Big Scioty, Worley Gardner Old Time Music Fest

Keith McManus and friends at the Worley Gardner Old Time Music Festival, Morgantown West Virginia February 26 2011, playing Big Scioty (named after the Scioto River in Ohio. I checked with former President Bush, and the West Virginia pronunciation is definitely the correct one). Old Time Music is similar to Bluegrass, but uses the style of banjo played before Earl Scruggs (clawhammer or frailing style), and generally emphasizes the mountain fiddle as the lead instrument. If you can imaging several hundred musicians descending upon South Middle High School, holding workshops, performances and mainly jam sessions, well, that's basically what you would find at the Worley Gardner Winter Music Festival. Keith McManus is a tremendously skilled practitioner, yet he is willing to sit down and play with people have a much lesser skill set (like me for example). In this particular jam, you will notice some hot fiddling, a banjo or two, a mandolin-banjo, a fretless handmade banjo, a cello (Sue Gimbal), an upright bass (Jim Kumquat), a couple guitars and maybe one or two other instruments. This is the way they did it back in the old days. When work is over, bring whatever instruments you have and we'll set down and play something! The audio is not good on this recording, mainly due to background noise from other groups. But it gives you an idea of what to expect if you have the opportunity to attend an Old Time Jam.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• worley Gardner
• Old Time
• Old Timey
• banjo
• clawhammer
• Morgantown
• fiddle