2013 Roadrunnerstringjam is coming soon!

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Hi Friends of the Roadrunner. 2013 dates are May 1-5. Wed thru Sunday. This year has a very special dedication for our dear friend Cliff Potter. He passed away from a long illness in late Jan of this year. We will miss him very much indeed. We will have a special tribute to him this year so be looking for it.

You should be receiving my update emails for this year. We will be having volunteer work days each weekend in April. Please come and give a hand if you can. Some notice would be great if you can give us a heads up you plan to come by. BBQ and jamming will be happening those weekends too. Love to see you here. Any info you may need is posted somewhere on this website so look around and read about us and any questions you have send an email and ask..One small change we will have for the special Wed free dinner we give out to all the musicians who come early on Wed for the fest and stay for the duration. Tanya's Homemade Posole will be the meal with Tortillas from the Spic in town. By the way, if you have any suggestions for new ideas please send them along..

Thanks so much, Geo and Tanya

Roadrunner Stringjam News for March 1st 2011

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How do you like our new Roadrunner Stringjam website. I hope it is easier to get the info you need. You will probably find your own photo in here somewhere if you have been with us over the past few years at one or our gatherings (click on the "Photos" page to view the galleries). Our friends who set up the site for us put photos in at random and chose some nice ones. We have been waiting on this new site to upload more photos and video clips of last year so keep and eye out for those. If you have old photos you would like to add to our collection please email them to Geo at/ georgef444@gmail.com       More coming soon…..

Well everyone, Spring is just around the corner! I know some of you are saying,

“ it is about time”. We had some really cold days here this winter. We are now getting some nice warm days in the mid 60’s here in northern New Mexico. I just heard from friends who live along the Columbia river gorge in the Northwest and it is still snowing up there. For them spring is a distant thought.

                                  Spring around here means camping and music! 

               The 5th annual Roadrunner Stringjam is May 4th-8th so mark your calendars. 

We are going to have some great additions. 2 more enclosed structures for gathering similar to our large music space.  We are replacing our plastic tarp canopies with a couple of new heated music structures that will also double as dining spaces too. We plan to have the Sunday morning gospel set for those who want to bring a tune and join in. Our annual potluck will still be Thursday, Friday, and Sat nights. Keep looking here on our blog for menu info. We may change it up a bit this year. In past years we have spanish one night, italian one night, and burgers and brats one night. 

                                                 For this year we are adding Steak night! No lie.

A few folks always make it early for jamming on Wed each year but usually just a few. So we added a special bonus for you to keep in mind for those players who may come early on Wednesday. Geo will be doing a free steak  BBQ on Wed night for those who make it for the early part of the week. You all need a break from work after the long winter some come and join us early for a steak and music. BYOB and the rest is on Geo.

That’s it for now. More to come each week.

Website finally finished enough to start up!!! March 8th 2011

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Website finished in time to send out mailings ,,,, yey!!!

Thanks to our friends Chad and Meagen we have our new site started up. All the photos are from years past and are set up randomly so check them out and if you have a few to contribute send them to Geo via email. Really excited about getting away from myspace because folks had a hard time finding things and understanding how to get around the site for info. This one is much simpler.

We found out it did not have a regular music player to add typical itunes songs or music to. So we came up with the idea of allowing all of the players we know send in mp3s to have added to the site. If we forgot about you please forgive me and send your mp3s to geo attached to an email. Love to have them. You all know what our typical potluck meals are like. If you have any suggestions for a different meal to consider or any changes you would like to see just send an email. Although weather is never easy to read, this year should be warmer for a few obvious reasons and we are looking forward to that.

Hope to see all of you here this year.  Geo

Looking Back to 2010

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2010 - A look back. 2010 was a special year that brought new friends to our Stringjam for the first time. Art, Linda,Peter, Erica, Gary, Christine and John all came up from Alb NM. All great folks and better players. We had our first hammered dulcimer and clarinet added to the sound.. Fantastic! Christine did a workshop for guitar Sat afternoon for intermediate players. Will Evans and Ric Albertson came down from Colorado Springs for their first Stringjam. Don and Pat were celebrating their 10th anniversary at the plaza hotel during our festival but got over here to join us for dinners and some tunes. There brought their good friend Victoria down from the Springs to stay for a few days with us.  Tom's sister Kate came out from Wash DC and stayed for the final 3 days. Lydia came to connect again with Emily and share what she had learned on mandolin so far in her lessons.. Bill Dollar came from Pendaries to join us a couple of afternoons and an old friend from childhood days of Tom and Kate's dropped in on Sat with his guitar and lady friend who knew all of our friends and kids.. Sunday morning brought a new touch to our gathering. Nate, Art, Rick, Michael, Will, Pat, and Jim did a one hour old time gospel session and it was wonderful. While the music was playing in the yard Cliff, Chris and others were cooking chow..2010 was a great year for our Roadrunner Stringjam. Each year we miss a few folks who get tied up with other things and new folks join in. It makes it so unique and fun. Can't wait to see what 2011 brings. Love to hear some stories from you too.. Geo

Food, food and food info.. campsite map below food info!!!!!!!!!

