Every time we stake our tent for a bluegrass camp or festival, it occurs to us that we usually end up picking with the same group of people that we do at home. “Why do we drive all the way to Bakersfield/Grass Valley/Hollister (etc.) to play with the same group of friends?” a certain someone is known to ask. “We could stay home to jam, sleep in our own bed and save on gas.”
And, it’s not like we don’t. We get together to jam now and again, and it usually goes like this:
Us: Who’s up for a jam Sunday afternoon, 2-5 or so at our place?
Banjo: Sounds great, I can’t get there until 2:30, and have to leave right at 5.
Guitar 1: Sorry, not this weekend.
Guitar 2: Next weekend would be better.
Guitar 3: Sure, but probably only for an hour or so.
Mandolin 1: Working this weekend. Dang.
Mandolin 2: I’ll get there by 3 if I can. Need to check with the spouse.
When we do manage to get together here at home, it’s always fun, but tends towards “all business.” We have such a short time together, everyone wants to play, and not chitchat, catch up, or otherwise “waste time.” We’ve got “Childish Love” and “Clinch Mountain Backstep” to deal with, after all.
And, this is when we manage to get together at all – sometimes, they don’t work out at all, and another weekend goes by without hanging out and jamming.
Compare this to camping, or a hotel jam–like the Great 48 in Bakersfield.
Everyone rolls out of bed on their own schedule. We get together for coffee, catch up and chat for an hour or so. Instruments eventually come out, and we play for a while. Some other friends drift by and join in, and then drift off to join another jam. We stop and eat some lunch or have a beer, and then chat some more. Maybe we wander around and see who else is jamming in camp. The instruments come out again. Darkness falls, and the more serious jams start, lanterns are lit, or hotel doors left open, and we play late into the evening or early into the morning. And then, we wake up and do it again the next day.
There is, very clearly, no comparison between the two.
The lovely bonus of camping or hotel jams is the gift of time with friends. Away from work, household chores, or the many other things that prevent us from doing more of what we love, we have time just to be there, play music, talk nonsense or serious stuff, and connect in ways that adults rarely can in their everyday lives. Yes, we go to jam, but we end up doing so much more.
Adult friendships can be hard to maintain. Bluegrass camping is an easy solution. In the end, it doesn’t matter that we’ll drive 275 miles to play music and hang out with friends who live five or ten miles away from us. We will get to enjoy time with them without a schedule, or pressure to get to work, or ten things we need to do. We’ll go for brunch, we’ll play and sing, and we’ll “waste time.”
Bakersfield, here we come (well, in January…)!
