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Saturday, October 11, 2008
  
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Hey Jammers, I've rolled the 3rd Monday Jam site into The Pick
to make things easier to manage. Hope you like some of the new features!
- Dave
Welcome to The Pick... A resource for bluegrass and acoustic-based music in San Francisco

The Mission

The Pick gets people together into small ensembles, PickUp Bands, that not only bring out the existing strengths of the members but challenge them to develop and hone new skills.

Enhanced by an environment where each person is focused on making the others sound their best, the result can be a situation where "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" and everyone can feel good about the results.

How it Works
  • PickUp Bands with 3-6 members of similar levels and interests and a good instrumental composition are formed

  • Members meet once a week for 6 weeks along with a band coach who will help with arrangements, band dynamics, harmonies, and material selection

  • At the end of the session, each PickUp Band will perform a short opening set on a Bluegrass Monday at Amnesia

  • Private and Small Groups sessions on Bluegrass Harmony Singing are also available

Upcoming Events:
10/13/2008McGrath's Jam
10/16/2008Marin Jam
10/20/20083rd Monday Jam
10/20/2008McGrath's Jam
10/20/2008Homespun Rowdy @ Amnesia
10/27/2008McGrath's Jam
full calendar

Some tips on where to start if you want to improvise
There are definitely some tricks for coming up with a solo on the fly for a song you've never heard before. Of course, in bluegrass or old-time, how different can it really be, right!? (more)
Posted Wed, Oct 8, 2008 by David
Pick Lessons

PickUp Band Showcase September 15th, 2008 - "The Grass Grabbers"
Another great night at Amnesia as PickUp Band "The Grass Grabbers" made their debut after a lot of hard work. Remember, these 5 pickers were strangers 6 sessions ago but really came together as a band and had a great time. Check out the video of the show!
(more)
Posted Wed, Sep 24, 2008 by David
Pick News, PickUp Bands

Listen to Dave on the Bluegrass Signal segment from 7/19
I had a great time on Peter Thompson's Bluegrass Signal show on KALW. I played a couple live Homespun Rowdy songs from our show with Kathy Kallick at McGraths, a couple songs from the first PickUp Band Showcase, one from the Folkslayers, and my song that was played on the Today Show. (more)
Posted Tue, Jul 22, 2008 by David
Pick News


Next jam is Oct 20 at 6:30 pm at Amnesia.
Get more info



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