Posted on 06/11/2015 02:53PM | 1 Comment(s)

The 2015 Roadrunner Stringjam is just around the corner friends. ( this blog was from 2013 and our Pot luck menu is still the same since it has worked so well)  Lots of folks have been asking questions about food. They do every year. You do realize that we have already answered many of your questions on the FAQ page on this site. Please check it out after you read this. Food is one of the questions on that page..But, we will go into it here for more detail just in case your question is not answered on that page. For 2015 Wed free meal, Tanya's homemade Posole with Pork and Green chili is the meal. ( also meatless for you veggie folks) Served with Tortillas from Charlies Spic and Span in Las Vegas. We have had a great response to the Free Wed Dinner offer and we hope to have a good group showing up Wed to start things off. Just to clarify the requirements for your free dinner I will explain for those who are not quite sure what you have to do. Any musician and their spouse who comes for the  opening on Wed, and joins in the music Wed evening, and stays for the festival, will get a dinner on us..Our goal is to get the music going Wed afternoon and evening. We did the dinner in 2012, 2013, 2014,  even though most did not show up until evening.  Get here early if you plan to eat with us!  We will have someone take and early count and plan that way. Dinner is at 5 pm Wed. Love to get an early start. 

Not a musician. Well for a small fee you can join us too. What is a dinner worth? MAYBE YOU CAN PROVIDE REFRESHMENTS!   We all love refreshments!

OUR FRIDGE IS now working but,,,, MAKE SURE YOU BRING COOLERS AND ICE THIS YEAR.. WE have a small backup freezer to keep bulk stuff or your favorite pre cooked meal for the pot luck frozen for an extra day or two..... THANKS,, GEO

Since food is important,  lets talk about it. You are responsible for all of your own food and drinks. But let me mention one thing to folks who may come solo or from out of town on their own ... There is always plenty and we all share real well..To make things easy we have a fairly decent kitchen set up under the patio for everyone to share if they do not want to bring all their camp cook wear and just bring some basics. They can cook in their own campsite for easy stuff and use our kitchen outside for other meals.  Each morning several folks gather to share coffee, tea,  or other drinks and some actually eat. Some folks like to eat at their campsite and some bring their food over to share a breakfast at the common kitchen area. It is different each meal. Lunch is kind of the same. Some folks leave their coolers at the kitchen area and some don't. For the pot lucks Thur, Fri, Sat, each person contributes something. Most bring their favorite dish and breads, salads and so on. Most folks bring some extra to share as well as extra drinks. Beer, wine, teas, juices. ( our water is from our well and is filtered and great to drink so you don't really need to bring bottled water)

WED IS THE POSOLE MEAL FOR EARLY BIRDS.. PROVIDED BY TANYA AND GEO.. BYOB....

Thursday we do a pot luck BBQ of Brats, Burgers, pot salad, salads, chips, deserts.. Get creative and surprise us..On the pot luck meals we ask folks to pre make dishes so it is easier to set up at meal time. There is no real oven available unless it is an emergency so plan ahead!

Friday is Spanish food night and every kind you can imagine is usually available. Tamales, chili, fajitas, rice, beans, and if we are lucky someone brings flan! Bring your favorite dish.

Sat night is Italian night. Spagetti, pasta dishes of all kinds, sausages, meatballs, eggplant,cheese, olives, brushetta, breads, salads and different deserts. And wine. Oh and did I mention wine? Bring extra to share. You gettin the idea yet. Most bring the same food they would bring to a gourmet campout and then some. If you really have to have something, town is 10 minutes away. Someone usually goes in often enough to get ice and more wine! yeh! And I heard there are sometimes a few Birthdays that may be celebrated Sat Night. Yummy cake and ice cream!

The larger new music room is going to be used for dining if it gets cold and will be open for eating 7:30 am -9:30 am and for dinner 5:30-7pm.. The rest of the time it is for music jams.

