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Introduction
Featured
Jam Sessions:
Anutt
(D&D Little Branson)
Fremont
Gainesville
(Hoerman Park)
Kissee
Mills
(Johnson Community Building)
Long
Beach
(Mtn. Grove School)
Long
Lane
Manes
(Manes
Music Makers)
Mansfield
McClurg
McDowell
Mountain
View (Weaver's)
Souder
Springfield
(North Town Mall)
Strafford
Wasola
(Stone's)
Related
Events:
Opry's:
Webster Co. Opry
Picnics:
Vanzant Picnic
Fiddle
Competitions and Festivals:
Branson Fiddle Contest, Compton Ridge, and Ozarks
Celebration Festival
Dances:
Ava and Ebenezer
Homecomings:
Horsecreek Church
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Johnson Community Building
Near to Kissee Mills, MO
Every Third Saturday of the Month
The jam session began in 1992, largely through the efforts of
Darlene Cole and Olen Tate. The one-room schoolhouse, about
five miles miles east of the nearest town of Kissee Mills, was
an active school from 1901 to 1952. Darlene Cole, who attended
the school as a child, oversees the care of the building with
three other trustees. She believes the jam session is a
good social event where older and newer members of the area can
visit with each other.
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Directions from Springfield: drive 27 miles south
on US-65; turn left onto US-160; drive 17 miles to Kissee Mills;
drive approximately 5 miles further until you see the school
house on the right [See
map]. Photographs are from September 16, 2000.
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The old building served as a school and a church
for many decades. The upkeep of the building is supported
through used clothing sales at the nearby Hilda Store. |
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In 1901 the building was deeded to the community
to be used as school. Although it ceased to be used as a
school in the 1950s, many older community members remember attending
school there. |
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Music includes early country, bluegrass, gospel,
and fiddle music. The musicians sit in a semicircle, and leadership
moves around the semicircle, as with all "true" jam sessions. |
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Most musicians play guitars and sing, but often someone will
bring a mandolin, fiddle, dobro, or even washtub bass. Some
sing from memory, while others prefer to bring word notebooks.
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When it is fiddler Ray Curbo's turn to lead, he usually
chooses an old-time fiddle tune. |
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