Fiddle fest jams Greenfield, Mass. park

 “You all know the Red Apple Rag?” asked George Ainly, of Springfield, Vt., as he took a worn, brown fiddle and bow from Brattleboro resident Stefan Amidon in the Greenfield Energy Park Saturday afternoon. 

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Fiddle fest jams park George Ainly and Nate Payne play the fiddle with a small group including Stephan Amidon and Rafe Wolman, not shown, during the John Putnam Fiddler's Festival at the Greenfield Energy Park on Saturday. Recorder/Micky Bedell George Ainly and Nate Payne play the fiddle with a small group including Stephan Amidon and Rafe Wolman, not shown, during the John Putnam Fiddler's Festival at the Greenfield Energy Park on Saturday. Recorder/Micky Bedell Purchase photo reprints » George Ainly and Nate Payne play the fiddle with a small group including Stephan Amidon and Rafe Wolman, not shown, during the John Putnam Fiddler's Festival at the Greenfield Energy Park on Saturday. Recorder/Micky BedellFiddles, guitars, banjos and even a standing bass made an appearance at the John Putnam Fiddler's Festival at the Greenfield Energy Park on Saturday. Recorder/Micky Bedell By TOM RELIHAN Recorder Staff Sunday, September 21, 2014 Email Print Comments (0) Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on gmail More Sharing Services 0 GREENFIELD — “You all know the Red Apple Rag?” asked George Ainly, of Springfield, Vt., as he took a worn, brown fiddle and bow from Brattleboro resident Stefan Amidon, who, with an acoustic guitar resting on his lap, sat on the edge of a picnic table in the Greenfield Energy Park Saturday afternoon. “How’s that one go?” replied Nate Paine, also of Brattleboro. Ainly started humming and vocalizing the song’s melody, then began working the bow across the instrument’s strings. The other men watched as Ainly’s fingers jumped across the fretboard, bare feet tapping at the gravel pathway as he played. Once they were confident of the tune, Amidon, Paine and a third fiddler, Rafe Wolman, joined in. As the song progressed, each took their turn performing intricate solos, while Ainly periodically belted out a few lyrics. “Who been here while I been gone? Pretty little girl with a red dress on!” his gruff voice boomed over the music. All four of the musicians had come to the Energy Park on Miles Street to participate in the annual John Putnam Fiddle Festival that is held each year to honor the memory of its namesake, a 19th century Greenfield barber, fiddler and dance caller who helped fugitive slaves escape along the Underground Railroad. Each September, the festival draws local musicians to the park, who bring their guitars, basses, fiddles and other instruments to participate in informal jams with friends and strangers alike. “Goin’ out, guys!” shouted Ainly, signifying that the song was coming to an end. After one last verse and a quick pull of the bow across the higher strings, it was over. As the group launched into another tune, more musicians began filtering into the park with banjo and fiddle cases in hand. “Most of us know each other to some varying degree, because we all play the same music,” Ainly said between songs. “We’re all string band musicians and some I’ve known for 30 years. They’re suburban refugees just like me!” Ainly said newcomers to the old-time folk music community are welcome at the event, and are encouraged to join in. “If you play it like you mean it, and your heart’s in it, you’ll be all right,” he said. Around the corner from the first band, a second jam had sprung up around a stone bench next to the railroad tracks. Jonathan Bekoff and Bob Ness, both on fiddle, were joined by Alex Scala on an upright bass and Wolman, this time picking away at an acoustic guitar, to perform a series of Cajun-style songs as other musicians looked on. David Gordon of Northfield stood a few feet to the side, playing along on with the group on his own fiddle. He said one of the event’s goals is to expose new people to old-time music and encourage them to learn to play. “I’ve watched the interest in old-time fiddling grow. Some of us were all alone 20 years ago. And Jon is one of the very best, he’s known to fiddlers far and wide,” Gordon said. “This music really owned by the people who fiddle it. I like to call it a participatory sport.”