Old Time Jam at the Oakley Farm and Museum

All Old-Time musicians are invited to an open jam session.

Oakley Farm and Museum
189 Wemrock Rd
Freehold, NJ 07728


 contact charlespearlman@hotmail.com 

We meet on the first Tuesday of the month starting on February 1st 2022. Start time is 7:30 pm and we usually end around 9:30 pm. 

The last jam for 2021 will be: 12/14
The bathrooms in the house are available. And we can jam inside when the weather is inclement

If the state of New Jersey/Freehold Township implements a mask mandate, we will have to follow it. Right now there is not one. We would like to stay outside as long as possible, or in the barn. When it get’s colder, we’ll be in the house.

In addition, we would appreciate it if you do NOT attend if you aren’t feeling well or if you have not been vaccinated. Thanks for your consideration.

Please Note that this jam is for old time tunes only – No bluegrass, no country, no Glendale train, no wagon wheel, etc. We all play the tunes together and we don’t take breaks as they do in bluegrass. And only acoustic old time instruments are acceptable: fiddle, bass, guitar, mandolin, open back banjos (no resonator banjos) – no plug ins, no harmonicas, only certain (quiet) squeezeboxes.

We pretty much stick to old time fiddle tunes with the occasional song or two or three. For those not familiar with the Old Time style of jamming, here are a few of the main points

  • We all play the tune together all the way through
  • Unlike bluegrass and other forms, there are no solos
  • We usually stay in one key for a while. Banjo’s and Fiddles re-tune for each key
  • Unlike Irish and other forms, we play each tune through many times rather than switch after 2 or 3 times through. This usually amounts to a tune lasting 3 or 4 minutes.
  • We rarely do medleys, but this does happen.
  • Some tunes are crooked. Meaning that the A or B parts or both parts may have have extra beats, or missing beats. 

Any questions please contact us here

7 thoughts on “Old Time Jam at the Oakley Farm and Museum

  1. Do you have the music available for the tunes you have deemed appropriate. I belong to several different groups, but I think that much of my collection does not fit your standards.

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