Des Moines Bluegrass

04/24/2026

Ok first bluegrass salon is looking like this coming Wednesday. Please DM for location. I know the DM thing might seem annoying, but it’s a good way to have an accurate idea about turnout and communicate directly.

The idea is something a little more intimate than your typical open jam. Smaller circles, listening, atmosphere, etc.

Excited to see what kind of vibe we can create!

04/21/2026

How are Wednesdays for people generally, logistics-wise? Thinking maybe second and fourth Wednesday of the month for the .

04/10/2026

Howdy friends.

Do you love jammin’ ‘grass with the fam, but get turned off by the often hectic nature of noisy barroom jams? Or maybe the prospect of showing up to play at a public event is intriguing, yet intimidating at the same time? Well I propose a solution to your woes with the Des Moines Bluegrass Salon.

The Des Moines Bluegrass Salon will seek to create a listening-focused acoustic gathering for discerning pickers and rubbers of strings. The goal is simple: create a welcoming space where roots music enthusiasts can explore the bluegrass repertoire and beyond, exchange ideas, pose questions, and attain overall progress in your relationship to music as a result.

The concept is to focus on small ensemble playing that centralizes groove, dynamics, and etiquette. Where the notes you play matter and carry value. It doesn’t matter if you can only play two notes, you can play them with great feel in a way that could scale favorably across any jam you find yourself in.

Beginners are welcome.
Experience is valued.
Curiosity is encouraged.

DM for details.

03/01/2026

There’s a bluegrass jam at captain Roy’s today at 2 pm in case you didn’t know!

05/03/2025

Reposting this regarding the mushroom festival at the end of the month!

We got a whole fungal situation developing, and we’re gonna have to at it so it feels better!

04/27/2025

We got a whole fungal situation developing, and we’re gonna have to at it so it feels better!

02/17/2025

Man, it’s been so long since regular and consistent jams were organized through this page that I didn’t even think to share this here the other day!

And I know this page seems to be getting commandeered by bots offering folks to work for Amazon from their home or what have you, but still I don’t think we can throw in the towel quite yet. A new public jam will commence once again, I feel It. I think once winter starts fading it will be easier to arrange!

Anywho, i havs a video to share. Basically I’ve had an old friend living with me for the past few months. He came as a 38-year-old novice mandolin player, and he is putting in regular practice and little sessions with me to acquire skills as fast as possible. What’s been cool is that I get good feedback regarding which of my little rants I’m always spewing off is actually useful or interesting.

The subject is something like what it means to play the melody and how one might think about the qualifications for such a thing. I use the popular jam tune whiskey before breakfast to give my perspective. Let me know if it’s helpful or not!



A little discussion on what it means to play the melody when talking about fiddle tunes. Using the popular bluegrass jam tunes “whiskey before breakfast”, I ...

05/05/2024

Reminder that there's a bluegrass jam at captain Roy's today at 2PM. Should be pretty good weather. And for any old time players out there: more than one circle is possible if outside, so don't let that b-word discourage you.

03/03/2024

Just to share here, there is supposed to be a jam on the first Sunday of the month at Captain Roy's. Due to some sort of conflict, this will NOT be the case for March,and apparently it will be the second Sunday this month. Keep sheddin!

12/18/2023

Ok, so who's got ideas for a spot to gather for the public jams? I'd assume we could always take it back to the Fremont, but I'm wondering if anyone else has some other ideas? I am in WDM now, so thoughts for a place on the west side would be awesome.