I have just got off the phone with Rita (Nothin' Could be Sweeta) after discussing her plans for a couple of folk dance workshops. She has planned to have one period reserved for waltzes and one for a contra dance, and asked me if it was possible to set up a form of the Open Band in Wash DC.

These folks would be musicians who can read chords or music (or already know most of the common tunes) who would want to play (or learn to play) for two hour contra-dance to be held sometime around 4 -6 PM on Saturday. She has a caller, and I will be bringing duplicate copies of the common contra-dance tune source books (Ruff Water, Fiddlers Fake, Portland, etc.).

What we will need are fiddlers, maybe a mando or tenor banjo, maybe a squeeze box or recorder/flute windy thing, but mainly a couple of fiddlers. I have no doubt that there will be numerous guitars at the Getaway, but I don't want to do the "Al Kyola, 101 Guitars Play Old Time" thing.

So here's the deal, if you're going to the Getaway, and you have a fiddle or a mando stuck in the car's wheel-well, and you listen real carefully, you'll hear your mother callin' you. If you've never played in an open band, this can be a lot of fun, and because the tunes repeat 5-6 times, you can learn the tunes fast.

Having a good sense of rythmn is more important than getting the right note, cause in open bands, you CAN be wrong, but you CAN'T be late. Usually three tunes are played during one dance, like a jig in D, then a reel in G, then something in Em, for example.

This is not that hard; I know some folks who do this for a living, and they have NEVER been sober.

PM Rita, or come up on this thread if you help out, Thanks, Don