We have been having slow jams at O'Hurley's General Store in Shepherdstown, WV for some twenty years, and while Celtic music is a major portion of the music we play, we also do many of the derivative pieces as Appalachian or Old Time. In our little corner of the world, a "slow jam" is not necessarily a "teaching jam" but that purpose is accomplished through the actual process of the slow jam.

The concept comes from the fact that in fast jams, the big dogs tend to monopolize the porch, and will drive the tune list from those tunes they can play loudest, fastest or first. This may be a good way to go if you want to learn the repertoire of the biggest dog (or dogs) on the porch, but after several visits, it can get old unless that what you really want to do.

We usually have some twenty musicians and a crowd of forty or fifty listening to the tunes, with many of both being regulars. The slow jam comes from the following conventions:

We sit in a circle, facing inboard with the audience outside and nearest the fire (to protect our instruments and tuning). The harps, hammered dulcimers, and fiddles sit together but other instruments are usually dispersed, especially the bodhrans. Instruments that take up a lot of space, (cello, bass, viola de gamba, uilleann pipes etc.) go to the "corners of the circle".

Each musician get a turn to do one of three things; 1. Name a tune or a medley of tunes, 2. Sing a song or play a solo with or without other designated musicians, or 3. Request a solo or designated grouping from another members of the circle. On a given night you will probably get four or five turns, so the newer people practice during the week to be ready for "their" turn.

We usually have several dancers who show up, and they are given "request privileges' as are visiting musicians, poets or singers, and space is created amongst the audience for those who wish to waltz, clog or ceili.

While some people do not like this format, (usually bluegrass or session musicians), it works for us and allows some semblance of order, when you have diverse instruments and musicians, and dancers coming for a fifty mile radius from the town. While several of the older members of the group go on to other jams in the area, they frequently return to work up new pieces, or to pick up some of the latest tunes going around. It may not be typical, but it works for us...