Old Town School – On The Road

Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.

Why Abbey, Dvorak, Maddox, and Tyler

On two days notice, Juha Reunanen filled his photography studio with 30 guests for a Thursday night concert of an unknown American band Abbey, Dvorak, Maddox and Tyler. Auli Lehto-Tähtinen did an enormous amount of legwork in order to produce Finland’s 2009 Rootsinpyhtaa Bluegrass Festival, including making a cheese cake for the American band. Wasel Arar gave up sleeping for a week so he could host the Americans as well as play in two bands and help with the re-enactment camp. Marija Karhinen-Ilo and Lassi Logren dedicated prime space at their Helsinki folk school, Kansanmusiikkiopisto, and many hours of organizing to host a workshop put on by ADMT. Why would these Finns do so much work to host an unknown band of known folks whose reputations are spread out evenly across bluegrass, old time,folk and rock music?

Well, the answer seems to be that this band was billed to these presenters as both a group of professional roots music performers and as a group of teachers who have been trained by their work to lift the human spirt with all available musical means. What a joy to tour under these terms. Released from the need to be sexy young things or super pickers or torch bearer for a singular tradition, we were able to just be ourselves, make great music and communicate with some folks who were ready to receive. Paul sang a mean baritone and pitched some great material that bridged the gap between bluegrass and old time (Prodigal Son), Mark played some super fine claw-hammer banjo and transformed his amazing songs into ensemble pieces, and John found his inner-hillbilly and made everything sound cool by holding the whole band in his bear-like embrace.

As for myself, I felt like I was getting a rare opportunity to communicate using the international language of music. Silly style divisions were removed in the company of this band, and as a result the quality of the performances shot way up and the Finns really dug the vibe. This is the kind of festival experience that give people a chance to practice the art of being better people, and I was happy to be on board.

Filed under: Country, DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from Colby by Colby | June 18, 2009 | Comments (3)

Why Finns

Finns hold back until they can give you a genuine response. Being from God fearing, Southern Illinois stock, I was prepared for the reserved part, but I was genuinely surprised and constantly charmed by how genuine Finns can be. It might take a few beers, or it might take until the end of the night but I was often locked into close conversation with folks. This kind of talking did not feel selfish, invasive or demanding and only occurred after some initial relationship had been established.

Matti, banjo player for the Clayhill Brothers, approached me on Thursday night to talk about how he got his banjo from Chip Covington 20 years ago, and how he had the chance to take a lesson with Bill Keith. We hit it off right away and shared stories about Chip, a mutual friend, and about Bill Keith’s curious fascination with the Circle of Fifths as a teaching tool. After a really great Friday night jam session at the bar (good rhythm, good turn taking, no contests), Matti secured a drink for me and began to talk about how he regretted not keeping up with the tall, boastful American who had sold him his first banjo. Matti was truly savoring the moment and allowing his emotions to bubble out like sweat from a good Sauna, and it was a surprising change from the usual “beer stories” that guys like to exchange.

Juha Reunanen, the owner of the venue we played at on Thursday night, found himself holding my mandolin about 30 seconds after I found out that he played mandolin. He played beautifully, and I figured if I gave it some time and slept on his floor for a few hours we would have some things to talk about later. Just before the show he introduced me to his musical friend who first gave him a mandolin, and as we were leaving he and his daughter Laura were overjoyed to receive a copy of the OTSFM songbook. A few days later I got an e-mail from Juha saying that Laura “got so carried away, that she is willing to pick up the fiddle after
years break.” Juha finally ended up in my Monday mandolin workshop where he picked everything up at lightning speed and was the first in line for my chord handouts at the end.

