Saturday morning jam with a styrofoam cup full of black coffee and a side of sausage on a paper plate...trash can is over there. Throw away your plate and recycle any bottles. Myles and Pal Ireland have made a place of fellowship Saturday mornings. Everyone's common denominator is bluegrass. Come to pick, bow, strum and yodel or simply have a livermush sandwich while you watch the pickers and fiddlers jam. The Cook Shack is the Saturday morning hang out for many people in North Iredell and everyone from the owners to the patrons are a breed of true Southern friendly. There's pictures of Hank Willams and The Beatles on the walls, album covers hanging from the ceiling, three fish tanks in the back beside the makeshift audience section and a big cat, half bobcat, hanging out in the garden in the back. Myles' and Pal's daughter in law (I was not able to get her name - any information I got today was from the patrons because the Ireland family was busy jamming and cooking.) cooks on a grill facing the dining room that's no bigger than my stove at home. The kitchen is so small that the two refrigerators and drink cooler with Coke in glass bottles sit in the audience. The Ireland's grandson is a polite and efficient waiter, the food was family owned cafe good and Pal just grinned from ear to ear when I asked to take her picture.
I'm a people watcher. I like to see what people are wearing, what they are doing...I eavesdrop so I can get an idea of what goes through their heads. It sounds obtrusive, but it makes me love people more to know them and I do this in the periphery as a bystander. People sense this and usually come to me to offer information. I think having a camera with a huge lens helps, too. A woman named Bettie Stone came up to me and just started talking about the Cook Shack. She said she and her husband started coming on Saturday mornings about 5 years ago. She pointed out the owners, the Ireland's, and told me a little about her experiences there. She said you never know who will show up as Cotton Ketchie
(paintings) walked through the door.
She said Karla Causey
(Karla's website) had been there to jam the previous three Saturdays. The Cook Shack Saturday morning jams are free of charge as it's local amateur musicians getting together to jam. I saw the banjo player with a three ring binder that I assumed contained music and a playlist, but no one seemed to follow anything in writing. Sometimes one of the fiddle players would play guitar and sometimes the mandolin picker would also play guitar. There was no talk between them of what to play next. They went from one song to another simply by following the vibration of the music. Anyone can join in this jam. My fiddle teacher (I really don't pick my fiddle up like I should, but I have taken lessons), one time Galax Fiddler Convention Champion, Tommy Malbeouf told me about the Cook Shack. He used to show up every Saturday morning, too. Bettie said that sometimes they have musicians come in the evenings and those shows are by reservation only because the Cook Shack is so small. We spoke briefly then Bettie sat down with her husband. The atmosphere was one of fellowship and cooperation. Anyone is welcome and they're used to cameras as Pal told me when I took her picture.
The Cook Shack is located at 1901 West Memorial Highway Union Grove, NC. If you're coming from I-77, head north on 901 and it's on the left after Fiddler's Grove Campground. The Cook Shack's phone number is 704-539-4353. Of course, you can add them on Facebook.
(The Cook Shack on Facebook)