Camping is the other thing I should mention.  New campsite map THANKS TO RICK AND DON KALLAUS !!  We have had lots of folks get their sites reserved where they have been in past years and several new folks have already lined up their spots. We like to close the driveway going down close to the music by Friday am so come early and contact Geo to get a spot to your liking set aside for you. You can click on this map below and copy paste, or save it and then print it so it is easier to view if you like. If you have not been here before and need some help understanding the terraine just email Geo and he will help you. HE MAY ASK YOU TO CALL HIM FOR CLARIFICATION......By the way we do have room now for RVs and vehicles pulling camping trailers up to 30ft most likely... 

FYI, We have a couple of new camp spots coming up on the new edited map for 2014. Shady Grove is down near the large music room below Pastures of Plenty, Cold Frosty Morning is just below that one.. And up near Liberty we have another called Blue Ridge Cabin Home..and if you pay close attention you will notice a new pathway from Shady Grove up to the parking area that is lit up at night and has jam spot number 4, a small intimate outside sitting area with a view.. check it out...

 We can help you get your gear down to where you need it if you do get here late and cannot take your vehicle down below, Or we have some nice spots up above also.. If you need your car out where you can leave on emergency that option is available. Just camp up above. Some folks will come early to help set up on the weekends in April when we will have a bbq, work day and jam. Let us know if you can help and join us.  The new heated music rooms are all ready and will be set up again this year. You will like them!  They allow us to pick all night long!

2011 Stringjam was a Great year! Best ever!

Posted on 06/11/2015 02:53PM | 3 Comment(s)

 (  For those of you who attended this year, we would love to hear your comments. You can post a comment or hear what others had to say about the 2011 Stringjam at the bottom of this blog page. Click on the link that says comments on the bottom right and give us your feedback )

The weather was incredible! Lots of warm sunny mornings and evenings.

Didn't need to use our new room for a dining hall once during the evenings due to the great weather.

We dined and played music inside and outside each night all week long. Music during dinner is sweet. Below Scott, Carl, Marilyn provide some great stuff for the dinner hour. Other players enjoyed the outside jams too.

The food was great as usual. Everyone contributed something to the pot luck meals and there was plenty to share. Even had some great vegitarian dishes.

 The music was exceptional. Many new players joined us this year.

We used all three rooms each evening and Rolf came up with some names for the new music spaces.Gospel music Sunday morning in the small room in the photos below. Front wall comes out for the open feel. He had a special name for this one for night jams...

The new small room he calls the " therapy room" probably because you can get really close and intimate in there. Kind of has a living room feel. The larger room of the 2 new ones we set up this year he called the " experimental room". Lots of great stuff going on in there. Here Art and Michael take a minute to work on some of their tunes in the " experimental room".  Note the vintage Telluride posters donated by Don K for some backdrop in the new rooms.

Of course the main room is still special as seen below with Nate and Kevin leading a tune......and in the two following shots you can see Sarah having a quiet mid afternoon moment with her guitar during a break in the music.

A couple of the nights folks switched off between rooms a few times to create some really interesting and sweet music. The younger musicians played a part too.

I think all the rooms were going unitl 2 am each night and on Friday we heard several players went until 4:30 am. Emily doesn't sleep you know.

New friends and old ones came from Colorado and Santa Fe and Albuquerque and Denver.

Charlie and Rolf shared more than their tunes and tales. Below Rolf Dave and Tom join others in a few songs.

Don came all the way from the Gallup area to join us. Got Cliff playing his banjo in the background on several tunes.

  Emily snuck away from school long enough to bless us all for 2 days.

Lots of singing this year made it that much sweeter. Jim and Pat came down from the Boulder area and Jim brought an illegal instrument from NASA to play on Friday night. Don't know what's in that case Jim. Do I want to know?

He brought some great treats too, like some awesome red chili.....

Evan officially joined our cleanup crew, or I should say ran it for us.

His sister Gwen found out that a violin is really a fiddle with a fur coat and a tuxedo, fully capable of some great music in the right hands when you put a pair of jeans and a tee shirt on it. Keep an eye out for her video coming soon to our video page.

So many new sounds this year.

Ben and Diane came with their cello and dulcimer. Don Grieser came with his mandolins, and Kevin came with his songs and guitar. Michael and Donna brought all their many instruments and songs, and a new friend Aaron to play some great fiddle.

