The Alchemy Old Time Jam, which takes place on alternate Sundays, will now run from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The time slot is two hours earlier than the previous 5:00 to 7:00 pm schedule.

The jam, which is Madison’s only open old-time session, takes place at The Alchemy Cafe, 1980 Atwood Avenue in Madison.  It was founded two years ago by clawhammer banjo sorceress Lori Nitzel and is currently hosted by the far-less-talented Scott Knickelbine. The jam was featured last year in The Onion’s Decider section.

Old time sessions focus on traditional American fiddle and dance tunes, with most of the instruments playing in unison (with the exception of rhythm guitar).  Singing is rare and is usually used to punctuate the tunes. Typical melodies include Old Joe Clark, Flop-Eared Mule, Angeline the Baker, and Shove The Pigs Foot A Little Further In The Fire.

The next Alchemy Old Time Jam is this coming Sunday, February 14th,  starting at 3:00 pm. If you’d like to be added to the reminder list, email Scott Knickelbine at scottk@lcs-impact.com.

Bobbie and Bill Malone and the Blue State Boys will be performing at Wild Hog in the Woods at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, 953 Jenifer St., Madison, WI (map) on Friday, April 10th at 8:00. Bobbie plays mandolin, and Bill plays guitar as they blend their old-time duet harmonies and sing traditional or more recent traditionally-flavored songs. The duo combine an encyclopedic knowledge of traditional country music with an authentic old-time vocal style. They will be joined by the Blue State Boys, one of the many musical incarnations of lead guitarist John Fabke and Dan O’Brien on the bass. If you haven’t caught Bill and Bobbie on stage, you owe it to yourself to make this concert!

Thanks to honky-tonk siren Kristy Larson for the photograph!

Following Larryfest last year, I think a lot of folks were a bit hesitant to return after the rain, floods, and mud. This year turned out to be a great weekend of good music, free sweet corn, late night pickin’, and beautiful sunshine in the Kickapoo Valley.

We headed up to Larryfest on Friday afternoon having no clue who was even playing because the line up was never posted. All we knew was that we were smart/lucky enough to send in for tickets two days before they sold out. However, if you have been to Larryfest before, you know that half of the fun is the music. The other half is being in the woods, drinking beer with all the barefooted folks from all over the Midwest, eating sweet corn, and playing baggo a.k.a. cornhole in the afternoon sun. We realized when we got to Richland Center (halfway there), that we had forgotten our tickets. Luckily, our dear friend Paul Kienitz was kind enough to buy a cell phone recently and learn how to use it, so we didn’t have to drive all the way back to Madison.

There was a lot of great music throughout the weekend including the New Bad Habits and the Foghorn Trio (Dear Santa, please bring me a tripod for Christmas!), both which are always great to hear. Saturday night was headlined by the Dan Tyminski Band. To put it lightly, these guys totally kicked butt! The music and singing were awesome. The fiddler, Justin Moses, was exceptional. Dan actually broke a string on his guitar while singing lead and didn’t miss a single note while he changed his string during the song. It was a phenomenal show and I hope they make it back to the Midwest soon. Another fine year at Larryfest had by all. I am already looking forward to Larryfest 2009!

Two fabulous folks are featured at a barn dance this Saturday, May 3, 2008 at Folklore Village. Chirps Smith is one of the best old time fiddlers around and Dot Kent is a terrific dance caller. (Not to mention a fabulous Appalachian clogger).

The night begins with a potluck supper at 6:30 pm followed by music and moves that will get your feet moving and hearts groovin’. Chirps will be bringing some of his musical buddies for the band so get ready for a night filled with fantastic tunes and smiles!

Folklore Village (608-924-4000) is about 40 miles west of Madison and a few miles east of Dodgeville, 1/2 mile south of Hwy 18/151 on County Hwy BB. Google Map

There’s a new Old-Time Jam starting up in Madison at The Alchemy Cafe (formerly Wonder’s Pub). The Jam will be every other Sunday at 5pm, with the first one beginning on March 30th. For more information, contact Lori Nitzel, 608-442-7270.

The Midwest Banjo Camp offers banjoists the opportunity to study old-time or bluegrass banjo with some of today’s best players and teachers in both styles. Their program features hands-on classes, demonstrations and two faculty concerts, and still leaves lots of time for jamming with your fellow banjo enthusiasts. With four levels in both bluegrass and old-time — Novice, lower intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced — it should be relatively easy to find the level that’s right for you.

There are now six class options per session for bluegrass and six more for old-time, one each in the novice and lower intermediate tracks, and two each in the upper intermediate and advanced tracks. In addition there is a special events track (fiddle lessons, guitar lessons, etc.) and a jamming track (see below). With a total of 14 classes per period, this represents more choice at MBC than ever before.

The Jamming Track. On Saturday and Sunday, will offer a jamming option during some class-sessions. These jams will be run by the accompanists. Jams led by the banjo faculty take place after the concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Instructors this year are as follows:
Old-time: Bob Carlin, Cathy Fink, Adam Hurt, Brad Leftwich, Reed Martin, Joe Newberry, Michael Miles and Ken Perlman. Chris Coole heads up our old-time Novice program.

Bluegrass: Janet Beazley, Greg Cahill, Pat Cloud, Bill Evans, Bill Keith, Jens Kruger, James McKinney, and Alan Munde. Mike Sumner heads up our old-time Novice program.

Accompanists: Peter Knupfer (bluegrass fiddle), Ron McKeever (bluegrass guitar) Chirps” Smith (old-time fiddle) and Mark Sahlgren (old-time guitar).

