With sounds of fiddles, banjos, and guitars frequently resonating beyond the walls, The Jones House Cultural and Community Center in downtown Boone has become a hub for old-time and American roots music. This June and July, the Jones House continues to provide a focal point for pickers and grinners, with instructional slow jams, old-time fiddle tunes jams, a five-week session of music lessons, and week concerts on the porch.
The Jones House old-time jam takes place in the community center each Thursday night from 7:30-11:00 p.m. This jam session is free and open to players and listeners alike. The jam has been going on for more than a decade, and it is a featured regular event on the Blue Ridge Music Trails.
“The weekly jam session is a fantastic place to come and meet some local musicians, learn some new fiddle tunes, and participate in the musical traditions of the community,” says jam founder and Town of Boone’s Cultural Resources Coordinator, Mark Freed. “With different people showing up each week and different tunes being played, it is never the same, but always entertaining.”
For those who are not quite ready to join the weekly old-time jam, for each Thursday in June, the Jones House will offer instructor-led jam sessions geared towards less-advanced players. These jam sessions will take place every Thursday in June from 5:30-7:30 p.m., before the regular old-time jam session. During the instructor-led jam sessions, there will be expert local musicians on hand to help lead the jam and give pointers to participants. All acoustic instruments are welcome for these free instructor-led jams. Some of the expert local and regional musicians leading jams will include Rob Baskerville, Trevor McKenzie, Brandon Holder, Jeff Moretz, Brooks Forsyth, Willow Dillon, Julie Chiles, and Zeb Gambill.
“We will have one room with people playing old-time fiddle tunes; another with people having a blues jam; and another with people singing folk songs,” Freed says. “And, on June 14, the night before the Doc Watson Day Celebration, Brooks Forsyth will lead a Doc Watson themed jam session.”
During the month of July, the Jones House switches gears and offers a five-week session of group music lessons. The session will feature lessons for beginners through intermediate levels in fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, and ukulele. The group lessons are open to students ages seven through adults. The classes will meet on Thursday afternoons, starting at 4:30, 5:30, or 6:30 p.m. depending on the instrument and playing level. Classes meet for 45-minutes in small groups of 4-8 students. The cost for tuition is $50 for adults and $35 for kids under 18-years-old. Instruments can be rented for $10 for the five-week session. For more information about registration, please email Mark Freed at mark.freed@townofboone.net
Lastly, the Jones House will be rocking every Friday, starting at 5:00 p.m. for the Summer Concerts at the Jones House series. These concerts are free and open to for all to enjoy. Patrons are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets. The Friday evening concerts are BYOB. Sponsors for the 2018 series include the Downtown Boone Development Association, Mast General Store, MPrints, Melanie’s, Stick Boy Bread Co, Rosemary Horowitz and Jerry Hyman, and Burton Moomaw Acupuncture.
For more information about any of these Jones House events, including a complete concert schedule and enrolling in music classes, please visit www.joneshouse.org or call 828.268.6280.
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