Music in Santa Fe

Greetings from Santa Fe, New Mexico! The time is passing quickly. I've had two jam sessions with the friend of my mom who lent me one of his guitars. My mom's friend used to play guitar for contre-dances, and as you can guess, he's quite good. He's given me some non-barre guitar chords to practice that venture above the fifth fret. They are challenging to remember but definitely stretch both my fingers and my brain. Last night, we went through the Rise Up Singing book. He introduced me to the Scottish folk ballad Mairi's Wedding, I introduced him to Arlo Guthrie's Ring Around A Rosy Rag, and then we played a version of Stephen Foster's Hard Times Come Again No More that was far merrier than its actual lyrics. We ended the evening with a few lullabies and waltzes, as it was hard to stop at just one.

I had such a good time! I keep hoping to have more music jam sessions in Seattle. My friends are keen on the idea, but once I actually throw out dates and times, it becomes more of a challenge to gather people together. I suspect that everyone's tired after all of the commitments they already have (and I can relate). It would be great if we could just get into the habit of bringing our instruments when we visit each other, and if a music jam session happens, it happens.