Ron Phillips (John Day) works tirelessly to maintain the string band music tradition that he grew up with in the town of John Day. Twice a week, he hosts an open-participation session he calls Grant County Jammers. Often, Ron leads tunes he learned from his grandmother or uncles, with whom he played at grange dances in his youth.
Bio
On Sunday afternoons in John Day, Oregon, people of all ages trickle into the Outpost restaurant carrying instrument cases. Each one pulls up a chair to a large circle, and begins to chat with friends and acquaintances. They tune up acoustic guitars, fiddles, mandolins, and occasionally a less portable instrument like an upright bass or a hammer dulcimer. Ron Phillips, a man everyone seems to know, sets up a single microphone and hangs a purple banner on the wall, which announces the official name of this music session: Grant County Jammers. Ron Phillips is a string band musician who plays an antique A-style Martin mandolin, picking out tried and true American string band tunes like “Rubber Dolly.” He learned these tunes from his uncles and grandmother, who were members of a beloved grange hall dance band. Phillips actively shares his traditional knowledge and skills by holding the Grant County Jammers. He wants to see the oral tradition of Grant County String band music picked up by younger generations of musicians. An informal, beginner-friendly session where newcomers can learn from legacy musicians who have played at community functions in Grant County since the 1950s. Phillips sums it up saying, “there’s a lot of musicians in the valley here, and I felt that we needed to get together to play. So I just put an ad out and started this just to have fun and keep the music going in the county here.”
