee House. One of our more popular activities, the jam is held at 2 PM on the fourth Saturday of each month. It's open to everybody -- members, non-members or anyone who wishes to drop by for two hours of singing, playing or just listening.

Jim Zethmayr tunes up for a recent Bluegrass Jam.

The bluegrass jams were started 13 years ago by Paul Vander Woude, who wanted to focus more on bluegrass music in addition to Plank Road's regular twice-a-month folk sing-arounds. Paul continued to lead the jam until 2006, when Jim Zethmayr took over. Through the years, the Jam has remained a popular event. In fact, in the past year attendance has increased to where it often equals that of our twice-monthly sing-arounds.

Larry Gesiakowski adds some licks, alternating between mandolin and guitar.

For those who haven't attended a Bluegrass Jam, here's how it works:

• We meet at 2 PM on the fourth Saturday of each month at Two Way Street Coffee House.
• Songbooks are available with words and chords to over a hundred songs.
• Acoustic instruments of every kind are welcome. There are plenty of guitars, but what sets this jam apart are the traditional sounds of banjos, mandolins and fiddles. There's usually a bass to keep the tempo going, and even the occasional dobro or steel guitar.
• Jim kicks things off with a selection from the song book and everyone joins in. An important "rule" of bluegrass is the instrumental break, and anyone who wants to solo is encouraged to take a turn between verses.
• We go around the room and each person chooses a song - and everyone joins in. When your turn comes around, if you'd rather not lead, Jim is happy to kick it off and take the lead. Just like our regular sing-arounds, there's no pressure -- everyone's there to have fun, even if you don't play an instrument.

It's a casual, relaxed atmosphere where everyone participates. A $1 donation is requested, and coffee, tea, soft drinks and snacks are available. So, if you're looking for a way to perk up your weekend and hang out with a friendly group of fellow pickers and grinners, join us at the Bluegrass Jam!

Jam Folks

The advent of audio recording and the radio brought this old-time music out of the rural Southern mountains to people all over the United States. In the late 1940s it emerged as a genre within the post-war country/western music industry -- a period of time characterized as the "golden era of traditional bluegrass."

Origin of name

Exactly when the word "bluegrass" was adopted is not certain. It was derived from the name of the seminal Blue Grass Boys band, formed in 1939 with Bill Monroe as its leader.

The Monroe Brothers were one of the most popular duet teams of the 1920s and into the 1930s. When the brothers split up in 1938, both went on to form their own bands. Since Bill was a native of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, he decided to call his band "Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys." And the term "bluegrass" became the label for this style of music.
 

Subgenres of bluegrass
While there are many opinions about "authenticity" and the various styles of bluegrass, the subgenres generally fall into four categories:

• Traditional bluegrass has musicians playing folk songs, tunes with simple traditional chord progressions, using only acoustic instruments. 
• Progressive bluegrass groups may use electric instruments and import songs from other genres, particularly rock 'n' roll.
• Bluegrass gospel features soulful three- or four-part harmony.
• Neo-traditional bluegrass is a return to traditional bluegrass by newer bands, often with more than one lead singer.

THE INSTRUMENTS - the unique sound of bluegrass

Bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments, including:

• Guitar, most commonly played with a flatpick, unlike the style of bluegrass guitarist Lester Flatt, who used a thumb and finger pick.
• Banjo, typically a 5-string. Players often use the three-finger picking style made popular by Earl Scruggs.
• Fiddle, frequently played in thirds and fifths, producing a sound that is characteristic to bluegrass style.
• Upright bass, almost always plucked, occasionally adopting the "slap-style" to accentuate the beat. A bluegrass bass line is generally a rhythmic alternation between the tonic and dominant of each chord, with occasional walking bass excursions.
• The mandolin and resonator guitar (i.e., Dobro) are also commonly used. 

Instrumentation has been an ongoing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the "correct" instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys (banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, dobro and bass). Departures from traditional instrumentation have included accordion, harmonica, piano, autoharp, drums, electric guitar, and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments, resulting in what has been referred to as "newgrass."

THE VOCALS -- and that "high, lonesome sound"

Apart from the instrumentation, a distinguishing characteristic of bluegrass is vocal harmony featuring two, three, or four parts, often with a dissonant or modal sound in the highest voice, a style described as the "high, lonesome sound."

The ordering and layering of vocal harmony is commonly called the "stack". A standard stack has a baritone voice at the bottom, the lead in the middle (singing the main melody) and a tenor at the top. Of course, stacks can be altered, especially where a female voice is included, for example, Alison Krauss and Union Station.

The Stanley Brothers utilized a high baritone part on several of their trios during the early 1950s. In the 1960s, Flatt and Scruggs often added a fifth part -- a high baritone -- to the traditional quartet parts on gospel songs. The use of a high lead with the tenor and baritone below it was most famously employed by the Osborne Brothers.

THE LEGENDS -- Bluegrass pioneers

Many people believe that the classic bluegrass sound jelled around 1945 when Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, featured Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt, among others. 

Scruggs played an innovative three-finger picking style on the banjo that has come to be known as "Scruggs style." Equally influential were Lester Flatt on guitar and lead vocals against Monroe's mandolin and tenor vocals, Chubby Wise, on fiddle, and Howard Watts, also known as "Cedric Rainwater," on acoustic bass. They created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains a model to this day.

Eventually Scruggs and Flatt left Monroe's band and formed their own group, The Foggy Mountain Boys. From 1948-1969, Flatt & Scruggs were a major force in introducing bluegrass music to America through national television and extensive tours that included small towns as well as major concert halls and universities.

And the pickin' goes on . . .

Some key events that brought bluegrass music to a wider audience include:

• Earl Scruggs' legendary "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," used in the soundtrack for the film, Bonnie And Clyde.
• The Beverly Hillbillies theme song, by Flatt and Scruggs.
• "Dueling Banjos," performed by Eric Weissberg on banjo and Steve Mandel on guitar, for the movie Deliverance.
• The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken, the 1972 triple LP set that introduced artists like Scruggs, Doc Watson, Jimmy Martin, Maybelle Carter, Roy Acuff and more.
• The triple platinum 2001 soundtrack album for the Coen Brothers movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou?

(1)This information was gathered from several copyright-free sites on the Internet, primarily Wikipedia -- so the facts are presumed "factual" but may not be entirely accurate. 

If once per month is just not enough, check out the list of Bluegrass jams at our friends' site -- Northern Illinois Bluegrass Association.

If any readers would like to add their thoughts or share what they love about bluegrass music, we strongly encourage you to submit comments to QuarterNotes. We'd love to get input from members! 

By Bill Lemos