Had a great pickup gig Sunday evening with a group of friends performing for the Outdoor Writers Association of America first annual meeting, sponsored by Johnson City Tourism here in my hometown. We play a mix across genres, sometimes bending a few: some bluegrass, some old time, some Cajun, jazz, and other folk musicks. Sometimes we sing, but most times it's an instrumental gig.
The gig was at our posh Carnegie Hotel, which sits across from the East Tennessee State University campus (we all have some association with ETSU, where we all met over the past decade+, either as students, teachers, or both).
The hotel has a fairly nice restaurant called Wellingtons, which hosts a jazz jam every Thursday.
I arrived at the Grand Soldier's Ballroom at 5, and we got set up.
Crouched down to extract more gear is the bandleader, Dr. Lee Bidgood, a crack mandolin/fiddle player and the resident ethnomusicologist at the university. He got the booking and, as happens a couple times a year, called the rest of us up for the gig. Kalia Yeagle, also an ace on fiddle and who also teaches at the college (and was the secret weapon in Bill & the Belles until they disbanded this spring) led both sets on fiddle. Caleb Carney brough his PRS Semi-hollow Special.
I brought out my Skjold Greyling for its first gig, along with my small pedalboard that has a Quilter Interbass 45 on it and my AI upshot cabinet. We were dinner music AND after-dinner entertainment. Often for these kinds of gigs with others, electric instruments aren't encouraged, but for the past year this group has been shifting to electric where possible. Makes us a little "jam band"-y, and also makes it more fun for me and Caleb! But there's plenty of structure, usually following a bluegrass/jazz pattern of head first, then solo from each melody player, then head (rinse, repeat).
The gig was at our posh Carnegie Hotel, which sits across from the East Tennessee State University campus (we all have some association with ETSU, where we all met over the past decade+, either as students, teachers, or both).
The hotel has a fairly nice restaurant called Wellingtons, which hosts a jazz jam every Thursday.
I arrived at the Grand Soldier's Ballroom at 5, and we got set up.
Crouched down to extract more gear is the bandleader, Dr. Lee Bidgood, a crack mandolin/fiddle player and the resident ethnomusicologist at the university. He got the booking and, as happens a couple times a year, called the rest of us up for the gig. Kalia Yeagle, also an ace on fiddle and who also teaches at the college (and was the secret weapon in Bill & the Belles until they disbanded this spring) led both sets on fiddle. Caleb Carney brough his PRS Semi-hollow Special.
I brought out my Skjold Greyling for its first gig, along with my small pedalboard that has a Quilter Interbass 45 on it and my AI upshot cabinet. We were dinner music AND after-dinner entertainment. Often for these kinds of gigs with others, electric instruments aren't encouraged, but for the past year this group has been shifting to electric where possible. Makes us a little "jam band"-y, and also makes it more fun for me and Caleb! But there's plenty of structure, usually following a bluegrass/jazz pattern of head first, then solo from each melody player, then head (rinse, repeat).
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