Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum The contest is done come and went

At the SW Bluegrass and Old Time Festival. In the Miscellaneous Instruments contest I played about 2/3 of each of my tunes pretty well and then lost it I have no idea why that happens. Roaring Jelly's guitar player/vocalist also entered the vocal contests, and while she really belted them out, there were 13 entrants so she didn't place. But she did well. The band contest was this afternoon, and I thought we were terrific. No major goofs at all, my honky-tonk went right off, the fiddler was a treat, we, unlike some others, stayed within the time limits we were given, there was a lot of energy, and we were told we actually looked happy . Supposedly each band got ONE omni-directional mic, so we didn't put the piano in the sound system, little dutifuls that we are, so I guess it was hard to hear it out front, even tho we moved it closer on that tune. But then the 2 bands that came in 2nd and 3rd both went, um, considerably over 6 minutes :\ but I guess the penalties weren't very severe, and they mic'd all the standing basses in addition to the omni, so next year the piano's going in the sound system. Hm. Live and learn. The band that came in first stayed within the time limit, and they're a great old-time band that's been playing together for 17+ years.



I think the reason I get off is because I basically think of music as a community activity - it's just a lot more fun to play with a band, or for dancers (even solo) than to be just sort of performing, and the solo "performing" seems kind of alien to me. So each soloist is allowed a backer of some kind, and I think next time I'm going to have dancers Since the judging is "blind" they'll never know and I'll be much happier


At any rate, it was fun to be there - I know a lot of the musicians from contra dancing and doing sound, so it's like a family event - and the music's great. I'm pretty sure we'll try it again next year. We did have some interest from the Albuquerque folks for playing a contra, and now that the family guys' kids are going off to college we might talk them into going that far. And one guy I know asked if I'd be willing to come to a music class he's teaching and show the kids who play piano a little about how to do basic contra dance backing-piano. So it wasn't all bad. And we had a great time playing - it was a high to do so well.



So now we're on to a fundraiser for a pre-school in September and a dance in November, so we're keeping busy



Cathy

Congratulations, Cathy. It is easy to spot the excitement in your writing that you had a good time and no doubt feed from the energy of the crowd. Good for you

Well, I for one think you're a winner just for being able to play in an awesome band with, perhaps, the coolest name I've ever heard!

Contra dancing? Searched on YouTube and found out what it is ... reminds me of square dancing but with Irish folk music ... anyhoo it looks like fun

Congratulations Cathy on what sounds like a fun experience. Use what you learned this year to do better next year.

Sounds like you enjoyed it, which is the most important part. Yeah, next year, put the piano in the sound system so they can really hear you!

My only competition story:
I once played banjo in a bluegrass band contest - we finished last but it was fun anyway. In the spirit of the competition we picked up a fiddler in the parking lot to play with us. He was wearing overalls and spoke in a thick southern mountain dialect (he used "you'uns" instead of "y'all"). Only later did we find out he was a bank president...

Sam

Thanks, everyone - it is a fun weekend. There's all sorts of people sitting around all day just jammin' with each other, Taos Cow ice cream - lunch in a cone -, and I usually spend a lot of time listening to the individual contests because there's not only some really good music, there's also some young kids coming up from year to year. And since the crowd and the musicians have such a huge overlap in membership there is indeed great interaction to feed on.

Picking up a fiddler to play with you is certainly a tradition at these events - your story was funny, Sam. One of the announcers made the remark that he'd accidentally drunk from someone else's water bottle, and that even tho as a molecular biologist he should know better, he'd like the person to contact him because he might want to get tested The guy IS a molecular biologist.

Contra dancing is a good hobby - again, lots of overlap between the dancers and musicians, so that you're playing for friends. A lot of times there's what's called a "megaband" - a group of pick-up musicians that gets together once a week or less to jam and then plays once in awhile for the dance. Santa Fe's has around 20 - it's, um, interesting to mic them :|

As for our name - it's the name of a tune, whose alternate title is Smash the Windows. The folk etymology is that it's a nickname for gelignite, a mining explosive. One of our past mandolin players wrote a little explanation that talks about "Scots miners playing the eponymous tune at the end of the day - can't you hear the delicate fall of the rubble in the B part? No? Have another single malt and listen again."

I was thinking about entering the band scramble next year, too - all the musicians put their names in a figurative hat and they're drawn out to make up bands. Then you have an hour to - get this, pick a band name (it took us a year), and put two tunes together and then you're on! I'm not sure what they'd do with a piano

Any way, thanks again - and if you're ever this way, Sam, we were talking yesterday about needing a banjo.

Cathy

Congratulations Cathy, that sounds like a great experience. I had this idea for coming up with band names quickly - if you have a smart phone ( I have an Android phone ) it allows you to enter text by sliding your fingers over the image of a keyboard. If you just scribble around randomly you will get a random sequence of words from the dictionary and if you do this enough times you will start to see pairs of words that could work as a band name.

Now that sounds like fun! Well, not the solo part, but the band and the festival. I like Old Time music. I didn't understand the distinction until a friend in Spokane, WA who is a member of an Old Time band (she plays guitar) explained it to me. They are called the Dead Fiddlers Society and put out their first CD last year. They play in a lot of festivals in the NW.

Contra dancing and bluegrass is so much fun! I sounds like a great time you had

Congratulations, Cathy! I think BenPiano said it best: y'all are winners just for showing up and having fun. I really admire your bravery for playing in public so often, even up to and including competing.

Though I'll confess to a bit of pique at hearing that piano is considered a "miscellaneous instrument."

As soon as I read "miscellaneous" intrument, I was hooked. Cathy, I too can read into your excitement and to be honest, you now have me interested as I can play a mean paint bucket/garbage can lid drum set.

If anyone wants to start up a junkyard band, lets get together.

We will need:

. One crossscut saw blade player.
. One clothes washboard player
. One Jew(jaws) harp player
. One hog caller
. One bleach bottle horn player
. One Kazoo player
. One country scat singer

Plus, one Farmall tractor to keep the beat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ThSi1wbqU

Wow, super-hunky, how did you find that?!? It was great! Them Scandihoovians know how to play old-time!

The Watermelon Mountain Jug Band out of Albuquerque meets most of your requirements - great fun.

Chris G - a new way to generate band names! The old-fashioned way is to open the yellow pages and read the headings - "Psychotherapist-Pumps", "Display-Dogs". I like "Dead Fiddlers Society" tho

Yeah, I think a piano is about as miscellaneous all by itself as you can get We had a hammered dulcimer, who won (he's won before - he leads a great contra dance band), an autoharp, a mountain dulcimer, and me. And what's that old poem? - if there'd been 10 I would have been 11th?

There was a contra dance Saturday night at the rodeo grounds, too, with a great caller from Durango, but after getting up at 7 to make sure me and the band got signed up, I was pooped and went home and slept.

The most valuable part of entering was the preparation. Kind of ups your game, you know?

Cathy

Sounds like it was a great festival, Cathy! One of the coolest things is that you're out there doing this and getting others interested in having you all entertain them as well! It's gotta get the blood a pumping and the excitement going. What fun!

Congrats for competing! The whole event sounds like great fun.

BTW, that's an awesome tune to name your band after. Roaring Jelly/Smash the Windows is one of my favorites to play!