Submitted by Tommy Thompson:One of the definitions in Webster’s Dictionary for the word
passion is: "intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction".
On Tuesday nights since the fall of '09 an ad hoc group of eclectic souls have been meeting in the back room of Docs on Tybee, for the pure enjoyment of making music. This is known as the Acoustic Jam @ Docs and the only rules are acoustic instruments only, be respectful of others instruments and no talking during the playing.
Roy Swindelle, house musician at Docs, organized and moderates the music jam, but the idea was originally suggested to Roy by Ian Parmee. Ian enjoyed playing in music jams at pubs in his native England and was looking for a place to play on Tybee, where he now spends parts of each year.
A core group including Roy, his talented wife Martha, Ian, Jim Simmons, "Conga Dave" Reece and two or three others, has now successfully grown into a weekly group of about fifteen or so. Not everyone can make it each week, but the group keeps attracting new members to fill in. Recently a couple from Chicago, that had brought their instruments with them on vacation, joined in.
Roy and Martha have been married and making music together for over thirty years. As professional musicians they traveled for years with bands, but for the last thirteen years have been mainly entertaining on Tybee, with the last six as the house band for Docs.
Roy would be the first to say that the jam is not about him and in fact enjoys blending in with the others, instead of being on stage. One of the aspects he enjoys most is the opportunity for him, Martha and others to play instruments that they don't use professionally and try out new techniques. He also enjoys the camaraderie of playing with other musicians, in this ad hoc fashion, without the tension that sometimes exists among band members. Having taught music for many years, Roy enjoys sharing his love of music and helping others learn the basics and/or something new.
So, as he writes in the "craigslist" advertisement for the Tuesday Night Acoustic Jam (see link to ad below);
“Do you play guitar, violin, saxophone, flute, hand drums, accordion spoons or any other acoustic instrument come on out to Docs on Tuesday nights @7:00.”, “Are you just learning to play an instrument ? We are here to help you along.”, “This is not performing in front of a crowd; this is playing with people who enjoy music.” Also, to accommodate guitar players that don’t have their instrument with them on Tybee, Roy brings along his "spare guitar" for their use.
The musical performing business is very competitive, not only among solo performers and bands, but from DJ’s and Karaoke. When working as a fulltime musician, making music is your job. To do a good job the solo performer or band has to read the crowd and play the music that will entertain them and hold their attention.
So why would Roy, someone that works in the music biz using high-tech electronic midi-technology, choose to spend a free night hosting an acoustic music jam? Initially he approached it as a way to generate some business at Docs, on a typically slow weekday-off-season night, but the more compelling reason is he just loves to play….he has a
passion for making music!
Link to craigslist ad: (
http://savannah.craigslist.org/muc/1612560199.html)
Tommy Thompson a writer and photographer, lives on Tybee Island.
