The second Friday Acoustic Music Jam at Quitman Public Library is celebrating their fifth anniversary Friday evening, from 6 to 9 p.m. The essence of bluegrass music may be “high, lonesome sound” but it’s anything but lonely in Quitman every second Friday of the month with pickers and grinners of all ages and skill levels making the journey to Quitman. They come from nearby and as far away as Texarkana, Paris, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Marshall.

Husband and wife team, Eugene and Delene Allen, along with Delene’s mother, Virginia Hoffpauir, host the monthly musical event. The public is always invited to the jam sessions to participate or just to go and listen and visit with those gathered for the evening.

What started with just a few people has turned into one of the largest “jams” of its type in East Texas. The crowd numbers anywhere from 35 to 100 people, many playing and singing, others there just to listen.

Hoffpauir makes sure those who travel to the jam have plenty to eat. She makes a big pot of chili beans and cornbread to be eaten during the breaks. “We run on donations. Where else can you have so much fun on a Friday night for free?” Hoffpauir queried.

Musicians bring acoustic instruments including fiddles, acoustic guitars, upright bass, mandolins, banjos, harmonicas, resonater guitars, ukuleles and dulcimers. “We’ve even had folks play a washtub, rubbing board and the saw,” Delene noted.

Eugene has been a banjo, mandolin and fiddle player for 30 plus years and considers playing the jam the highlight of the month.

Eugene said the tradition of getting together has a history. “The tradition of jamming comes from folks who worked hard days and relaxed by getting together to play music, and I suppose that’s still what we are doing today. People come for the music, to play and learn, or just listen, but they come back for the camaraderie,” Eugene noted. “Bluegrass is a lot of what we play, and you just can’t play that type of music by yourself. It’s like playing on a big front porch. It’s possible to learn a few basic guitar chords and play along in the jam. You can only get better.”

Acoustical bluegrass music is an expression with roots in many musical traditions, including Scotch-Irish, African American and Southern string band. Much of the music is born from real-life experiences. While it appears to be an older art form, the first bluegrass music was not recorded until 1945.

“Acoustical, unplugged music is so pure. There are times when a musician is singing or playing when everyone has just stopped and marveled at the heartfelt purity of the sound,” Delene said. “There is an honesty and directness about it that really touches me. When the music is right, there is nothing like it.”

The Quitman Library is located at 202 East Goode Street in downtown Quitman, just a block east of the Wood County Courthouse.