Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of four news releases about Bluegrass Music Week in Kentucky.
BEREA, Ky. – The Berea Welcome Center is about to mark its third year of preserving the rich musical traditions of the Bluegrass state.
The Berea Welcome Center Jam, which celebrates its third anniversary in July, happens every Thursday night, rain or shine, fall, winter, spring or summer. The music starts at 7 p.m. and continues to about 9:30 or 10 p.m.“
We move inside in the winter months so that holds the crowd to about 50,” says Belle Jackson, executive director of the Berea Tourism and Convention Commission. “During the summer the crowd can reach a hundred.”
Donna and Lewis Lamb, winners of the 2007 Governor’s Award in the Arts, host the jam. All musicians, regardless of ability or experience, can participate, Jackson says.
“Folks can hear traditional music with fiddle and ‘claw hammer’ style banjo to bluegrass and gospel,” she says. “We average about a dozen, sometimes more, musicians, and each gets a turn to do a ‘number.’ All are welcome to join in.”
The jam generally attracts participants from the Berea area and several surrounding counties. But the event is also open to visitors and gives them an evening experience that is a true piece of Kentucky tradition as well as a reason to stay overnight in Berea, Jackson says.
“We have had musicians from around the world join us for the evening, sharing our Appalachian musical heritage, and of course they share a world music culture with us,” she says.
“It is an amazing exchange. Whenever you attend, you will hear bluegrass, but also gospel and old timey, whatever players bring to the jam,” Jackson says.
For more information, contact Belle Jackson at 859-986-2540 or belle@snapp.net.
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The Kentucky Department of Tourism, an agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet, exists to promote The Commonwealth as a travel destination, generate revenue and create jobs for Kentucky’s economy