Event Calendar

The Old Time Music Jam is a monthly gathering of acoustic musicians who play traditional Appalachian fiddle music. Bring your own meal and join in or listen in on an informal jam session. Musicians of all levels are welcome. Come to play or just to listen, bring your family and friends, and enjoy the community music can create!

"Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of old-time music are in the traditional musics of the British Isles and Europe. African influences are notably found in instruments such as the banjo. In some regions French and German sources are also prominent. While many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of North American origin.

Old-time music represents perhaps the oldest form of North American traditional music other than Native American music, and thus the term "old-time" is an appropriate one.

Fiddlin' John Carson made some of the first commercial recordings of traditional American country music for the Okeh label in 1923. The recordings became hits. Okeh, which had previously coined the terms "hillbilly music" to describe Appalachian and Southern fiddle-based and religious music and "race recording" to describe the music of African American recording artists, began using "old-time music" as a term to describe the music made by artists of Carson's style. The term thus originated as a euphemism, but proved a suitable replacement for other terms that were considered disparaging by many inhabitants of these regions. It remains the term preferred by performers and listeners of the music. It is sometimes referred to as "old-timey" or "mountain music" by long-time practitioners."