Another Old-Time Weekend

It was another one of those transcendent weekends of old-time music. The Folk School of St. Louis brought Dan Gellert to St. Louis for a couple of day-long workshops on playing banjo and fiddle. Dan’s one of the modern masters of old-time music (kind of an oxymoron there, eh?) and a one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet, as well. His banjo and fiddle playing is pretty unique these days, incorporating Round Peak styles of playing and a very heavy influence from African-American players like Dink Roberts. It’s glorious, rhythmic, danceable stuff that you just don’t hear very often. Along with the workshops there was a house concert with Dan at my friend Andy’s loft down on Washington Street on Saturday evening and then Dan, Andy and Dave played for the Childgrove dance.

I didn’t have a chance to sit in on the banjo workshop on Saturday afternoon, but everyone I talked to who did was glowing about it. To a person, they said Dan’s teaching changed and improved the way they think about playing the banjo and felt it would make them better players. You can’t get better than that.

The house concert was wonderful in every sense. I need to thank both Andy and Colleen for all they did to make this happen. There were around fifty people there in Andy’s big loft apartment to hear Dan play. Many new who he was and many had only the vaguest idea, but had heard that he was good. The sense of community among the people and the good will floating around the room was beautiful. You couldn’t be there and not feel welcomed and part of something very fine. Even beyond the music, that’s the thing that I love most about the Folk School and what it does: this bringing together of people of different backgrounds and ages and providing new, positive experiences for a community of people.

For about forty-five minutes, people arrived; milled around; greeted old friends and met new ones; found places to sit; settled in with beer, wine, pop, water. Then Dave Landreth introduced Dan Gellert to the crown and the concert began.

Listening to Dan play in such a close setting with such rapt attention was really magical. There’s something about his playing and his commitment to his sources that transported the whole bunch of us to another place. The music could have been old 78’s played on an ancient machine, a rent party in the 30’s, or a hot summer evening on an Appalachian front porch. Everyone in the loft was held rapt by the sound of the fretless banjo and tapping of this man’s foot. And everyone had a big smile or a look of amazement on their face as they sat happily entranced.

After about an hour, there was a break for everyone to socialize some more and share their thoughts about what they’d just heard, which more often than not, amounted to “Wow!” For me, even though I couldn’t have enjoyed it more, I was left thinking (as I often do, if I’m honest with myself), “every time I think I’m getting to be a half-way good fiddler, I hear someone like Dan Gellert and realize how much further I have to go.”

Then another set of banjo and fiddle tunes. A few songs thrown into the mix.

When it was all over, most of the people left happy. After so much laughing and talking and hugs and handshakes, how could you not? A few of us stayed and broke out our instruments to play, talk and drink some more before heading out into the hot St. Louis summer night.

Gosh, I’m lucky to live in a time and place where this kind of thing can go on and I can be a part of it.