While we were in Dahlonega we got to see the Appalachian Jam, a weekly bluegrass/string music jam in the middle of the town square. It’s been going on for a while, but for some reason I haven’t made it out there yet. What I didn’t realize was that it’s an open jam, and anybody with a will to can join in. I didn’t bring an instrument! But Bob, one of the regulars, had brought an extra and offered to let me play it. I played with the group (consisting of a banjo, a mandolin, a jaw harp, a zither, two fiddles and eight guitars at its peak) for more than an hour, and led the group in “Wreck of the Old 97.” I even “got the nod” to solo on a few songs. It was honestly the most fun I’ve had in a while.
A lot of the songs we played were hymns, and I think it’s interesting that even the most blatantly Christian lyrics seem to be accepted by the public when they’re sung under the auspices of traditional music, even outside of Bible Belt Georgia. I bet a bluegrass group could play with impunity at the Secular Humanist Society social, where a band like Avalon would get kicked out. They might also be asked to leave for musical reasons. I foresee a ministry niche in a gospel music string band.
And congratulations to the bride who was apparently getting married near the square.
