One of the best things about living in Indiana’s Music City is the sheer diversity of music styles available to the avid music fan. We had world-class bluegrass a couple weeks ago at Red Bicycle Hall, we have classic rock and country literally every weekend at the clubs and venues, and this past weekend we went out and sampled some honky-tonk at Thomas Family, some jazz and Taylor Swift covers at Vintage Lanes, plus a band playing 80’s hairband favorites at Rivertown Grill. Oh, and there is an EDM (electronic dance music) show coming up April 25th at the Ohio Theater, more on that in a future column here.
But what I want to talk about this week is another April 25th show, happening just up the road in Lamb, about half way to Vevay along the river. My old bicycle riding buddy Tommy Wingham is teaming up with Mike Barnes, pastor at the Union Baptist Church in Lamb, for the first annual Lamb Jam, Music Festival & Cookout. It’s free (including the food!) and it runs from 1:00 to 6:00 pm on Saturday, April 25.
“The idea for this event came out of a conversation I had with Joel Storm,” relates Tommy. “He said, You know, with everything going on in the world today, the division and loss of a sense of community … maybe it’s time for people to get back together like they did in the old days, just having fun and sharing food and playing music.
“You think about the barn dances and celebrations people used to have, before cell phones and Netflix and all the rest. People set aside their differences and laughed and danced and remembered what binds us all together. That’s the essence of what we want to get going again with this event.”
Mike Barnes chimes in, “The response we are getting from area musicians has been amazing. The Vaguely Familiar guys signed right up, Deano Crafton, we have a bluegrass band from Kentucky. Daryl Hewitt said he’d come and play. Anthony Ray Wright. Me and Tommy, Ronnie Green and Chuck Barnes. There will be bluegrass, country, Southern rock, old time gospel and who knows what else.”
“But it’s Lamb JAM, remember,” says Tommy. “The Jam part means everyone is encouraged to bring their instrument or their voice and join the fun. We want to see lots of singing along, lots of extended instrumental jams just getting into the flow of the music.
“We’re gonna be grilling hot dogs and we’ll have some sides to go with, and everyone is free to partake as long as it lasts. We’re calling this the First Annual event for a reason. We hope this kind of community based musical get-together catches on and becomes the first of many more to come.”
Mike adds, “Union Baptist Church is at 411 Ashland Cove Lane in Lamb, which is not too hard to find, as there are only about 10 buildings in Lamb these days. The town is 12 miles from Madison and about 8 miles from Vevay, so pretty much right in the middle. We’ll be kicking off about 1:00 and then we’ll see how it goes, probably until about 6. Come out and join the fun, it should be a real throw-back to rural get-togethers.”
HOT TIP OF THE WEEK
Last weekend my wife and I went out for just 1 hour, from 8pm to 9, and enjoyed a sampling of 5 different music styles, all within walking distance in downtown Madison. We saw classic rock, honky-tonk, southern rock, alt-country and a duo performing Taylor Swift hits. We left some dough in the tip buckets, had a drink, and then scooted on to the next venue. There were 3 more bands starting at 9pm at 3 more bars, so we could have sampled EIGHT, but we had to get back to watch the Purdue-Duke game. But the point is … well, you get the point. If you are looking for a fun evening with lots of live music, it’s happening every weekend in Indiana’s Music City, including this weekend. Just look at the calendar below and decide where to start!
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