Boone and surrounding areas

Boone

From Sunday, October 1st, the small university town of Boone in western North Carolina will be my home. The city is dominated by the rather large Appalachian State University (almost 20,000 students), which is particularly evident in the pubs and shopping areas around the university. Hiking and skiing sports are also often advertised. However, my goal is to listen to and play as much (bluegrass) music as possible.

Music

And I get there on the first evening. My Airbnb host's cousin, Jim, is an organist in a church and teaches music at the university. So some (older) pop and jazz pieces are played at the piano and Jim and I play the piano and mandolin. A birthday serenade for Kyndy's daughter is also recorded and sent straight away.

Music sessions

On Monday evening I find the first bluegrass session at the Appalachian Mountain Brewery. I immediately play along and get to know some new pieces: Big Spike Hammer, Salt Spring. I get into conversation with most musicians during or after the session. They are all nice and interesting people. The next session takes place on Wednesday evening at the Pedalin' Pig. Some of the musicians from Monday are there again, but also unknown to me. Here too we play outside for the guests present. However, we got something to eat for free before the session started. When the session was actually over, a musician who actually works in the pub comes along (Blake?). He plays the mandolin very well (but also the guitar and banjo) and works as a professional musician alongside his bar job. We still play some bluegrass pieces with a small group, but then also something by The Grateful Dead and my mandolin hero David Grisman. On Thursday evening I go to the Jones House for the Oldtime Session. Many, many pieces in D major, there is still a lot to learn here. I have tickets to see the band Tray Wellington at the Appalachian Theater on Friday evening. The concert is great! Progressive bluegrass with great musicians.

On Saturday afternoon I'll be at Sugar Mountain Ski Resort for Oktoberfest. Well, since I'm not wearing leather pants, I feel a little out of place. But people are having fun! On the way back I drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. And it's actually very crowded on the street at the weekend when the weather is great. But the views are truly spectacular.

A little cabin home on the hill

On Sunday I'm moving and literally driving into the mountains. My accommodation (a Little Cabin home on the hill) can only be reached via a gravel road with many bumps and inclines. The Airbnb listing indicated that it was advisable to drive the route using a 4-wheel drive. Well, my Honda Civic makes it and I'm done after the driveway and at first I think I'll have to stay here forever and never come back to civilization. But over the next few days I'll drive very slowly and carefully to the sessions on Monday and Wednesday.

Johnson City Tennessee

On Tuesday I'm driving with Mike to Johnson City in Tennessee for an excellent vintage session (1.5 hours each way). Mike plays guitar, dobro or banjo during the sessions and is very talkative, which makes the long car ride very entertaining.

Todd

After my trip to Owensboro in Kentucky and Nashville in Tennessee, I'm coming back to Boone, or near Boone, to Todd on October 19th. My Airbnb host has a tiny house here. This is still brand new and I am the first guest. However, she rents it to me privately, not through Airbnb. The first few days and nights are exciting because I first have to familiarize myself with the air conditioning and heating functions. It is also quite stormy at night and the noises from the rain and the wind and therefore from the house are initially unfamiliar to me. Gradually I become familiar with everything, including the road here. And after two repairs, the hot water also works. I enjoy complete independence here and can enjoy the beautiful landscape from the sofa or the terrace.

In addition to the sessions on Monday evening and Wednesday evening, I also go to the “Murderer Ballads” show at the Appalachian Theater on Thursday evening. The ballads, performed in song and bluegrass band format, are framed by appropriate projected photos and introductory words. I finally hear the musician Trevor McKenzie. He had already taken part in the end of the jam session the day before. But I didn't know who he was. I had already spoken to him via email and he had given me recommendations for music.

The next day in the evening I listen to the Dawgful Dead band at the Southend Brewery in Boone. As the name suggests, they play pieces by the band The Grateful Dead and David Grisman. I start talking to the outstanding mandolin player during the break and it turns out that he (like me) is an absolute mandolin nerd. For example, he knows a lot of choro music and the Brazilian musician Hamilton de Holanda (I heard him at the Rudolstadt Festival in the summer). On the way home to my accommodation I hear the recommendation from the mandolin player: Ian Coury (a protégé of Hamilton de Holanda).

During my time here at Todd I got to read these two books:

“Roots Music in America - Collected Writings of Joe Wilson”. A music journalist who presents the developments in North American music in summarized articles from different years. A historical outline initially provides a good overview with particular attention to folk, old-time and bluegrass music. He then presents the essential instruments and gives an overview of old-time music and bluegrass with key developments and people. But today's country music and blues are also discussed.

Completely unrelated to music: “Warrior Girl unearthed” by Angeline Boulley. This is the follow-up to “Firekeeper's Daughter” (a #1 New York Times bestseller and a film produced for Netflix by Michelle and Barack Obama's production company, Higher Ground). The extremely exciting book (and the previous volume) provides insights into so many areas of Indian culture (especially the Ojibwe in Michigan). It would certainly be exciting to get to know this more closely.