SHELBY FOREST GENERAL STORE

PORCH PICKIN'

WITH THE COUNTY LINE JAM

MILLINGTON, TN

October 28, 2018

 

 

     The Shelby Forest General Store is a classic! Established in 1934, the store is a great stopping place for drivers, bikers, hunters, fishermen/women, and even bluegrass and old-time music fans. A couple of times each year (spring and fall) there is a "porch pickin'" from 12:30 to 3:30p CT, featuring a group known as The County Line Jam. The jammers are ardent fans of old-time string band music from the late-1800's to the early 20th Century. The instruments are unplugged and lovely: dulcimer (mountain and hammered), guitar, mandolin, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, upright bass, Dobro(r), and other early instruments brought over by settlers in the eastern mountains of America who were mostly from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Germany and France.

     The County Line jammers we saw on this particular gorgeous fall Sunday afternoon were:  Lee Cagle, Leanna First-Arai, Marshall and Judy Brown, Mary Baddour, Terrie Brown, Nancy Brannon, Karl/Donna/Valerie Gray, and Louis Hayden. We arrived late, so we may have missed some musicians who were there earlier. We had no idea that there was no handicap/disabled access to the porch, so we set up the chair on the grounds around the store and aimed the camera high.

     The County Line Jam meets more frequently than twice a year. They meet at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 106 Walnut Street, Collierville, TN. Hours are monthly second Sundays 2:00-4:00p CT. Next St. Andrew's jams are November 11, 2018 and December 9, 2018.

     We shall show you some pictures from that event where casual onlookers stopped and even sat down to listen for a while. Thanks to Lee Cagle for her assistance with the photography. Lee is "all things dulcimer" around these parts. Contact her for instruments, instruction, or other dulcimer-related events: lee@leecagledulcimers.com or on the web at www.leecagledulcimers.com