New York Country

So there's this bar in the Village, The Baggot Inn, and every Wednesday they have a Bluegrass & Good Times Jam with sheriff Bob. So two weeks ago, a few friends and I decided to check it out.

We walk down a short flight of stairs, and to our immediate left was about 3 fiddles, a banjo, guitar, two mandolins, and assorted hangers-on, all of whom were participating in an old-timey jam. Old timey music is the kind of tunes where you play the same thing over and over again, with as little variation as possible. It straddles the line between incredibly mesmerizing and truly boring. This particular jam was pretty mesmerizing. They were all pretty good, I was impressed.

As we walked down the length of the bar we passed a few folks with instruments in one hand, a beer in the other, and a smile on each face. Down at the end of the bar was the main stage.

The main stage had about 20 musicians crowded in a semi-circle, and included all kinds of banjos, mandolins, guitars, dobros, fiddles, a bass player and a flutist (a flutist?!). The great thing about acoustic instruments at a jam like this is that they never get too loud, so nothing ever sounds too bad. The downside is it doesn't sound particularly good either. But the sight was something to behold. This is where sheriff Bob held court.

Sheriff Bob seems to be the legendary sort, with deep lines in his face, a great sense of, er, style, and an incredible array of bluegrass songs at his disposal. My favorite from the night:

THANKS THANKS A LOT
I GOT A BROKEN HEART AND THAT'S ALL I GOT
YOU MADE ME CRY AND I CRIED A LOT
THEN YOU WERE GONE HONEY THANKS A LOT

Sure, rhyming "a lot" with "I got" and "a lot" isn't particularly profound, but damnit, the song is catchy. And here and there were a couple of good solos. We were happy, it was a good time.

Then the clock struck midnight and the night really got started.

Two guys confidently strode to the stage, a guitarist and a mandolinist. My girlfriend said, "That looks like Chris Thile," who, for those that don't know, is an award winning mandolinist. He's a virtuoso. And he showed up to play with sheriff Bob. The other guy I later found out is Michael Daves, who is not an award winning musician, but kicks some serious ass. As my friend Aaron said, while pointing to his nose, "his voice comes from right here."

Later in the night (after more beer), Daves and Thile had an impromptu duo jam, which left me speechless. They did it in a little secluded corner where I happened to be standing, providing me with a private concert. These guys can play all kinds of stuff, from bluegrass, to jazz (but not hip-hop). Absolutely amazing.