 Jan brought her banjo and Corrine brought her upright bass. Tony brought mandos and guitars.

Diane and John Gibbs brought their many talents to make some great music Friday night in the " experimental room" with friends from all over.

  Rick had his new HIlburn to share and we even had a few tunes played on 4 Hilburn A models at once.

Wed and Thursday nights we usually have a half dozen players but this year we had at least 15 with some acoustical blues joining us from the Las Vegas boys who showed up. The steak dinner wasn't bad either on Wed night......garlic mash taters, salad, mmmmmmm.

  That's me and Tom cookin up the steaks for Wed night and talkin about a mandolin tune.

Don Kallaus had a great slide show to share after dinner on Sat night about the old days at Telluride fest in Colorado in the big room. ( Even brought out the big screen tv for that one.)

 Oh, and we had birthday cake too! That was provided from my dear neice Emilee Tinker who came down from Denver with my Nephew Mike. Here is her beautiful cake and here she is with Tom at the outdoor kitchen area helping out..

 And,,,,,,, Nic my Son came all the way from the Tucson Az area to give me my Birthday bottle of Irish nectar. For the old man you know. He picked up a guitar a few times too!

Another special treat was having Lena my Grandaughter come out from Portland Oregon to visit with her Mom Sarah who played a few tunes on guitar for us each night.

My old pal Cliff made it down from CO Springs even with some heavy trials going on in his family's life right now..His presence and his banjo blessed us all.

That be a big guitar!!!!!

  Locals Dave and Christina and their kids Issac and Maya came and camped out for their first year with some great tunes, and Carmen and Emma joined the other kids to annoint the hot tub on Wed night. Here they are with Scott on a walk to their campsite.

 There is so much I must be forgetting. Many others joined us too. Steve

brought his harmonicas, Nate traveled down from Taos to sing and play. Here he is recording a tune with a bunch of the group in the large room......Bill, Kevin, Art, Jan, Corrine, Jim and others.

 Christine came up with her friend from Alb. I need pics of you Christine....Who am I leaving out?  I have a lot more to share and some great photos and videos that will be on the video and photo page, so keep looking here on the site and I'll eventually get all of you in here. Please send photos if you have some and we will post them. And thank you all who donated to the Whiskey fund for the Roadrunner Stringjam account. Tanya and I want to thank all of you who came and made great music and great food and fellowship.......See you next year!  2012 Roadrunner Stringjam dates are: May 2-6 Wed thru Sunday! See you next year. Mark your calendars before you forget!!!!

We would appreciate your comments. If you attended or not you can comment on this blog or the jam itself by clicking the small link that says " comment" below here on the right side and you can say a few words.. thanks, geo

Geo and Tanya          ok, don't forget to give us your imput ! click the small comment link>>>

April 16th 2012 / The 2012 Stringjam is almost here !!!

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Is Everyone ready for Spring weather camping and some great music???

Well the 2012 Stringjam is here in a few short weeks. We will be having a volunteer work weekend, bbq, and jam Friday April 20th and Sat April 21st.. Come join us if you can. Contact Geo for details on what we will be doing. The 2012 Roadrunnerstringjam starts Wed May 2nd and goes thru the weekend to May 6th. We have answered many of your questions on our FAQ page of this website. Go check it out the link is at the top of this page over there on the right side. FAQ.  For more details on food and camping you can scroll down this blog page. Camping news!! We have a brand new campsite map done by Rick and Geo and you can use it to request a reserved camp spot. It is a printable pdf file so ask Geo to email you one if you do not already have one. We hope to soon have it posted here on the site. This year is dedicated to the 100 year Centennial Celebration to Woody Guthrie. His words, music and his influence on all Americana music. Tribute concerts are going on all over the country this year in his honor.. Learn a couple of his tunes if you don't already know some.. See you soon, Geo

Food? Food? You got Food Questions? Scroll down and you will find out about Food..

2012 Was a huge success!!! Lots of sunshine and new players

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Photos and videos will soon be on the blog for this year's 2012 Roadrunnerstringjam but for now go to youtube on the web and check out the videos we took. Just search for roadrunnerstringjam and it will get you to our page and a list of our new videos from 2012. There are a bunch. So look hard because they are all there.

