A good old time
LA Old-Time Social emphasizes dancing, fun and participation
By Bliss 05/14/2009
Old-time string-band music doesn’t spring to mind when thinking of greater Pasadena or northeast LA. But for decades a subculture of instrumentalists who prize musicianship over publicity has put down stubborn roots at monthly jam sessions at area coffeehouses, restaurants, contra dances and house parties.
Triple Chicken Foot bandleader Ben Guzman joined that community when he moved here several years ago from Portland, Ore., where he was accustomed to hearing the highly danceable music performed by “young folks tearing it up.” He and thirtysomething bandmates Kelly Marie Martin and Mike Heinle tried to inject more of that spirit into the graying local old-time community, first with their third-Thursday jams at Silver Lake’s Hyperion Tavern, then by creating the LA Old-Time Social, an event comprised of a club party, formal concert, workshops and a dance. Now celebrating its fourth year, it attracts 300 or 400 people over three days, Guzman estimates.
“We have to give this [music] to young people like ourselves because we want to party more and we want to rage more, and we want to have more dances,” Guzman explains. “Participation is the whole thing. Either you’re gonna dance or you’re gonna enjoy it — or if you have a guitar that you want to try or a banjo, c’mon.”
The social presents locals such as Pasadena music scene veteran Tom Sauber alongside youthful up-and-comers like banjoist Shaun Cromwell and Frank Fairfield, who made waves opening for Fleet Foxes’ 2008 tour. Guzman is jonesing to hear Friday’s solo turn by Sauber, an exemplary multi-instrumentalist who plays in numerous combos.
“That’s when you actually hear what’s going on mechanically,” Guzman enthuses, “and you’re like, ‘Listen to that!’”
Many listeners confuse old-time music with bluegrass, but string-band music predates Bill Monroe’s musical brainchild. Guzman defines the difference thusly: “Old-time music is music before the radio. Once the radio came into play, all of a sudden personalities started being created, [who] take solos. In old-time music, there are never any solos. It’s popular music before popular delivery systems. “Our drive is to put the folk back in folk music, and to create more of a sense of social-ness with all this traditional social music,” he says.
“The big thing is, participate. Get out and try these things because they’re really fun. You don’t have to be good at it; you just have to have fun at it.”
The 4th Ever Los Angeles Old-Time Social Kick-Off Party takes place at 9 p.m. Thursday at Hyperion Tavern, 1941 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake, with Sweet Angel & the Surly Saints, Frank Fairfield and Sausage Grinder; free admission. The Social Concert with Tom Sauber, Shaun Cromwell and the Blackcrown Stringband happens at 8 p.m. Friday at Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 W. 24th St., LA; $15. Instrumental workshops from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Farmlab, 1745 N. Spring St. #4, downtown LA, followed by a dance. Details: http://oldtimeisagoodtime.com.
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