Marathon Jam
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History More than 20 years ago, a small group of musicians, led by John Santa, began to meet once a month at someone's home to play music. Most of these players were studio musicians that had worked together on various albums for other artists and decided it would be good to get together socially and not just for work. Thus was born The RDU Session Players. Over time, the group expanded to included more than 150 people, now including non-professional musicians and even civilians (people who can't play or sing). Any given month would see 20-40 people at the monthly gathering and spectators became more and more common. As the catalogue of songs grew so large, someone once commented that they believed we could play for 12 hours straight and not repeat a single song. From that simple thought, the first Marathon Jam was born in 2004. That first Marathon Jam was held in one of Whit Kenney's vacant offices and several people earned the distinction of becoming "Iron Pickers" for playing the entire 12 hour Jam, beginning at noon and playing past midnight. John and Whit were talking on the phone as John was driving home and John said that it was a shame that in spite of the pain which comes from 12 straight hours of pressing guitar strings, no one got paid. Then the idea of turning this wonderful time into a fundraiser was born. The concept was simple. Treat the Marathon Jam like a walk-a-thon only gather sponsors for hours played not miles walked and contribute the money to charities that were close to our heats. The first year, the funds raised went to The Sheppard Wasdell Teacher Excellence Award to given annually a teacher at Apex High School and The Community Music School, a organization which helps low income children access both instruments and lessons. Over the next several years, we continued to donate funds to the Community Music School and also added contributions for scholarships to honor the passing of several RDU Session Player family members. In 2007, one of our members, Lt. Col. Greg Rawlings, was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he formed the Baghdad Bad Boys. It was quickly decided that we wanted to do what we could to help our soldiers. Musical equipment was donated immediately be several of the RDU Session Players, including Jim Dennis, owner of The Music Loft in Chapel Hill, and Harry Tueting, owner of Harry's Guitar Shop in Raleigh. Following talks with Greg, it was decided to donate all of the money raised at future Marathon Jam's to The Fisher House organization. This wonderful organization provides lodging for the families of servicemen who have been wounded and are being treated in hospitals back in the States. The Fisher House allows their families to stay at their facilities for a nominal fee and thus avoid the cost of typical hotel accommodations. |
Bluegrass Is My Second Language
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