Folksy voices slowly seep out of the walls of Sir Benedict's Tavern on the Lake, coaxing patrons, and seemingly, the big orange moon to come closer.
It's Wednesday, which means it's Bluegrass Night, a tradition that started more than 30 years ago with four players and has since turned into a 20 person jam session. Though the numbers have grown, the music and the spirit of the place has always remained the same. Sir Ben's is located at 805 E. Superior Street.
"It's a generational thing," said Ted Heinonen, who helped found the group. "The kids of the people in this group are now sitting in on the sessions."
Musicians sit in a large circle, instrument to instrument, passing out lyric sheets and calling out chords. There are old photos on the wall, images of a much younger group of jammers. Mark Jukich points to one picture and jokes about how he used to have hair.
Reminiscent of an English pub, people in the bar hold glasses of ale and sing along to the music, throwing in a harmony or two whether they know the words or not.
ADVERTISEMENT
It's this spirit of openness and participation that has kept the informal jam session a "must-do" for so many years. "It's an open door," Heinonen said. Professional musicians sit next to people who have just picked up their first three chords -- Mel Sando, who plays the upright bass, said he learned how to play by hanging out at Sir Ben's, and now he's the lead bass man.
Songwriters also come down and try out their tunes. "This is a great public service," mandolin player Scott Wolff said of Sir Ben's.
And it's not just for the players. Many of those in the audience, to use the term loosely, can request songs, sing a solo or just sit close enough that they are swallowed by the music. Many of these onlookers are regulars, but Sir Ben's employee Chuck Janovick said the whole thing is so inviting that new people show up all the time. {IMG2}
"The audience is so diverse. Families and couples and college kids all come down to hear the music," he said.
Dick Robison has been enjoying the jam for 15 years now. It's what he calls "good, clean fun." Though Robison doesn't play, he owns a banjo, which he lends to musicians who want to sit in.
Starting around 8 p.m., the session goes until the bartenders kick them out. Players come and go as they please, and as a result the tone of the music changes every hour. Around 9 p.m., many of the more traditional bluegrass pickers head home and a wave of folksier people come in to play some Bob Dylan and John Prine.
And though the tunes they play are always much loved classics, it never seems boring or reused. The people in the group are constantly swapping instruments, trying their banjo hand at the bass, or getting up the courage to lead the group in a song.
The bartenders are starting to wipe down the tables and many of the patrons have turned in for the night, but like an unstoppable force, acoustic chords continue to float in the night air across the street and evaporate somewhere over Lake Superior.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sir Ben's bluegrass jam takes place every Wednesday, the Celtic jam takes place every Thursday and Monday is open mic night. Those who wish to participate should grab a guitar and head on down, or call 728-1192.
