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FBVMA
JAM KIDS

About Us

Weekly Jam!

FBVMA hosts a weekly jam every Wednesday at Trailside Brewing from 6-8:30 p.m. at Lennox Station in Hendersonville, NC. All are welcome to join in or to listen! While key players are intermediate to advanced musicians, beginners are encouraged to attend and start by listening/learning then quietly playing along. More experienced players sit in the inner circle and take turns choosing fiddle tunes and songs. Guests, families, and children are invited to listen and are welcomed to sing along. FBVMA is lucky to have the talented Carol Rifkin as director, www.carolrifin.com.

Old-timey Mountain music is a genre of North American folk music that is mostly played on stringed instruments such as the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Over the years,  whistles, harmonica, ukulele, accordion, bones, jaw harp, and other folk instruments have been included. This music is of the people from a time with no television or radio when families would roll up the rug to dance and sing with friends and neighbors. It was called country music until recordings brought commercial success to acts like the Carter Family, Jimmy Rogers, Charlie Poole, the Skillet Lickers, Fiddling’ Arthur Smith, and more. The evolution of rural string band music into a more sophisticated style called bluegrass after WWII, fueled the growing recording industry and the popularity of national radio shows like the WSM Grand Ole Opry and The Louisiana Hayride. This evolution, led by the record companies, defined the music more clearly. 

Early country music was divided into individual sub labels like mountain music, bluegrass, country, county blues, and more. While there are some professionals in Old-timey Mountain music, it’s generally music played for fun by friends and families who gather in a circle or “jam session” to play dance tunes, waltzes, songs, and more. Dancing, whether solo style as flat-footing or buck dancing and group dancing as square dancers or organized clogging teams, went hand and hand with the music.  Different regional styles have evolved, and some music has been handed down for generations. This style of community play is both entertaining and educational.