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What to do tonight: Mountain music at Elwood's Pub
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Here's something I didn't know. Apparently, people who live in the southern Appalachian Mountains tend to pronounce the word "Appalachia" with a short "a" sound in the third syllable, while people who live outside the region pronounce it with a long "ay" sound.
People who live in the southern Appalachian Mountains also tend to like fiddle music.
OK, that we knew.
The sweet sounds of southern Appalachian Mountain music will be rising above the clink of empty beer bottles tonight at Elwood's Pub on Little Deer Creek Valley Road in Rural Ridge (Indiana Township), courtesy of The Fiddlers.
The Fiddlers are Josh and Melinda Jamrom and Dave Cook, a trio of local musicians who play at Elwood's Pub every other Thursday.
"We met at a bluegrass jam session at Hartwood Acres about five years ago," said Mr. Cook, 61, of West Deer. "We were just kind of hanging out, playing tunes along with other folks there, and we knew a lot of the same tunes. A friendship developed and they invited me to play along with them.
"Josh plays guitar and mandolin, and Melinda plays fiddle. I play fiddle, a little guitar and a little mandolin and a little harmonica. And we all sing."
But we're not talking Flatt and Scruggs here. This is a different style, unique to the region. The very roots of bluegrass.
According to Wikipedia, southern Appalachian music "is derived from various European and African influences, including English ballads, Irish and Scottish traditional music (especially fiddle music), religious hymns, and African-American blues."
But Mr. Cook sums it up better.
"It's not a real commercial music style," he said. "Bluegrass, for example, is a performance style. The music that we play is more of a participative style.
"It's like back-porch music. You know, families get together on Saturday night and pull out the instruments after dinner and sit on the porch and play tunes until dark. It's good music, but it doesn't appeal to everyone. The people who like it, like myself, can't get enough of it."
Songs like "Soldier's Joy," "Old Joe Clark," and "Chattanooga." And, of course, no one can resist tapping a toe to "Who Hit Nellie With the Stovepipe?"
"The way we play it is fairly Southern," said Mr. Cook, who has a day job as a maintenance planner in the Allegheny Ludlum steel mill in Brackenridge.
"There's a fiddling style that is pretty representative of southern Appalachian music, and that's the style that we've all gravitated to. I can't explain why. Apparently, we all just like it. It's a very casual type of music, presented in a very casual setting.
"Elwood's Pub is a small place with a limited menu, but the food is really good," Mr. Cook said. "They have the best fish sandwich you ever ate.
"We just move a couple tables and sit below one of the neon beer signs. We usually play seated because we're going to be there for three hours."
Dave and Kathy Crowell opened Elwood's Pub in 2000. They were closed for a spell when Mr. Crowell had some health issues, and reopened in the fall of 2010 with music on the menu on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
"Thursdays we have American folk music that varies with fiddlers, open stage and bluegrass," Mr. Crowell said. "Fridays we have piano and guitar players. And Saturdays, it's more blues, jazz and rock. It's going pretty well. It really is."
The Fiddlers get started at about 7 p.m. There's no set list. If you have a song you like, just ask them to play it. If you have a fiddle, just join in.
It's all about the music.
"I used to play for money, and I quit," Mr. Cook said. "Now, I get a couple free beers, I get to play tunes with my friends, meet some folks that I don't know. That's mainly it for us."
Dan Majors
Here's something I didn't know. Apparently, people who live in the southern Appalachian Mountains tend to pronounce the word "Appalachia" with a short "a" sound in the third syllable, while people who live outside the region pronounce it with a long "ay" sound.
People who live in the southern Appalachian Mountains also tend to like fiddle music.
OK, that we knew.
The sweet sounds of southern Appalachian Mountain music will be rising above the clink of empty beer bottles tonight at Elwood's Pub on Little Deer Creek Valley Road in Rural Ridge (Indiana Township), courtesy of The Fiddlers.
The Fiddlers are Josh and Melinda Jamrom and Dave Cook, a trio of local musicians who play at Elwood's Pub every other Thursday.
"We met at a bluegrass jam session at Hartwood Acres about five years ago," said Mr. Cook, 61, of West Deer. "We were just kind of hanging out, playing tunes along with other folks there, and we knew a lot of the same tunes. A friendship developed and they invited me to play along with them.
"Josh plays guitar and mandolin, and Melinda plays fiddle. I play fiddle, a little guitar and a little mandolin and a little harmonica. And we all sing."
But we're not talking Flatt and Scruggs here. This is a different style, unique to the region. The very roots of bluegrass.
According to Wikipedia, southern Appalachian music "is derived from various European and African influences, including English ballads, Irish and Scottish traditional music (especially fiddle music), religious hymns, and African-American blues."
But Mr. Cook sums it up better.
"It's not a real commercial music style," he said. "Bluegrass, for example, is a performance style. The music that we play is more of a participative style.
"It's like back-porch music. You know, families get together on Saturday night and pull out the instruments after dinner and sit on the porch and play tunes until dark. It's good music, but it doesn't appeal to everyone. The people who like it, like myself, can't get enough of it."
Songs like "Soldier's Joy," "Old Joe Clark," and "Chattanooga." And, of course, no one can resist tapping a toe to "Who Hit Nellie With the Stovepipe?"
"The way we play it is fairly Southern," said Mr. Cook, who has a day job as a maintenance planner in the Allegheny Ludlum steel mill in Brackenridge.
"There's a fiddling style that is pretty representative of southern Appalachian music, and that's the style that we've all gravitated to. I can't explain why. Apparently, we all just like it. It's a very casual type of music, presented in a very casual setting.
"Elwood's Pub is a small place with a limited menu, but the food is really good," Mr. Cook said. "They have the best fish sandwich you ever ate.
"We just move a couple tables and sit below one of the neon beer signs. We usually play seated because we're going to be there for three hours."
Dave and Kathy Crowell opened Elwood's Pub in 2000. They were closed for a spell when Mr. Crowell had some health issues, and reopened in the fall of 2010 with music on the menu on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
"Thursdays we have American folk music that varies with fiddlers, open stage and bluegrass," Mr. Crowell said. "Fridays we have piano and guitar players. And Saturdays, it's more blues, jazz and rock. It's going pretty well. It really is."
The Fiddlers get started at about 7 p.m. There's no set list. If you have a song you like, just ask them to play it. If you have a fiddle, just join in.
It's all about the music.
"I used to play for money, and I quit," Mr. Cook said. "Now, I get a couple free beers, I get to play tunes with my friends, meet some folks that I don't know. That's mainly it for us."
If you have a suggestion for something to do some evening, let us know about it and we'll see if we can get some of our friends to join you. Contact Dan Majors at dmajors@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1456.
First Published June 7, 2012 3:48 pm
