Looking For Old Time Music Workshops

stringsnthings · #1 04-03-2008, 03:22 PM

I've found a couple of places that will have workshops for old time music for the upright bass. One is in TX, where I'm at and one is in Georgia. Does anyone know of any others, especially closer to TX, that will be this summer or fall? The two mentioned, will be either a long weekend or about a week long.
Thanks!

MT Spaces · #2 04-03-2008, 06:07 PM

Might want to ask this question in the bluegrass forum or over at BlueGrassBassPlace. Or just fetch yourself on over to the heart-and-soul of old-time music ..... Galax Virginia

. Just follow the Yellow Brick Crooked Road

and don't forget Toto. You might also want to type "Old Time Music Associations" or "Old Time Fiddlers Associations" into Google and see what turns up.

mlz77096 · #3 04-04-2008, 12:58 AM

Where and when in Texas and Georgia? What I've found is in NC at Warren Wilson College, Ashville ,about the last weekend of July and Agusta, W VA the first week in August. Both these are a week long and bass classes are listed.

mlz77096 · #4 04-04-2008, 01:02 AM

Correction: it's the Augusta Heritage Center, Elkins, W VA.

stringsnthings · #5 04-04-2008, 03:00 PM

Thanks For your replys, they're a great help!!

Jason Sypher · #6 04-05-2008, 12:20 PM

So, what is it you are looking to learn? Old time bass? I think I might have a number of suggestions for you but maybe you could tell me a little more about what your goals are and where you live etc.

McGryff · #7 04-07-2008, 11:17 AM

As in the jazz idiom, do lots of listening. I'm not a veteran old-time bassist (yet!) but I've tried to listen to as many old-time bands as possible for reference. There's pretty much no old-time bassists to get lessons from in my area, so I've been listening to a lot of Foghorn Stringband, Dirk Powell & the like. Anything that's good, solid old-time and has good sound quality in the recording.

Probably not ideal, but it's been effective enough to help me gig weekly with an old-time group here (which I admit is not in Appalachia, but that doesn't diminish the band I'm in either).

Jason Sypher · #8 04-07-2008, 12:12 PM

Well you didn't get back with any more info but I'll just give it to you straight. If you want to learn old time music you need to immerse yourself in the summer festival season. Just get in your car and point due South. It is great to listen to the music, essential. But if you really want to learn any music you gotta see it in the raw. I've taught a few "masterclasses" in old time music on the bass and I work with players who have teach at Swannanoah and Augusta. It can be inspiring to meet and hear players who really bring the music to life. But you could spend the same money on gas and really live the music, meet the players and play with them, jam until dawn and get up and do it again and again. Galax, VA....Mt. Airy NC, Clifftop WV, Rockbridge VA, Union Grove NC etc etc. You can learn more watching a really hot old time band play for 5 hours straight than you will ever learn at a workshop. Trust me. And you will have more fun and meet the coolest people on the planet. It is life changing.

Ok, I should have read your original post better. You're in TX. I understand. How are you going to get on the road and drive to VA with a tent and live in the woods for two weeks straight. Well, you just do it, that's how. Get in the car and go. You will never be the same.

mlz77096 · #9 04-07-2008, 04:49 PM

I'm in Texas, too, and I've gotten in the car and headed to the eastern mountains before and and you are right. There is no better way to get into old time music than to experience it in it's native habitat. I'm looking for places to do it with the bass this year. I know of Swannanoa and Elkins with bass classes. Any others? Any teachers to recommend? I'm pertty new at the bass and still grateful that so much where I play in in the key of D or G.

bass4daddy · #10 04-07-2008, 06:54 PM

Check out The Freighthoppers. Great old timey band. Four piece, fiddle, banjo, guitar, and bass.

mlz77096 · #11 04-07-2008, 07:34 PM

I adore the Freight hoppers! Does your suggestion mean they are back together? The bass player I saw at Winfield about 10 years ago made me tired watching him.

MT Spaces · #12 04-07-2008, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlz77096

I adore the Freight hoppers! Does your suggestion mean they are back together? The bass player I saw at Winfield about 10 years ago made me tired watching him.

Yep ... The Hoppers are ridin' agin: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/?s=freight+Hoppers
I also love the FogHorn fellers. The WhiteTop Mountain Band, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, & The Hillbilly Gypsies are also well worth some ear inspection

.

bass4daddy · #13 04-07-2008, 11:30 PM

Yes, The FreightHoppers are riding again, with the addition of Thomas Bailey on guitar & vocals.

The new line up kicked off in Brooklyn!

Jason Sypher · #14 04-08-2008, 02:09 AM

All good friends and all very accessible players. That's just it, if you want to actually play with the best players you gotta go where they play.
I usually camp near Tom and Dave Bass at most festivals in the summer and we play all night long. Usually the best jams kick up at about 1 in the morning. Any oldtime bass player would be glad to show you the ropes, just ask them. It's a music about sharing and community. There is no easier scene to inhabit whether you're a total newbie or a real old timer.

McGryff · #15 04-08-2008, 07:22 AM

Boy is this ever tempting. I know the mandolin player in my band was talking about going down to Clifftop. I'm not sure if the whole band will be able to go, though that would be better so we could enter the band contests. But I think if I can afford the time away & travel I may have to check out one of these fests.

That said, I probably won't be able to afford it this summer...

Jason Sypher · #16 04-08-2008, 11:57 AM

The entry cost is about $80 or so and if you plan it right it doesn't have to be expensive at all. You also don't necessarily have to have the whole band to enter a band competition. You meet so many people that you can just get a band together and go up and play. It's hard to win as there are so many really established talented bands but it's fun to just get up and play. My advice is to not wait another year, just borrow a cheap tent and a campstove and trust the gods that you'll be fine. Clifftop is a particularly easy scene with a lot of young people coming from all over the world and plenty of Yankees! Some of the other festivals are more Southern in flavor but Clifftop is a highly organized, perfectly run festival that is in an absolutely beautiful location. You've got months to get a few hundred dollars together. Just do it, you'll thank me in person by the basketball courts at 1 am.