"I'm goin' out on the highway, listenin' to them big trucks whine / White freightliner won't you steal away my mind."
It might come as a surprise to hear the lyrics to Townes Van Zandt's forlorn "White Freightliner Blues" sounding through the intimate glow of The Station Inn on a Sunday night. A bigger surprise might come when the vocals stop and a rolling banjo lights up the room in the instrumental break where the ear is accustomed to Van Zandt's plaintive guitar work. The song has been sped up and absorbed into the canon of bluegrass jam standards, a repertoire of tunes you could expect to hear at jam circles around the country, much like the one held weekly at The Station Inn.
The bluegrass jam circle is a remarkable cultural product. Through and through, the bluegrass community is dedicated to accessibility and participation. There are few other genres where you can anticipate a large chunk of the crowd at a show being proficient in one, if not most, of the instruments onstage. It's due both to this community and the structural simplicity of the music that bluegrass has such a vigorous jam culture. Fans have a relatively easy time meeting one another and learning enough on an instrument to be able participate in the enormously social experience of the bluegrass world.
Sadly though, many bluegrass fans wind up in what's known as the "closet-picker" trap. The music moves them enough to learn an instrument, maybe even to seek out a teacher — but for shyness or lack of access, they never tap into the resources to learn to play with other fans. Relegating bluegrass to alone time in your living room is a tragedy on par with doing the same thing to swing dancing or Scrabble. It's just not built for that. Relegating bluegrass to alone time in your living room when you live in Nashville, Tenn., however, is a tragedy of proportions that exceed easy comparison. Nowhere else in the world can you find such a wealth of resources to participate in bluegrass.
Jeff Burke is a local teacher who leads group classes based on a method developed by internationally renowned bluegrass teacher Pete Wernick. He compares playing music by yourself to boxing against a punching bag: "Ultimately people always aspire to do it in person, in the moment. It's what lights up the experience." Burke's jam classes bring about 15 students together to practice the fundamentals of playing in groups. Week by week students learn to play backup, signal others to take solos, and give the cue to end a song — all the connective tissue to make a jam flow that's lost when your learning and playing stay private.
Burke isn't alone in the group-learning approach. Surrounding Nashville, there are several camps dedicated to teaching students to play bluegrass in groups. Operated by six-time national fiddle champion Megan Lynch Chowning and her husband Adam, Nashville Acoustic Camps offer weekend getaways tailored to banjos, guitars, mandolins, fiddles and songwriting. Banjoist Cindy Sinclair runs Nashcamp, an overnight bluegrass camp that boasts alumni like country star (and spell-checker nemesis) Dierks Bentley. Nashcamp provides jam etiquette training (e.g., don't bang away at full volume in the middle of somebody's vocals or guitar break) as well as a variety of elective classes such as music business and harmony singing.
"Students usually find their way into jams easily when they realize their biggest obstacle is fear of failure," says Burke. Once aspiring jammers get a handle on their self-consciousness, improvement comes naturally. They don't feel frustrated in learning the technicalities of advanced soloing because their progress is situated within an already rich social experience.
The Authentic Coffee Company in Goodlettsville hosts a weekly jam every Friday night, usually with two to three circles playing simultaneously in different parts of the shop. Players' ages range from early teens to being old enough to remember the beginnings of bluegrass music back in the '40s. A small audience of family members and restaurant patrons typically looks on, although the jammers don't seem to feel much pressure.
Scott Denney, a banjo player and graduate of Burke's class, regularly attends the Authentic Coffee Company jam. During a break from the circle that plays on the shop's downstairs porch, he discusses his experience getting involved there.
"Before I took the Wernick method class, my entire musical history was private," Denney says, competing for volume with a delivery of the classic waltz "In the Pines." "The class helped me realize that everyone's on the same terrain, and although people are at [different] levels, that's no reason to feel intimidated playing in public as a beginner. Coming to an actual jam like this, you learn that even the most experienced pickers were beginners once. They're always willing to show you the ropes."
When asked why the Authentic Coffee Company was his jam of choice, Denny replies, "Honestly, it's just the best jam I've found around Nashville. Experts, even famous professionals, come here to pick, but there's no expectation that you play like a famous professional. Some high-level jams can feel scary if you're new, but everyone welcomes beginners here. It's just such a friendly place."
Open-door jams like the Authentic Coffee Company's happen around Nashville almost every night of the week. They welcome listeners just as much as they do beginners. Bluegrass is built to bring people together, and anyone playing it will share that understanding. Here are a few other local opportunities to try out:
• Fiddle and Pick — first Friday of every month at 7 p.m. and a slow jam for beginners on the second and fourth Thursday at 6 p.m. 456 Highway 70, Pegram
• Millersville Community Center — first and third Friday of the month at 6:30 p.m. 1181 Louisville Highway, Millersville
• Larry's Grand Ole Garage — every Tuesday night and the second, third, fourth and fifth Saturday at 5 p.m. 549 East Maple St., Madison
• Your porch — should be a no-brainer, but invite your friends over. You ain't heard bluegrass 'til you heard it on a porch. (And you ain't played it, neither!)
Email music@nashvillescene.com
