Tuesday's Jam Session

Wow! We really had a great jam session last night. I enjoyed it tremendously. It always amazes me how good the music sounds no matter what the skill level of the participants. We had so much good singing and playing, with a total of around 25 people!

Torey (I hope I spelled that right) was a new participant. She is learning to play fiddle, and last night was the first time she had ever taken a break. By the end of the evening, Torey had taken breaks on 3-4 songs and did a fine job. It's always hard for beginners to do this because of nervousness, lack of confidence & experience, etc.; but remember -- we all started here!

John also came to our jam session. John is a local pastor and comes to most of our jams. He plays guitar and mandolin, and a little bit of fiddle, too. He has such a good voice! I love singing harmony with John, but with this cold I had to keep my singing to myself last night.

I have been working on a new sign for the shop over the past two days. Chelsea helped me out with it. I took a piece of paneling that we removed from the building and spray painted it black glossy enamel. Then I traced my fiddle and my banjo onto a piece of newspaper. Chelsea cut out the fiddle and I cut out the banjo, then we taped them to the paneling. I took white glossy enamel spray paint and sprayed the edges of the newspaper so that the sillouette of the instruments would show up. After it all dried, I removed the newspaper and painted "The Bluegrass Shack" in red glossy letters across the top. I'm going to paint a shadow on each letter in gold, and then I think I'll add some musical notes in gold.

The customer's fiddle that I spoke about in my last post has been completed now. I finished it up yesterday morning before my lessons started. It is a very smooth sounding fiddle. My favorite part of repair is getting the instrument done and hearing what it sounds like. It was a big success and I can't wait for the owner to play it.

This weekend, my band -- The Chris Talley Trio -- will be playing at Perk's Coffeehouse in Freeburg, IL. We'll be there Friday, February 23, from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Perk's is located right on the main highway (Hwy. 15) in the new strip mall. It's on the north corner. This is a really great venue! It is free, plus they have really good desserts, sandwiches, miscellaneous drinks and coffee (of course!). I hope to see you there.