Arriving at the Ashokan Center felt like coming home. Within a minute of parking, I saw Debbie from last year with her fiddle at her side. We hugged and welcomed each other back. I took a bit of time to organize my luggage, shouldered my fiddle, and walked down the gravel path to the main hall for check-in to the Rollick.
I ran into Reed (who is a first time helper on guitar), and immediately, I told him, "Hey welcome back! I think I saw you last year!" to which he answered "It's my first year! But Hi!!" We laughed it off and continued down the stairs.
This funny greeting would continue for most of my Friday evening as I said hello to everyone I met, to both familiar and strange faces. I couldn't tell who was new and who was returning, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that we were all together now.
At the welcome jams I heard Cluck Old Hen, a tune I know, at a very fast pace. Everyone was having a blast! This set the mood for the rest of the two days of fiddling and rollicking. I had some personal goals this year: I wanted to create and choose intimate musical experiences. By doing so, I hoped to avoid burnout and conquer the fear of missing out.
Last year was such an eye opener for me, but I found myself getting frazzled with all the jams and classes and finding myself wanting to join in everything. This led to a frantic experience-which is good in its own right-but I was quite exhausted. This year, I wanted to learn at my own pace and get to know people and the music they are sharing on a deeper level.
The classes I chose carried out this idea: Beginner Fiddle classes with Becca, Old Time Bowing with Becca, Old Time duets with Val and Mark, the afternoon Intermediate Fiddle with Bruce, Gospel Sing, and the two classes which really touched me: Banjo Talk with Jake and Time Signatures with Allison. These were all smallish classes, with the Gospel Sing being the largest group. I also square-danced for the first time since I was a kid and it was a lot of fun!
I love this event and it's something very rare and precious. Under the leadership of Bruce and Debra and the stewardship of Jay and Molly, the Rollick at Ashokan is a place where music is made at all levels-large jams, small jams, advanced jams, beginner jams: everywhere I looked I hear people making musical connections--on their own working out a phrasing, two-by-two huddling close to hear each other, in small circles smiling at each other, in larger jams shuffling to a common pulse. I feel really blessed to have such a place.
Musically, here are my takeaways and homework to do:
- Old Time Music definitely has a place in my heart! I'm exhilarated every time I get to listen to and play this kind of music.
- We learned Pretty Little Willow (or Widow?) played by John Ashby as taught by Becca
- I need to keep practicing the syncopated shuffle and bow rocking. Becca taught us the syncopated shuffle pattern and from my recordings, I am on the right track - I just need to keep practicing this bowing pattern.
- I finally found out the name of one of the tunes that I loved from the 2018 Rollick--Spotted Pony!
- Some new tunes in my ear: Sail Away Ladies and Stay All Night
- I still need to edit the audio tracks I recorded and prepare the playlist of tunes we learned. This is coming soon hopefully!