DAILY GRIST…”So pour me another cup of coffee, For it is the best in the land, And drop another quarter in the jukebox, Play a song about a truck drivin’ man.”–Jimmy Martin, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash & others
Down here in the San Diego area, bluegrass music has a good friend – Glen Bailey. Glen is a retired school teacher who works as Santa Claus during the holidays. A man of many talents, he is also a picker, an MC at the first Tuesday North County Bluegrass & Folk Jam in Escondido each month, a Kids Camp Supporter, and heads up “Glen’s Compound” at Summergrass which is about five campsites in size and is fully covered and decorated throughout the festival. At Glen’s Compound, there are jams just about 24 hours a day along with special celebrations, reunions, and delicious food and beverages. It is a real main attraction and tradition in the Summergrass campground. Glen’s a big supporter of live music, as you can see.
With that in mind, here below Glen recounts the history of our oldest jam in San Diego – the Thursday Night Pickers which he is integral in hosting every Thursday. And, yes, this jam does meet every Thursday night, just like the name implies. Pickers of all skill levels attend and a good time is had by all as displayed by the strong fellowship and loyalty. The smiles, and jocularity, caring and inclusion is so apparent there as the jam hosts lead the tunes with instruction- one,four,five- while pickers play their tunes and grinners listen and support. It’s infectious. I suspect there are many other jam histories similar to this one as bluegrass folks tend to be loyal and friendly and embracing. That’s just what we do. But, I note that this bluegrass family feeling is a real gift to us all and that that everyone can give it and receive it, no matter where you are. That said, here is Glen’s history of San Diego’s Thursday Night Pickers:
“ In the fall of 1983, San Dieguito High School offered a beginning Bluegrass class in the adult nite school program. Fifteen students were required to make the class go and only 14 showed up so the instructors, Bob and Karen Cox, hosted a jam session and that was it until the spring of 1984. The class was offered again only this time they school upped the attendance ante to 18 and only 17 students showed up. One of the students, Vic Wintriss, suggested that the group meet at a pizza place and pass the hat to compensate Bob and Karen and buy a couple pizzas. Vic found “Best of Juan Pizza” as the first official jam site in the summer of 1984. The group soon outgrew that spot, tried one or two others briefly and eventually ended up at the then Shakey’s Pizza on the corner of Santa Fe and Highway 5. This was about 1987, maybe a bit earlier. I believe I first heard about the jam in 1988 or 89 and have been a regular attendee since that time.
Shakey’s became New York Pizza which became Today’s and the jam was held there until November of 2014 when the restaurant became a sports bar. That venture quickly withered and died because the life of the location departed when the Wednesday nite ukulele group and Thursday Bluegrass jam were abruptly given the boot.
After a bit of scrambling and the jam being hosted at private homes a couple times, good fortune ensued and in January of 2015, the jam became a regular fixture at the Round Table Pizza where it remains to this day. Bob and Karen Cox retired to Kauai and leadership of the jam was handed over to Jason Weiss a few years back when we were still at Today’s.
Of the original 17 members of the troop, there are one or two who occasionally come on Thursday nite to jam. Our founder, Vic Wintriss, whose generosity bankrolled the jam in its early years, comes to the jam once or twice a year as his business schedule allows.
The entity or spirit or whatever you want to call it has endured now for going on 33 years and has seen hundreds of musicians come and go. There are always at least 20 jammers there and occasionally, as happened last week, as many as 40 or so show up.
One claim to fame is the ongoing tally of the number of times the groups’ theme song, “Truck Drivin’ Man”, has been played in public. That total now stands at 1614 and is indeed a cause for continued celebration. Ho! Ho! Ho!” – Glen Bailey
