As summer continued to wind down the local Great Plains Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association celebrated its 40th. Sunday the 11th a number of folks gathered at Venelyst Park off North 30th in Omaha for a great open mic hour or so, followed by a show presented by the Dirty River Ramblers. I for one didn’t even know that park was there and was pleasantly surprised to find a hidden little park with a nice building for the music events and plenty of open outdoor space for jamming.
One of the open mic groups were The Kopsas, who have recorded a couple of CDs at Tesco Productions. They were a few members short of their full family talents usually heard, but it was enjoyed anyway and I got to catch up with the family a bit as well.
The GPBOTMA is dedicated to keeping Bluegrass and Old-Time music going, and they do that by meeting the first Sunday afternoon each month (during the non-summer months) at the American Legion Hall #1, 7811 Davenport St. in Omaha at 2:00 pm. There’s a concert for an hour and then multiple jam sessions play for another 2 hours or more. The jams are open to players/singers of all skill levels and everyone that has any desire is invited to jump right in. There are sometimes jams dedicated specifically to a particular instrument for those in the earlier learning levels. You can become a member for $20.00 a year and this opens the Sunday event to you for $3.00 admission, otherwise it’s $5.00 for the general public. There’s free parking and various food/drink offerings from the Legion and certain times of the year the club brings in food as well. It’s well worth investing your time and resources into, and a great place to learn and stay in touch with other musicians and patrons of this musical genre. Here’s more info on the club. http://gpbotma.homestead.com/

Roger and Maria Petersen dropped by shortly after they had spent multiple days at the National Traditional Country Music Association annual festival in Le Mars, IA. Besides bringing me some pictures of the event we realized Maria had never signed the Tesco Productions “Wall of Fame” back when she recorded her three zither and zither/vocal CDs in 2010. I guess in the many recording and mixing sessions we never got around to having her signature added to the dozens and dozens of others that have found their way to the walls and hall of signings. Yes, there’s actually two walls being memorialized now since the first one filled up and the hall is pretty full as well. It’s quite a journey to look over those signatures – remembering projects, people, friendships, and yes the loss of some of those friends who have now passed away. Anyway, Maria has now officially joined her hand along with many others. The text is in her native language of German and she interpreted it for me afterward. My best memory is that “she wished me happy and successful trails through life”. Thank you – there’s been many of those.

This month brings a close to most outdoor (and their associated indoor) performances that included the annual National Traditional Country Music Association festival in Le Mars, IA. Appearing this year were multiple clients in individual stage events and also as a newly-formed group.
Maria Petersen was there with her zither playing on various stages including the Outdoor Church and accompanied by Jeff Osthus on his bowed saw. Maria often conducts a workshop on the zither instrument and found a very eager young student who “helped” Maria play a song – much to the delight of her great grandmother. Later in the week Maria was also encouraged to enter the miscellaneous competition and was handed first prize with its evening slot on the main stage. Congratulations!
Rayne Magill was found on a number of stages throughout the week both playing solo and as a member of the new four-some (Plum Tuckered), two of which are also past clients of Tesco Productions. The additional two members that have been here include John O’Brien (Papio Creek) and Don Knudsen (Roundhouse Band). Rayne plays a variety of old country and folk favorites as well as a large selection of her own songs.
It’s always fun to catch up with current and past studio performers and hear them live as well, which is where their talents and hearts shine warmly.