Cook County’s newest band, Blueberry Jaam, will be helping ring in the New Year with a free fireside performance (including goodies and hot drinks) at the 4-H log building in Grand Marais at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, January 1, 2011. (L) Andy and Amy Schmidt and (R) Jim and Michele Miller.
Summer feels so far away. Wouldn’t it be a good time to break out some Blueberry Jaam
to lighten the mood in the middle of the winter cold and darkness?
No, it’s not a misspelling. Blueberry Jaam
is the name of a new acoustic band featuring bluegrass, traditional, old-time, country, folk, and Appalachian music, and the word Jaam
stands for the letters of the band members’ first names: Jim and Michele Miller and Andy and Amy Schmidt.
To warm up the New Year, Blueberry Jaam
will be performing its debut concert at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, January 1, 2011 in the 4-H building across from the Community Center on the corner of Fourth Avenue West and Fifth Street in Grand Marais. In the cozy, rustic, fireside setting of the log building, concertgoers will enjoy the music at no charge along with free goodies and hot drinks.
Michele Miller had this to say about the group: “I think we’d all agree that the mood we’re aiming for in our music is one from a bygone era— when good friends and neighbors would draw up a chair on the porch at the end of the day and unwind by cranking out a few good tunes on a few good instruments. And if someone felt like kicking up his or her feet and dancing a bit, all the better.
“We all live pretty far from town in the Hovland area, and with young children and babies on the way, social outlets are sometimes few and far between. We really enjoy each other’s company. I can’t begin to tell you how much we are enjoying this band.
“Our mix of instruments and voices makes playing music together a real joy. We all play guitar, two play the banjo, three play the mandolin. Add to that the accordion, harmonica, fiddle—it just become a wonderful jam session every time we practice. Hence the name: Blueberry JAAM!
“One of our favorite songs is a song that Amy sings, called Red
Clay Halo
by Gillian Welch. The lyrics describe a young girl who never gets picked to dance by the ‘boys from the city.’ She blames it on the ‘red clay’ that she can never seem to wash off. It’s
under my nails and it’s under my
collar, and it shows on my Sunday
clothes…. Though I’ve done my
best with the soap and the water,
this darned old dirt won’t go. But
when I pass through the pearly
gates, will my crown be gold
instead? Or just a red clay robe,
with red clay wings, and a red clay
halo for my head?
It’s a humbling song. It puts a mirror in front of us and says, You know what? We all have a little bit of dirt under our nails, on our shoes. We’re all just a bit messy. That’s human, that’s humbling. And it’s good to be humbled from time to time.
“That really describes our music well, I guess. Down-toearth, homey, warm and sometimes heartbreaking.”
Blueberry Jaam
plays songs by the Carter family, Gillian Welch, EmmyLou Harris, John Prine, Bob Dylan, Nitty Gritty
Dirt Band,
and many others.
“Our goal in performing is really to bring the audience in on the fun,” Michele said. “If by the end of the evening they’ve enjoyed hearing our music half as much as we’ve enjoyed playing it, then we accomplished something.”
Joining Blueberry Jaam
will be Wild Mountain Thyme,
another group comprised of Michele Miller and Jack and Maria Nickolay. Wild Mountain
Thyme
features traditional Irish and Scottish music as well as bluegrass and Appalachian tunes which have their roots in Celtic music. They play guitar, fiddle, penny whistle, and bodhran.
The musicians invite people to bring donations for the Cook County Food Shelf to the concert, an easy way to share a little food for the needy while enjoying some Blueberry Jaam
and Wild Mountain Thyme.
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