2012  was all about weather and new faces. Great weather. Great great weather!!!! The most amazing sunny pleasent days we have ever experienced here at the Stringjam. Biggest Full Moon of the Year Sat night. Video of the moon rising is on our youtube site. And several new players who are now our friends, and fellow Roadrunnerstringjam players. Great folks from everywhere. Albuquerque to Colorado. Taos to Texas. Portland to Oklahoma. Friends 2012 Roadrunner Stringjam and our Woody Guthrie Centennial tribute year was beyond our expectations. Lots of folks emailing us with unexpected delays in their arrival times. All kinds of stuff happened. Even an " I ran out of gas" story happened. It started a bit slow on Wed with only a dozen at our steak dinner but blossomed into our best year so far. For our friends who could not get here to join us we thought of you and missed you dearly. We pray we will see you next year. By the way, 2013 dates are set. May 1-5 . Seems we say that each year is the best,  but the weather could not have been better with lots of music being played outside all day long putting an exclamation on this years gathering. Not to mention many folks played to 2:30 or 3 am or later in the mornings made for some wild sounds in the early am. And Emily Wilson topped it off by driving all the way down Sat night arriving at 2:45 am to jam until 4;30 I was told and beat most of us up on Sunday am to play in the Gospel groups. We counted 45 folks came here this year even though we counted 20 or more from last year missing due to illness, work issues, or other bummers that left some of our best friends staying at home while we celebrated. The Woody Guthrie tribute went over very well with many doing his tunes day and night. Some nights for hours.I think there is even a Who video on the site.. The Who led by a dobro player.. Well it's acoustic and it was a blast. So go check out the videos and come back and check our blog here on the news page of our site soon with all the photos and a recap of 2012 RoadrunnerStringjam.

Just so you know you all made it a really special year. Woody would have been proud.

Geo and Tanya

Looking back on 2012 Roadrunner Stringjam-Scroll down for Photos

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Wow! It was May 15 when we last visited our site to post info and we are just now getting to the photos and the recap of a great 2012 Roadrunner Stringjam. The photos are all at bottom of this blog so go check them out..So let's take a short journey on my blog here and tell you about and all the great folks who came to share with us, and the great music and food we shared. Oh and that other stuff we shared! Well the truth is all the Roadrunners are special. We did our tribute to Woody Guthrie's 100th year this year. I wasn't sure how all the different players would respond but in the end it was wonderful. Many different times throughout the 5 days we did Woody tunes, and for a couple hours each night in one of the rooms there was a tribute of many of his tunes that led into some wonderful jamming. We did some Levon Helm tributes, and some Doc tributes too. Had some jazz tunes, blues tunes, Monroe tunes and everything else that resembles folk and acoutical music. Well I guess when late at night we did The Who led by a dobro player, that might be the exception, but we had a blast. We decided to post our video clips up on our Youtube site. There are a dozen or more. Just go to Youtube with our link here and search Roadrunnerstringjam site for the 2012 videos.. I will try and put one here for fun to start you off. Don't forget to turn off or pause the audio player on bottom or sound will all  jumble together.

www.youtube.com/roadrunnerstringjam

 some of the guys on Sunday am having some fun during some gospel tunes.....

Some fun stuff. And if you have some special photos or videos of 2012 please send them to us via email to post on this website. Just great music, folks, food, and fun, and the weather outside allowed for a lot of jamming in the warm sunshine as the photos show. Although several of our regulars did not make it this year, we had many new friends join us this year as we watch our base of musicians starting to grow. We love seeinng new faces each year and see how it adds to the music, which it always does. I want to thank all of our old friends who are the origianls who helped start the Roadrunnerstringjam.. Having many of you come back this year made it extra special. You are special friends and we hope you continue to put us on your calendars. My Sons were both here to bless us with my Grandson Eli, and my Nephew and Neice have been faithful to make the trip down from Denver each year. Players, keep on telling your special friends and musicians you would like to invite, bring them with you next year, and it should continue to get even better as we go forward. I cannot wait to see what happens next year and the years after.  So pour yourself a glass of something you really enjoy while you walk thru the photo gallery, find a memory or special friend you met this year, remember how special a time it was, and come join us in 2013.     We love you all!  Geo and Tanya

2013 first volunteer set up day is April 5 and 6

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Hi Friends, Volunteers

The first weekend we will be setting up the second largest music room with volunteers from Las Vegas and Alb NM. They of course live the closest but all of you are welcome to join us. We can always use extra hands.....BBQ on Friday evening and music to follow. Plentry of space for you to stay overnight in the guest house and main house for this volunteer get together. Bring some drinks and and join us. We will provide the food and if you want to bring something salads and deserts are best. We have all the tools needed. Cliff would be proud of you.. Geo and Tanya