Kaisa, a musician and actor in the re-enactment camp, took on a whole bluegrass band with her accordion and beautiful singing at a late night Saturday night session. As the night wore on she was singing new verses to Shady Grove in Finish. The next evening when we returned to the camp we continued to exchange tunes with Kaisa, and by the time Paul and I had agreed on the titles, she had figured out the whole tune. Right click on this link to hear a sample.

sallyannsailaway.MP3

After our Monday workshop in Helsinki we were treated to an incredible dinner by the folks at the Kansanmusiikkiopisto Folk Music School, and Kaisa dropped by after her work to say goodbye. Over a dinner of Reindeer meat and a dessert of fresh strawberries we got a chance to talk a little. She explained that her sister was attending the Sibelius Academy and that she had chosen to work a regular job, participate in a small theater company and enjoy developing her music at her own pace.

Wasel Arar, our endlessly friendly and helpful host, did not let on that he was a mandolinist until day two of our stay. Dressed in 19th century clothes from the re-enactment camp and sporting perfect English and a taste for American humor (both picked up from the American school he attended as a kid in Helsinki), Wasel became our bridge between Finnish and American sensibilities. By lunch on Friday I was playing early 20th century American instruments with a Finnish guy dressed up like an American frontier banker, and by late afternoon we were all crammed into a sauna cracking beers with our shaman, tour guide Wasel–mildly surreal.

Turns out Wasel is a really good mando picker, and I loaned him my mandolin on Saturday to play on stage with The Blue Velvet Band–his traditional bluegrass band. I spent the late part of Sunday evening playing Mark’s guitar while Wasel ripped through a bunch of bluegrass standards on my mandolin and Mark, John and Paul whooped it up with the Fins from the re-enactment camp (it takes a village to sell a mandolin).

Wasel arrived at our Monday workshop in Helsinki still in period costume handed me his 1996 Gilchrist Mandolin in exchange for my 2005 Gibson Sam Bush and sat down to participate in the workshop. I am honored to have one of the leading Finnish bluegrass teachers and musicians taking my class, thrilled to play his legendary and incredible mandolin, and floored at how fast the Finns are able to pick up the tunes I am teaching.

As the workshop is breaking up, Wasel lets me know he has decided to buy my Gibson. In the middle of making payment arrangements we find out that both of us lost our fathers and went through stressful legal battles in 2006, the same year that I won the Gibson at a Colorado competition. We took some time to share our experiences, went out to an excellent dinner with Lassi and and Maija from Kansanmusikkiopisto Folk School, and then Wasel maxed out his ATM card and brought two big piles of Euros to my hotel room in exchange for his new instrument–very surreal.

Filed under: DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from Colby by Colby | June 13, 2009 | Comments (0)

Why Bluegrass

What is it about bluegrass music that drives people in far flung parts of the world to invest in instruments, form clubs and bands, and play and perform the sacred music of the American South together? In this June 2009 Finnish/American cultural exchange designed by Bau Graves, the role of bluegrass in the Finnish music scene was initially a concern for us teachers. The obvious question going in was “are we bluegrass enough for them?” I’m always a little concerned when my co-workers look to me to be the bluegrass authority, but on this trip I was never really worried. As we prepared to leave and put together material for our little band, I got the strong feeling that bluegrass would became a vehicle for communication with the Finns and not just a bad script that none of us could really follow.

Certainly the history and rituals associated with bluegrass are compelling, and after picking with the Finnish people I can say they know their history and seem to be naturals at the reserved, patient, focused group rituals that are necessary to bring bluegrass to life. Like the blues, bluegrass provides the participant and the listener the chance to exercise emotions–from the most personal and specific to the most mystical and general. Half of the bluegrass songbag deals with the perfect, natural state of early, rural America and the other half deals with all the ways we became divorced from that state. It was a thrill to hear my new Finnish friend sing songs like Old Home Place, Lamp Lighting Time In the Valley, or Danville Girl because I knew right away that they understood the emotion that they were communicating. Here is a clip of the Clayhill Brothers singing in church on Sunday morning (right click on the link to listen).

mountain-railroad.mp3

Fortunately the Finnish are way too smart and talented to turn bluegrass into some wooden code of conduct or, worse yet, a secular religion. So, in my next couple posts I will introduce you to some folks we met and explain how we used the elegant rituals of bluegrass to get to know one another. Hopefully these pictures of Paul and John in bathrobes will tide you over until then (jet lag is like a big pajama party).