Floyd’s Friday Night Jamboree is known as much for the music played by musicians on the street as for the ones appearing on stage. When the weather is cool, as it was this past Friday night, some gather in the rooms upstairs (above) to jam, sometimes playing by the light of a single lamp. Others braved the cold and played outside but the night chill of early Spring has not yet passed and the sounds of music could be heard from the rooms upstairs. Downstairs (right), the dance floor was hopping. This week marked the return of the former Barbershop Grass band (below) with Abe Gorsky (below right) filling in for the departed Ralph Hayden on guitar. The band has a new name (Little River Grass or New River Grass — they were referred to both ways Friday night) but their sound provided many of the traditional selections that Jamboree fans enjoy. Todd Christensen, associate project director for the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, brought some friends by Friday so see the Jamboree. Christensen’s agency is funding the downtown rennovation project for Floyd. It was his first visit to the Country Store since it reopened in February following expansion and remodeling. Christensen wanted to know how folks felt about the expanded story. The crowded dance floor provided the answer.

Started down the driveway today for an appointment in town and ran into a traffic jam in my driveway — well, a duck jam. The ducks that take up residence in the stream in our lower front yard each Spring took their time moving down the driveway so I followed at a sedate 1 mph.

Seems like just two weeks ago that I was in Richmond photographing the Virginia High School League state basketball finals. Now I’m along the baselines of the Floyd County High School baseball field shooting the annual rite of summer. Baseball last week. Softball this week. Spring must be here.

Enjoyable evening at the Friday Nite Jamboree. Good music. Good hot dogs. Great company.

I never tire of spending an evening at the Jamboree. An evening with people who enjoy the music and the dancing and the ambiance can’t help but be enjoyed.

On the way home, stopped by Cafe del Sol where owner Sally Walker (below) belted out the blues. Different music, different atmosphere but the same level of enjoyment and good times. Friday night in Floyd. A ready formula for a good time.

"Clarence" Photograph Copyright Jennifer Trausch
Photo courtesy of Andrew Long at The Daily F’log

Last year, we wrote about a visit to the Friday Nite Jamboree by New York photographer Jennifer Trausch and the mammoth 20 x 24 Polaroid Camera.

Jennifer and her assistant, Kim Venable (below) had loaded the giant camera into a truck and were touring the South shooting photos of small towns and rural life.

Her work is profiled on The Daily F’log, a fotoblog by Andrew Long. Raul Gutierrez interviews Jennifer and they talk about her experiences on the road with the 235-lb camera.

It’s a good read. I wasn’t familiar with Andrew’s blog until he contacted me about using a photo from our story on Jennifer’s visit. I’ll be sure to check it out more in the future.

A shot from Thursday’s state championship semi-final game where the Floyd County High lady buffs advanced to the championship game with a convincing 87-64 win over Stonewall Jackson. The girls face Clarke County at 11 a.m. Saturday. I’ll be courtside to shoot the action for next week’s Floyd Press.