WADESBORO — The lively twang of Bluegrass music filled Hampton B. Allen Library’s little theater on Thursday, June 13 for the start of the library’s summer Bluegrass Jam Sessions.
Organized by library manager Caroline Hightower and Anson Economic Development Corporation (AEDC)’s Executive Director Randy Collins, the library’s inaugural session was well attended.
“We will basically be holding these jam sessions every other Thursday throughout the summer. If we continue to get the kind of interest we have tonight we may look into carrying over into the fall,” says Hightower.
Explaining the idea for holding Bluegrass jam sessions came to Hightower months back, she admits the idea really took root during a one-man band performance by Collins.
“When I first thought about holding (jam sessions) I wasn’t sure what the interest might be. Randy performed here at the library and mentioned how he used to hold Bluegrass jam sessions for the residents of a nursing home where he used to live,” explained Hightower.
A moment of kismet, she says that when Collins made the suggestion she just knew he had been a godsend to bring her idea to life.
A Mount Airy transplant, Collins encouraged, “Come on out to these jam sessions even if you are just learning. This is how people learn.”
He shared with attendees that he has been playing bluegrass music since the age of twelve, attributing local jam sessions with perfecting his skill.
Popularized in the 1940s by Owensboro, Kentucky native Bill Monroe, Bluegrass music has remained in favor over the years.
Monroe’s new style of “country” music became known as Bluegrass music, coined after his band “The Blue Grass Boys”.
The Library of Congress credits the top five instruments required to create the unique notes of the toe tapping music as the fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar, banjo, and the piano. Other instruments later added to round out Bluegrass’ unique sound are the steel guitar, double bass, five-string banjo, and Dobro.
Heavily influenced by the Scotch-Irish settlers of the Appalachian region, Bluegrass’ spirited strains remain a beloved birthright of their descendants, a gift to be shared and added to by each subsequent generation of fans.
Hampton B. Allen Library’s next hosted jam session is scheduled for June 27 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. inside the theater.