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Thursday, 31 August 2006 |
 Active Image | Jonathan Williams
The Appalachian
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Mountain Jam sessions bring students, community together
by LINDSAY CRAVEN
Lifestyles Editor
Do you feel the need to express your inner musician?
For those out there looking for an organized jam session on campus, look no further.
Appalachian Popular Programming Society’s Appalachian Heritage Council
hosts Mountain Music Jam in Crossroads Coffee House every Tuesday from
1 to 3 p.m.
“The idea came first when a sophomore told me that the round up
bluegrass jam group had lost its venue, incidentally they have a new
venue, but I told her that maybe Appalachian Heritage Council could
have a jam,” Heritage Council Chairperson Susan Pepper said.
The jam session, which made its debut Aug. 29, features bluegrass, old-time, country, gospel and folk music.
Performers are expected to bring their own instruments.
“We will only have music related to the Appalachian heritage,” Pepper said.
 Active Image | | Jonathan Williams I The Appalachian |
The event drew in five people Tuesday. Pepper expects the event to grow in popularity.
“I thought it was a fine jam for the first one and there were
individuals who were really paying attention and seemed to enjoy it so
hopefully it will grow, but it was a good start,” she said.
The Heritage Council chose Crossroads because of its visibility and an easy location for people to join in.
The Heritage Council also decided the 1-3 p.m. timeslot had the greatest potential for heavier traffic.
“We decided to do [the jam] around lunch time in hopes that people
could take a break during the day for part of [the jam] or for the
whole thing,” Pepper said.
“Also during the day we hope that the faculty and staff might come.”
“[Crossroads] allows you to see how many musicians there are around
Appalachian, I never knew how many old-time musicians there were here,”
graduate student Josh K. Beckworth said.
Crossroads expects the weekly event to benefit business.
“I thought it was a really cool atmosphere with people playing music
spontaneously on stage,” said Crossroads employee Kara A. Brown.
“I think it could encourage people to stop by.”
Pepper hopes with the event in Crossroads, it will inspire other
students who see their friends playing to pick it up themselves.
“It’s really a chance for students to get to know each other and to get to know community members,” Pepper said.
To get involved with the event, students need only to bring their instrument of choice.
The event’s future is dependent on its popularity and crowd enthusiasm.
The approximated number of people the council will consider successful is about 12 to 15.
“I hope that the jam might encourage people to keep an eye out on other
things we sponsor and that players of all levels might be encouraged to
come out to the jam,” Pepper said.
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