LOCALadk Magazine

Spring 2016 LOCALadk Magazine 29 LOCALadk Village of Tupper Lake Whether you're here for a weekend or a life me, you'll enjoy your stay. Visit Today tupper-lake.com tupperlakeny.gov (518) 359-3341 Located on the Stillwater Reservoir 13 miles north of Big Moose Lake. 7 rooms, serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, 7 days a week in season. (315) 376-6470 www.stillwateradirondacks.com Stillwater Hotel 5 Star Rated on Trip Advisor! The Bluegrass Jams The weekly jam sessions are one of several requirements of the BGNG program. The smiles on the faces of this year's scholar- ship beneficiaries, Juniors Emily Mero, Nicholas Schumacher and Faith Gaddis, suggest they are fulfilling anything but a course requirement. Tom Venne, veteran performer of Beartracks and The Clem Hawkins Revival Band, is the Club's faculty advisor. He gives the jam sessions a loose structure so that students can fid- dle around in the bluegrass style. The jams are open to all SUNY students who may play the tra- ditional acoustic instruments, including mandolins, banjos, fid- dles and the upright bass. On this particular evening, Nicholas is playing a beautiful Martin D-28 guitar, inlaid with bear paws and tracks loaned from Venne's private guitar collection. Mero tunes her Washburn mandolin, and Faith readies her dobro. SUNY stu- dent Kelley Gibson (Eric's son) will start the evening on a guitar he helped build, later switching to a Gibson mandolin, and Wills- boro Central's Owen Pierce will sit in on electric bass. After tuning and prepping, Venne invites the students to call out a tune, then directs them to the proper key. In bluegrass music, one or more instruments take a turn playing the melody and im- provising around it, while the others perform accompaniment. With a nod from Venne, each student will take a lead in a round robin solo over the course of the tune. Each song has a history. "The Soul of Man Never Dies", also known as "To Canaan's Land", was composed by William Matthew Golden in the early 1900s. A native of Missouri, it is posited that Golden wrote the song while in prison, and it later became a gospel hymn. The students deftly weave their voices around the harmonies of a song written over one hundred years ago. The jams are open to musicians in the community by invitation only, and Eric Gibson, when not touring with his band, is a regular attendee. Under the direction of the professionals, the students are challenged to alter the music. This evening's challenge is to change the ending of "Bury Me Be- neath the Willow". The students' new ending is tried on for size and given a thumbs up.

• Cover