Back Again to the Mandolin
Have you had an activity or hobby that you do for awhile, then other priorities take over, but then something happens and you get sucked back in? That seems to be my relationship with the mandolin.
Somehow, someway, the mandolin keeps drawing me back.
I took up mandolin a number of years ago for a couple of reasons. Primarily, my husband Ian is an avid guitar player, so playing an instrument provided another activity that we could do together. I chose mandolin because I wanted to play a stringed instument other than guitar, and I was inspired by the artistic playing of Carter Gravatt of Carbon Leaf. Ian bought me an inexpensive instrument, I found an instructor through an online search and diligently started taking lessons.
I’ve always been more consistent when I’ve been working for a specific goal, and my goal evolved from picking tunes (which I could never seem to do fast enough) to learning chords so I could participate in jam sessions. For awhile, Ian and I attended some organized public bluegrass jams moderated by Bremerton musician Terry Enyeart, my third and most recent instructor. We also started regular private jams with Dave Magnenat, a close friend who had recently taken an interest in mandolin himself.
The public jams and the more intimate sessions with Dave were fun and gave me some incentive to practice. But then Dave was diagnosed with Leukemia, and he spent long periods in the hospital for treatment. We played together when we could; one time we played and sang in the conference room down the hall from his hospital room. But there would be long stretches when he wasn’t allowed visitors, and times he was too weak to sing and play. My interest in mandolin waned, so it got set aside for a period of months.
On December 3, 2014, complications from Leukemia treatment ended Dave’s life, but from that tragedy emerged new a new incentive to play. We bought Dave’s mandolin from his widow, and I was determined to play it at his celebration of life party the following month. Dave had requested that if there was any kind of a party, that someone needed to play the old bluegrass tune “Rollin’ in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.” Since Dave had taken a couple of lessons from Terry and been to a few of the public jams, I asked if Terry would be willing to play and sing lead. Terry readily agreed. Terry and Ian played guitar, and I played Dave’s mandolin. I even sang along.
But then, the incentive over, I set the mandolin down. I may have picked it up once or twice, but I got busy with other things and there it sat silently for many months.
Then, I was contacted by Discovery/TLC about doing a segment about me in one of their shows. (You can read about that in a previous blog post: Why I Said Yes to Body Bizarre.) To accompany my interview, in which I talk about my life with a facial difference, they wanted footage of activities I regularly do and enjoy, so I suggested live music since it is such an important aspect of my life. What I had in mind was going to see a band, but during our very limited shooting window not only were none of the many bands I follow in the area, but it was slim pickings for any sort of live music that I was remotely interested in. On a whim, I contacted Terry to ask if he knew about anything in the area, because he is a member of at least four bands and is well-connected in the community. He didn’t know of any concerts, but he did mention that he was moderating a bluegrass jam on one of the two scheduled shooting nights. I instantly recognized what a great idea that was.
I’m not sure why I thought it was such a great idea. This was about 10 days before the scheduled shoot, and it had probably been at least 9 months since I’d picked up my instrument.
Ian and I rehearsed a few times, and I was amazed at how quickly it came back to me. But what I know is limited. I am not an expert player- heck, I’m not even an average player- and when we did the jam with the Discovery videographer I was pretty lost most of the time. However, I did play and sing one song I know well, which was captured on camera. I guess we’ll see how it turned out sometime in 2016 when the episode airs.
It’s not that I don’t love the mandolin. I enjoy the instrument, but I recognize it is not my passion. It is highly unlikely that I will ever play professionally, and nor is that even one of my goals. But it seems to be one of those activities that draws me back again and again, and one that I enjoy enough to choose not to resist.
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