Saturday Bluegrass Casual

The Tranzac Saturday Bluegrass Casual jam takes place every Saturday, 12-2 pm. It is free to participate (a hat is passed at the end to help defray expenses).

The jam is open to all players of bluegrass instruments and singers of bluegrass songs who feel confident enough to lead a song or two. Bluegrass instruments are: steel-string acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, 5-string banjo, dobro, and upright bass.

We play singing songs and fiddle tunes from the bluegrass canon at an intermediate level. Our preference is for singing songs with 3 or 4 chords, and for fiddle tunes that are known by at least half of the group. We do not play very difficult fiddle tunes, country rock songs, or original songs.

Ideal jam songs can be found on recordings by The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Jim and Jesse, The Kentucky Colonels, The Stanley Brothers, Osborne Brothers, Hazel and Alice, Del McCoury, etc. After 2 or 3 easy tunes, we open it up to suggestions from jam members, and most everything flies. A subtle veto power, however, is reserved to prevent jam-busting.