For love of country
Just about any Tuesday you can hear a soulful version of Charlie Pride’s All I Have to Offer You is Me or honky-tonk legend George Jones’ chart topper, He Stopped Loving Her Today, echoing from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish hall.
Then it is Tammy Wynette’s Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad or There Goes My Everything. Next up could be a Hank Williams’ number, such as I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry or The Old Country Church, but if a change in tempo is in order, you might hear the opening bars of Hey Good Lookin’.
The parking lot starts to fill up about 6 p.m. and people soon drift in, waiting for the music that runs from 6:30 until 9 p.m. It costs the princely sum of $5 if you have come to listen, but you get in free if you are willing to perform. Admission includes a full lunch.
Welcome to Lourdes Classic Country Music Jam, which runs from January to June and picks up again from September to Christmas. On a cold, clear night in early December the crowd in the good-sized meeting room numbered 90 but the last jam before Christmas brought out 99, with barely enough space for all the guitars.
Standing at the back of the room on one of those nights, organizer Bernie McCarron marvels as regular attendees filter in through the doors.
“It is almost like church, with a lot of people coming every week and sitting in the same seat each time they come,” he laughed.
There is a little irony in his comment because the jam is one of dozens of ways parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes have pulled together to raise capital funds for a church that was slated for closure.
“It’s fantastic, that is all I can say,” said McCarron, as the seats filled up from the front of the room to the back.
A retired power engineer, the Trenton native used to spend his free time hunting and fishing. Now he plays guitar — but not very well, he insists.
“When I retired, I was looking for something to do and I pulled out this guitar I’d had for a while. I did a few online tutorials to see if I could learn something, but I figured I’d eventually be giving it to my two grandsons since they both play. I’m going to hang onto it for a while now.”
He is surprised by how much he has learned, though he says he is “no competition whatsoever” for the many fine musicians who attend regularly.
“I love country music so that’s my motivation, plain and simple. I learn a little and I get to hear a lot of great singers and musicians every week.”
It was after attending a couple of jams in rural Pictou County that McCarron wondered if it might be possible to stage a similar event in Lourdes.
“I could see there was a real interest in the old-time country music and I suspected there might be people who’d be happy to attend a jam in town, rather than drive to Pictou Landing or Durham. Mind you, some people go to all the jams they can get to.”
McCarron said he is lucky to have had a few good people to rely on to get the jams started almost three years ago.
“Darlene Taylor has been wonderful at looking after everything but the music side of things and Ansel Campbell, who is the caretaker of the hall, goes above and beyond to get everything set up for us.”
Taylor, who was chair of the Lourdes capital fundraising committee until recently, organizes the lunch and volunteers for the jams but she gives full credit for the program to McCarron.
“The truth is, when he first came to me with the idea, I rejected it. We’d had to pick and choose which fundraisers were viable and we’d put a lot of work into dinners, bingos and prize draws. A country music jam? I just couldn’t see it.”
But McCarron persisted and eventually had a second meeting with her.
“I still had doubts, but Bernie was so energetic, so enthusiastic and so determined I said we’d give it a try. A parishioner kindly donated a sound system and that got us started. Much to my surprise, the jams have become our most consistently successful fundraising event.”
As MC, McCarron’s job is to welcome everyone and keep the music coming.
“If we have a lot of people who want to play nobody gets too much time but another night with fewer players, they all get more time. They’ve been a pretty easy crowd so far.”
He is particularly thrilled to see musicians such as 89-yearold fiddler Jack Ellis at the jam.
“I remember The Jack Ellis Band from when I was just a kid. He played all the dances and he played in the Western Swing Show in Trenton. Jack is at Glen Haven now but the staff get him over here most Tuesdays and he is still a great musician.”
The jam’s best-known singer to date has been George Canyon but local performer Ray Stewart is another crowd favourite.
“One of the things that makes the jam so enjoyable is the variety of musicians. Walter Fanning is often here, Rita Fitt plays guitar and harmonica, Gerry d’Entremont might come by. Then there’s Jim Malcolm, Evan and Carol Baker, Pat Fitt, Sonny Cameron on steel guitar. That’s just a few of them and there is always somebody new.”
He has had old friends attend but there are many others he has met for the first time.
“It is a night out for them, the same as for myself. To look around the room and see the toes tapping and the hands clapping makes my night.”
Most of the crowd are seniors but everyone is welcome.
“The admission is purposely low so that it doesn’t stop anyone from coming.”
Taylor, who admits she country music was not always her cup of tea, was at the last pre-Christmas jam.
“Bernie’s jams have been good for the church and good for the community. I really enjoy seeing the big turnout and seeing how much people are enjoying themselves.”
She noted the hall is regularly used by such diverse groups as the Victorian Order of Nurses, Scouts Canada and Alcoholics Anonymous.
“It is a busy community building and it costs money to keep it up. The jams have really helped our capital fund so we try to give something back directly, through the purchase of new chairs and better microphones.”
While she is no longer the parish’s fundraising chair she is staying on to help coordinate the jams.
“When you see this much good happening you want it to continue.”
McCarron can hardly wait for the next jam, Jan. 7.
“I take my guitar out when I’m watching the TV news or the hockey game. I play when the commercials come on and that’s when I’ll be thinking about the next jam.”
There are different streams of country music, but the Lourdes jam showcases what he calls country classics.
“We like the old songs but we might get somebody playing a new country tune now and again. We’re good with that but I suppose if some fellow got up and started in on Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell, I’d have to put a stop to that.”
Rosalie MacEachern is a Stellarton resident and freelance writer. She seeks out people who work behind the scenes on hobbies or jobs that they love the most. If you know someone you think she should profile in an upcoming article, she can be reached at rosaliemaceachern4@gmail.com.