Another Item of Note: This year we have a Pre-Camp Program on Thursday Evening and Friday Morning (at no Extra Charge for Registrants). We’re planning to run a few events on Thursday evening and Friday morning prior to the official start of camp for the benefit of students who want to jump start their weekend of banjo immersion. On Thursday evening, we figure to have a social “mixer” followed by a few faculty-led jam sessions. Among the ideas we’re tossing around for Friday morning are round-robin demonstrations, clinics on banjo technique and set-up, teachers offering advice on class-choices, and an Introduction to the Banjo sessions for total beginners.

• Dates: June 6-8, 2008
• Place: Olivet College, Olivet, Michigan (about 30 miles southwest of Lansing)
• Times: Registration opens 12 noon on Friday; Camp ends 3:30PM on Sunday

Email the camp or see www.midwestbanjocamp.com for more information.

This weekend, some friends and I headed south for Trad Fest at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Trad Fest is an annual event with old time string band music from all over the country. We were too late for the potluck on Friday night so we decided to stuff our faces with world-renowned Chicago pizza! We did arrive just in time to square dance off a little bit of our food-induced lethargy to the Portland-based Foghorn String Band. Once the dancing was over, old time jams began all over the school, and I had the wonderful opportunity to play fiddle tunes with “Chirps” Smith, one of the Midwest’s finest fiddlers.

The next day, I took a Ballads singing workshop with Rhiannon Giddens from the Carolina Chocolate Drops. This was the most powerful workshop I have ever taken. Although Rhiannon is a classically trained musician (she has performed in several operas), her greatest strength as a singer is not necessarily her singing technique (which is excellent), but instead the rhythm and emotion that she brings into her songs. This was apparent in her body and in her voice. She brought in the syncopated rhythm of the chain gang while she sang; she poured her heart out as she sang about a woman whose man had gone missing or about the death of Poor Lazarus. The insight that she shared with us about how to sing was as powerful as sitting next to her as she sang, which sent chills up my spine.

Saturday evening there was a concert with Garry Harrison and the New Mules, the Chocolate Drops, and Foghorn String Band. Each band performed a different flavor of old time music, and it was great to have the variety of great fiddle tunes and great singing numbers.

Don’t miss the Carolina Chocolate Drops at the High Noon Saloon next week, January 24th. The Chocolate Drops are an African-American stringband with fiddle, banjo and singing tunes that are guaranteed to impress. They are from North Carolina and play old time tunes rooted in the Piedmont Tradition of stringband music where the banjo, rather than the fiddle, serves as the lead instrument.The talent and high energy of this trio is certain to make you want to get up and dance. Or at least sway in your chair to Rhiannon Giddens’ soulful singing, like when she sings Black Eyed Blues, the story of a wife threatening her cheatening husband that sooner or later she’s gonna catch him “with your britches down.” (Listen to them here).

This year the Chocolate Drops released a new album, Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind. It is packed full of great singing and instrumentation and includes some great old favorites such as Starry Crown, Georgie Buck and Short Life of Trouble.

This show should not be missed. And if you are as into old time music as much as some of us are, head on down to The Old Town School of Folk in Chicago the next day to check out Trad Fest, where the Chocolate Drops will be joined by Foghorn Stringband and Garry Harrison and the New Mules for an entire weekend of incredible old-time music.

This past Saturday, over 300 folks gathered together in Brooklyn, WI for a potluck dinner and old-time barn dance. Held in the O’Brien family’s refurbished barn, the event was the brainchild of Connie O’Brien and Paul Kienitz. The barn has been used mostly for private functions and weddings but this event was open to the public. Folks and families, near and far showed up to have a bite and scoot a boot!

Click image to play a high quality QuickTime video from the dance! Or see it on YouTube if that’s your thing…

Music was provided by the Ambrosia Dance Band, featuring Paul Kienitz, Chuck Hornemann, Peter Gorman, Dave Batson and caller Mike Mossman. A full night of square and contra dancing from just after 7pm to 11pm. Refreshment was provided by attendees and a feast it was! Two areas in the huge loft space it helped to expedite dishing up the delicious foods. Financial donations helped to defray the expenses for the event.

The property itself was beautifully decorated, parking was ample, a huge bonfire in the back of the barn and straw-bale seating everywhere. Upstairs and down, it was just like you dream about when you think of a barn dance. All ages were well represented. Children of all ages, adults, grandparents and great-grandparents. I overheard many folks talking about how they hoped this would become an annual event!

If you are interested in seeing this wonderful site, it is located at 552 Glenway Rd. in Brooklyn, WI. If you would like to find out more, call Connie O’Brien at 608-455-1860.

Ed: The Ambrosia Dance Band and caller Mike Mossman will be at the SWBMAI Holiday Party on Dec. 8.

If you like old time music, the Dear Old Illinois – Traditional Music of Downstate Illinois book and CD set by Garry Harrison and Jo Burgess is a must. This collection of over 750 songs gives notes, chords and lyrics to many of Midwestern fiddle tunes that define the unique sound of old time music found in our region. Granted, we’re not in Illinois, but you get the idea.

Garry Harrison is a spectacular Midwestern fiddler who played with the Indian Creek Delta Boys in the 1970’s. He will be leading the Illinois Fiddle Tune Repertoire Workshop in Chicago on October 20th and 21st. Even if you can’t make it down to the workshop, the Dear Old Illinois book and CD’s are highly recommended. They are a wonderful collection of music that offer insight into the vast musical heritage of old time music in the Midwest.