Banjo versus TV week 104: Midwest Banjo Camp's Official List of Jamming Tunes

A check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s ongoing plan to spend more time on his banjo than on TV. This post covers 2/21/2010 through 2/27/2010.

Midwest Banjo Camp (which will be held in Olivet, Michigan on June 4-6, 2010) has released MBC's Official List of Jamming Tunes for a type of jam session that's new this year: the play from a list jam.

In this type of jam the leaders promise to stick to a published list of songs. They've released official lists for bluegrass and old-time players.

I think it will be an interesting to see how this type of jam compares with the other kinds of jam that the camp offers: slow jams for novices, "how to jam" workshops, intermediate jams, open james, specialty jams (e.g. bluegrass vocals, old-time vocals, jazz and swing, and northern & Celtic) and experts' jams.

I'm likely to go to the bluegrass jam, so I took a look at the songs to see where I stand. Here's my take on the 25 songs in their bluegrass list and how well I could play them.

I could play these well and could improvise a little

• Bile 'em Cabbage Down
• Cripple Creek
• Good Old Mountain Dew
• Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms
• Wabash Cannonball
• Will the Circle be Unbroken
• Worried Man Blues

I could do backup and could definitely fake a solo

• Amazing Grace
• Banjo in the Hollow
• Foggy Mountain Breakdown
• I Saw the Light

I could do backup and on a good day could fake a solo

• Blue Ridge Cabin Home
• Bury Me Beneath the Willow
• Clinch Mountain Backstep
• Little Cabin Home on the Hill
• Little Maggie
• Long Journey Home (Two Dollar Bill)
• Mama Don't Allow No Music (Played Round Here)
• New River Train
• Nine Pound Hammer
• Old Home Place
• Old Joe Clark
• Salt Creek
• Salty Dog

Couldn't really do it

• John Hardy
• Lonesome Road Blues
• Soldiers Joy

So I've been practicing some of the songs that needed work, especially Worried Man Blues, Long Journey Home, I Saw the Light and Mama Don't 'Low.

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Also in the last week:

• Took Denephew to see Béla Fleck - The Africa Project at Old Town School of Folk Music. The Chicago Reader had picked this concert as a critics choice and they were right on target. Wish you had been there.
• I've now watched 85 of the 94 episodes of Phineas and Ferb. Episodes I'm missing:
  • "Tree to Get Ready"
  • "Ready for the Bettys"
  • "The Flying Fishmonger"
  • "Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown"
  • "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation"
  • "Suddenly Suzy"
  • "Undercover Carl"
  • "Mom's Birthday Episode"
  • "Journey to the Center of Candace"
  Glad they're making new ones.
• The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived. I've finally gone to Costello's Jam enough to earn my free sandwich! (It helped that I brought Denephew along and treated him to a sandwich.)
  
  
• I dropped Human Target from my DVR. How disappointing that the TV series chucked everything that made the comic interesting.

Cross-posted at J.R.'s Banjo Hangout blog