On a recent Thursday evening in the basement craft room of the Riverhead Free Library, came the sounds of a dozen musicians getting ready to practice and play together acoustically as the Old Time Jam Band. The group focuses on historical Appalachian dance tunes whose rhythm, melody and roots have a Scottish, African, English and Irish origin.
With guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin or bass in hand, seated in a circle facing each other, the performers played different bits of songs as they warmed up, producing a cacophony of the various instruments. The informal band has many levels of experience — beginners up to experts — all passionate about reproducing songs from a by-gone era.
Four of the band members this evening are women. Theresa Dilworth has been part of the band for almost four years. “It’s organized and we have 300 tunes to choose from. It’s so welcoming,” said Dilworth, holding her five-string, closed back banjo. “There’s a pool of 50 of us and it’s not always the same people who come to jam,” she said. With its narrower neck, her banjo has a louder sound, Dilworth said.
Once everyone warmed up, all eyes were on band leader/organizer Toni Kaste. She glanced at her set list and asked, “Ready, ready?” She played a few notes on her violin and everyone started playing the band’s warm-up song, “Angeline the Baker,” their feet tapping under their chairs.
Most had easels in front of them holding sheet music or an iPad. Others didn’t need either; they played each song by memory. There was no singing that evening; all of the tunes were instrumental. A few band members were swaying slightly to the rhythm while playing music in their seats.
Strumming and picking at their instruments, they played “Ragtime Annie,” “Flop Eared Mule,” and “Soldier’s Joy,” among other old-time tunes. The songs could be part of the set list Saturday when the troupe performs at the Southold Winterfest.
This genre of music, which dates back to the 1600s, can be found on Spotify and Apple Music, although it takes some searching.
The band members are trying to keep this toe–tapping music alive because it’s not commonly heard on Long Island. It’s been passed down from generation to generation by old time fiddlers who would learn it by ear, recreate what they heard and keep it as authentic as the original sound. Kaste added that her group is the only one of its kind on Long Island.
“It’s very much like mountain music. It’s considered to be ‘old time music’ which is upbeat, happy music. Occasionally people will get up and dance. More kids get up and dance because they’re uninhibited. Absolutely people tap their feet. Some even tap their canes,” said Kaste.
“I never read music. I play by ear. I started by playing the fiddle and both the mandolin and fiddle are tuned the same way,” said Rocky Divello of Mattituck, strumming his mandolin. He would keep switching between the three instruments during the evening.
Source: RiverheadLOCAL
