Boathouse Jams on the Gowanus
About Us
Boathouse Jams on the Gowanus are hosted by the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club to activate our shoreline while fostering the continued resurgence of acoustical collaborations in Brooklyn. We are inclusive of all – young & old, new & seasoned musicians. Just bring a smile and your musical instrument and/or your voice to join our one night makeshift band.
Core Jam Principle to Promote Musical Cohesion and Quality
1. Jam within the genre — whether we are attending the Bluegrass or the Jugband jams, the genre is the common ground that brings us together; the common tunes of the genre are the lingua franca of the community of musicians you are joining. Regardless of our musical abilities, we make a commitment to learn the common tunes of the genre, practice them, and call them at the jam.
2. Welcome all levels — whether you come from long experience with bluegrass or are still learning your instrument, the Boathouse Jam is a diverse community of teachers and learners. Be encouraging. Share with others what you know, and if you have criticism, share it with kindness.
3. Know the common tunes — come prepared with a repertoire of standard tunes within the genre. If you don’t know a tune, it’s fine to sit out or just play quietly in the background rather than distract the group and detract from the music.
4. Make eye contact — keep looking up from your instrument to watch the person leading the tune, to see who’s going to take the next break, and then try to watch people when they’re taking a lead.
5. Call tunes you know well — if you need the aid of a lyric sheet (or phone), it is an indication that you haven’t learned the song sufficiently to bring it before the group. Try to have three well-known bluegrass standards ready to go in comfortable keys you can play, and where you know all the lyrics. Save your original compositions to share at other get-togethers.
6. Let the song-caller lead — the person who calls the song sets the key, tempo, and feel of the song and also calls on soloists. Song-callers: please limit to 5 or 6 soloists, or perhaps one solo per instrument. If you’re too nervous to call soloists, you can ask the jam leader to do it for you.
7. Support the singer and soloist with your rhythm playing — with bass holding down the foundation, guitars boom-chuck, fiddles and mandolins chop; banjos roll, etc.; each instrument plays a vital part.
8. Avoid jam-busters — take account of the skill levels of all the players in the jam. If you want to lead a song that’s unusually fast or complicated, or a fiddle tune that’s rarely heard or played, maybe save it to play it with friends who are ready for the challenge.
9. Listen more than you play — the best jammers are great listeners. Pay attention to what everyone else is doing and play in service of the music, not yourself.
10. Don’t noodle on your instrument between or during songs.
Boathouse Bluegrass Jam
Wednesdays April through October 6:00 – 8:30 PM
Upcoming Schedule
Christian Apuzzo leads most sessions. He is a Brooklyn-based vocalist, guitarist, and music educator. Long Island-raised, this musician started his journey as a certified public school music teacher but has since found the wide-open pastures of the freelance music world in NYC. Playing mostly folk, bluegrass, and country music, Christian plays with numerous groups all over our five boroughs including bluegrass group Cole Quest and the City Pickers and local supergroup the Grass Messengers. He also teaches music lessons and classes for all ages at Jalopy Theatre in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Free but a $10 suggested donation is encouraged, limited beverages are provided.
The Boathouse is located at 165 2nd Street, Brooklyn NY between Bond Street and the Gowanus Canal. Sessions are rain or shine, we gather outside the Boathouse unless it’s cold or raining then we move inside.
Gowanus Jug and String Band Sessions
Tuesdays April through October 6:00 – 8:30 PM
Upcoming Schedule
What is Jug band and String band music?
Let’s start with String band music. Black String band music, which will be our focus, was created by Southern Blacks and pre-dates the Blues & Jazz. Groups which consisted of mostly stringed instruments (guitar, banjo, bass, violin, mandolin, ukulele, etc) performed a wide variety of songs and styles for all manner of social functions and for personal enjoyment; two-steps, waltzes and breakdowns for dances, ballads and love songs, humorous & novelty songs, as well as blues, jazz, and pop tunes as they came into fashion. This genre, sadly, was under-represented by the burgeoning recording industry in the 1920’s and 30’s, which helped contribute to its already declining popularity in the wake of the success of the Blues and Jazz: though groups like the Mississippi Sheiks and the Dallas String Band did make great and popular recordings. The genre never completely died out, however, and is alive and well today thanks to the perseverance of its practitioners and the dedication of its fans, which has led to a rediscovery and a new appreciation by audiences young and old.
Jug band music developed in the early 20th century within Southern Black communities and was essentially a string band with a jug used as a “poor man’s tuba”, in the role of a bass instrument. Other household items as instruments were popular as well; washboard and/or spoons for percussion, washtub bass, and kazoo. These combined with the guitars, banjos, mandolins/violins of the traditional string band, along with the harmonica, made for a unique sound that won the hearts of the public in the early days of the recording industry. The Memphis Jug Band and Cannon’s Jug Stompers recorded well over a hundred examples of blues, ballads, pop and dance numbers – and they’re just the tip of the iceberg. The genre found new life in the Folk Music Revival of the 1960’s and remains popular to this day.
These sessions will be open to Intermediate and above players, and we encourage you to sing along and bring a song to lead. To lead a song, you will be expected to sing it loudly enough for those around you to hear, to know the key you will sing in, and to explain the chord changes and form of the song if need be. We may also discuss some ideas for performing in an ensemble to help everyone find their place in the music.
Papa Ernie Vega is a NYC singer, instrumentalist, bandleader, teacher, songwriter and performing/recording artist. He has over 20 years of professional experience and has performed at the Newport Folk Festival, the Jug Band Jubilee and the Osaka Jug Band Festival. He also taught and performed at the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival from 2016-2021. He is a lover of fine cheap food, old movies, humor, and photography.
Boathouse Bluegrass Jam: Winter Edition
Every other Thursday November through March 6:00 – 8:30 PM
Upcoming Schedule
Keep jamming throughout the winter at the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse. The focus of the winter jam is to work on harder bluegrass tunes in a welcoming group setting. Think tunes that are crooked, go beyond I/IV/V, or are outside the basic standards. Bring your acoustic instrument, bring your jam busters, and be ready to expand your jam comfort zone!
Dress warm! We play inside the Boathouse where the temperature tends to be in the 60s throughout the winter.
