Bluegrass in the Blues

2009 report

"Bluegrass in the Blues" in 2009 had a total attendance of 48.  27 musicians played at various times during the weekend.  Some of the new attendees I knew already, but due to their schedules or whatever, had not come before.  So I was glad to see them there.  The event also attracted some new faces (now new friends) from Oregon, Idaho and Washington.  Fourteen of the grand total attended in 2008.  Six have been to all four events.

The first jam was underway by mid afternoon on Friday.  Those attending on Friday evening enjoyed two homemade cobblers, blueberry and peach, topped with ice cream.

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Friday evening we enjoyed homemade blueberry and peach cobblers topped with ice cream.

We had a full mix of instruments including, in alphabetical order: banjo, bass, dobro, fiddle, flute, guitar, mandolin, and harmonica. There was a young man who brought his Autoharp to the "Bluegrass Sunday", but didn’t get it from the case until after the worship service was over because he is learning to play it. He lives in La Grande so I invited him to the jams at my house.

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The hall stayed quite cool most of each day!

The daytime high temperatures were near 100° F, so folks were very glad to have the grange hall for jams, especially in the afternoons and early evenings.  Although the hall is not air conditioned, on Saturday at 2:06 p.m. it was a comfortable 75° F inside (see photo).  The hot weather may have been a factor for the very poor attendance of dancers Saturday evening.  We had lots of players who jammed for awhile waiting for more dancers who never came.  So Larry Smith called and danced at the same time.  After just two dance sets, everyone headed outdoors.  Inside had heated up and it had cooled down enough outside by then.

More photos will be posted on this web site later.  Long-range calendar planners can mark July 30, 31, and August 1 of 2010 for the fifth annual "Bluegrass in the Blues".

Richard