Aiken County Strings, Jamming with Traditional Acoustic Music
The Aiken County Strings members are local acoustic-instrument musicians, casually calling ourselves "jammers," who have organized to meet each Saturday in the Aiken area and to have fun together playing music. A group of a dozen-plus players of guitars, fiddles, dulcimers, banjos, harmonicas, bass and percussion instruments, and singers have been meeting to share original songs, and more broadly to play the familiar music styles from Bluegrass to the traditional American folk songs.
It brings smiles to our faces as we play and go around-the-circle giving everyone an opportunity to sing a song. At times, with an audience gathered to enjoy the music, to sing along, to tap their feet or clap their hands.
The musicians and singers have been meeting in various locations for several years, having a core number of about 22 musicians but also a larger emailing distribution of more than 50 interested persons. Aiken County Strings jamming locations for each Saturday are convenient settings outside if the weather is favorable or sometimes inside where it’s more comfortable.
Lately the jammers have been getting together in Graniteville at the historic Hickman Hall, being opened and hosted by the Better World Studios, a key multipurpose facility fostering the arts and artists in our communities. We’ll also be at times jamming at the Warrenville Jamboree location, an old auction barn with a stage being revived to eventually bring a regular circuit of musicians to our area.
The Aiken County Strings is supporting that initiative as well as an initiative through June at the Aiken Senior Life Services to pull together senior musicians in a Jam Band.
If outside, Aiken County Strings can sometimes be heard jamming in the parkway of Park Avenue, among the tall trees that line the center of the avenue; or at the Carolina Bay near the viewing platform that borders the H. Odell Weeks Activities Center. This summer, the group will be at the Farmers Market in New Ellenton, an open area for crafters, locally farmed produce and food trucks.
Aiken County Strings jamming locations for each Saturday are announced in an email to our distribution. To join the jammers or just enjoy the music, email Jim Jordan at jordan4459@bellsouth.net. For more information, find Aiken County Strings on Facebook.
