Jamming outdoors at a summer party is great fun

By Ted Slowik

There's nothing quite as fun as getting together with friends and other musicians at an outdoor party in the summertime. On Saturday my friend Peggy graduated from North Central College, threw a party to celebrate and wanted live music. The dude abides.

Ron and I packed the van with gear, including drums, bass and guitar amps, PA and speakers and guitars. We figured we could do a few numbers with acoustic guitar but were counting on other musicians sitting in, and we weren't disappointed.

Peggy's son Jake played guitar with us on some Black Keys songs we'd never played before and it sounded great. He also played some Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and other tunes. His friend Matt, 15, sat in on bass and impressed everyone. He's a fantastic player--for any age--and when he said typically he spends his Saturdays practicing for about six hours I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Some others played too, like Dan on guitar. Peggy's husband Dave played and sang "Stormy Monday" and some other blues at the end of the night. Their place is in the suburbs but has a real country feel to it, with horses and other animals. To top off everything the Blackhawks advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a win, so it was a great ending to a great day.

It's always great jamming with Ron, and meeting new friends and musicians and having fun playing an outdoor party in the summertime. I think everybody had a great time.