Pickin' on the Prairie

 

Pickin’ on the Prairie
Bluegrass Jam and Campout
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
May 28, 29, 30

2027

The pickin’ is free and the camping is inexpensive.

Next year’s Pickin’ on the Prairie will be the fifth time we get together to play and enjoy bluegrass music.

Jam Participation:

FREE… yes free. Drive out for one or more jams OR camp onsite.

 

Location:

Rockyford Lions Campground (map)
Rockyford, Alberta

A big thank you to the Village of Rockyford for their enthusiasm towards Pickin’ on the Prairie being held at the Lions Campground.

Rockyford residents: Bring a camp chair and a beverage. Come enjoy some bluegrass music… and if you are a picker, join us for the bluegrass jamming.

Rockyford Weather Forecast [ Environment Canada ]

  • Yellow area is the Dry Camping field / Jam Campout.
  • Blue arrow – route to jamming / dry camping area.
  • Serviced sites are orange (1-5) near entrance to grounds and blue (13-30) sites. 

Camping:

  • Option #1 – Dry Camping for tents and RVs – $15 per night (these can be paid for with cash only on site and do not need a reservation)
  • Option #2 – Serviced sites – $30 or $35 per night.
  • Online reservation for serviced sites begins May 1 annually.
  • Flush toilets and shower building onsite (nice newer building)
  • Potable water and RV dump onsite
  • Dogs and cats welcome. Pets must be leashed OR in a pen / crate at all times. Pet waste to be cleaned up immediately
  • Propane fires are welcome
  • No wood fires

 

Schedule:

Friday

  • anytime after noon – arrive and set up your camp
  • 1 pm – Open Bluegrass Jam at the Cookhouse
  • 4 pm – Happy Hour Social
  • 6 pm – Dinner (at your own camp)
  • 7 pm – Easy Jam / Introduction to Bluegrass Jam, followed by an Open Bluegrass Jam

Saturday

  • 1 pm – Open Bluegrass Jam
  • 5:30 pm – Potluck Dinner (see next section for details)
  • Saturday evening Open Bluegrass Jam after dinner

Sunday

  • 9:30 – Bluegrass Gospel Jam (until we run out of gospel songs) followed by an Open Bluegrass Jam until 11:30 am
  • Noon – Campground check out

Jamming:

  • Bring a chair or stool
  • Bluegrass Jam Etiquette in effect
    • When leading a song, call the Title, the Key, and Chords.
  • No jamming experience necessary
  • No pressure to lead a song
  • Music stands / fakebooks / iPads / tablets welcome
    • To maintain the flow of the jam circles, sharing songs electronically generally doesn’t happen. Those in a jam circle will read a guitar player’s hands or hear the chord changes to follow along with the song.
In a jam circle…

(Thanks to the Black Rose Acoustic Society for the next five points)

  • Jam Circle Leader – The person running the jam circle
  • Song Leader – The person leading a particular song. We take turns leading songs and this passes to the left around the circle
  • Guitar Billboard – Ideally there’s a guitar player (or two) who knows the chords and commits to playing recognizable chord shapes (“cowboy chords”) throughout the song
  • Song Participant – Someone playing along with the song. Responsible for quickly learning the song’s chord changes and melody, even if an unfamiliar song. Song participants are good listeners and good followers
  • Break / Solo / Lead – Someone playing a solo while Song Participants continue playing the chords of the song. There is 1 soloist at a time unless explicit other arrangements are made (like song leader says “all the mandolins” or 2 neighbors in the circle agree to do a harmony solo). If it is difficult to hear the instrument taking an instrumental break, all non-break players should moderate their playing volume
Also about jamming…
  • Got a jam tent? Bring it if you’d like… and there is the Cookhouse building and a couple jam tents will be set up
  • New to Bluegrass Jamming? Bluegrass Jamming 101 will help you
  • Need some song inspiration… here are some bluegrass song ideas
  • Quiet hours are 10:30 pm – 8 am

Acoustic guitar, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, fiddle, dobro, and acoustic bass (and electric bass guitars) are all welcome.

 

Jam Circles:

  • Aim to have up to 8-ish people in an inner jam circle.
  • Jam circles of this size contribute to better music for players and harmony singers.
  • Players who are strumming along and people watching, feel free to form a circle or chairs or standing around the first circle.

  

Potluck Dinner:

For those who can and want to… join in on Saturday’s potluck dinner. Please bring a dish of your choice to contribute and participate in this social meal.
The potluck is planned to be in the Camp Kitchen / Picnic Shelter building.

Please identify any possible allergens (or better yet avoid them).

 

Weather:

Pickin’ on the Prairie is held in a grassy field. There are jam tents and a large campground picnic shelter, and we play in all weather. Check the forecast and bring your rain boots if you need them.
 

Questions?

email us
 

Feel free to share this event with others

See you in Rockyford 🙂
 

Keep me in the loop about the Bluegrass Jam Campout:

We ask about instruments to get an idea of who is coming to the Bluegrass Jam Campout and we ask so we have a sense of the number of people coming to the potluck dinner.

~~~

Thanks to our friends for helping spread the word about Pickin’ on the Prairie

Northern Lights Bluegrass & Old Time Music Society
August 10-14 ~ Music Camp
August 14-16 ~ 20th Anniversary Music Festival