Okay, this is so funny I have to tell it first before I forget how it went.
So in the middle of “Old Joe Clark” I catch Logan yawning. After the song is over, I say something to him about being tired. Before he can even respond Bob Van barks, “What time did you get up this morning, boy?”
I immediately say to Logan, “Don’t answer that!” Because I know where Bob is going.
Logan, ignoring my advice (!), boldly says, “Four o’clock.”
I’m going like, “Way to go, Logan!” And everybody is laughing.
Then, Logan takes it a step further and says to Bob, just as brassy as can be, “What time did YOU get up?”
The rest of us are holding our sides with laughter. What happened to the quiet young man who usually shows up at the jam?
Bob says, “Quarter till four.”
More laughter. I figure Bob is just one-upping Logan in that oh-so-masculine way. Then Bob says, “My alarm didn’t go off.”
Susan, Ellen, Mark, and I are now hysterical with laughter. I’m thinking, “This jam is SO worth it!”
But Logan wasn’t done for the evening. Before our last song, “Wagon Wheel,” I was looking around for my piece of paper with the words on it. I asked Logan to look in a stack of papers that was near him. He came up with several pages of sheet music which he was looking at. Bob, standing nearby with the bass, could see them too.
“What kind of music is that?” Bob asks. (Like Logan would know.)
Logan answers, man-style, “Ukulele music.”
I’m thinking, “Huh?” (I actually thought it was music to “Loveliest Night of the Year” that a fiddle student had brought in.)
Bob goes, “How do you know that?”
Logan says, “Because I’m the Bluegrass Master!”
The rest of us burst out laughing.
Then Bob, obviously consumed with curiosity, says, “Now really. How did you know that?”
(And frankly I was wondering that too. I thought maybe it had some 4-string chord shapes in little boxes over the words and notes.)
Logan replies, “It says so right here on the music. For ukulele.”
Bada-bing!
So, the unusual tunes we played tonight were “Sally Goodwin” and “Old Home Place” (from the Easy Songs DVD—might as well get in a plug!)
Logan had learned the high and low breaks to “Sally Goodwin” (off Advanced Earl) and he did a great job. Susan (who was the inspiration for Logan’s learning it) and Logan haven’t gotten to where they can switch breaks yet—which is hard—so they just played everything they knew to play (AABB high, AABB low) and then we quit!
Interestingly enough, Logan was “hearing” the B part the same wrong way I first heard it, but we got that straightened out. I hope to blog further about my own trials and tribulations with “Sally Goodwin” when I find a good long stretch of time. (Which I used today to go Christmas shopping!) Right now Logan hates the tune (even after listening to Earl! Sacrilege!). I told him that I believe over time he’ll just learn to love it. And told him to listen to J.D. Crowe’s version. His next challenge is “Ground Speed.” He’s making noises about wanting to play professionally so we are Seriously Studying Earl. I’ll keep you posted! (He’s definitely getting the humor thing down! Which is essential for going on the road….)
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