Smoked Country Jam to kick off next weekend
By Christopher Miller
CROSS FORK, PA – Under hopeful clear skies and cooler-than-normal temperatures for mid-June, Smoked Country Jam is set to get underway Thursday, June 16.
The three-day event which takes place at Quiet Oaks Campground in Cross Fork will see the return of many familiar-to-the-Jam bands and this year’s headliner, Fireside Collective from western North Carolina.
Smoked Country Jam is a benefit concert that benefits Lupus Foundation of America, tri-state chapter (Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey). which has a deep connection with event organizer Ron Kodish.
“My wife Teresa was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus in 2002, which is an incurable autoimmune disease,” Ron explained in an interview with The Record. “My son plays Bluegrass and gave me the idea to think about organizing a music festival, so the people come because of the music.”
For Ron, Bluegrass style music wasn’t normally on his radio dial, but after attending his first festival and he became aware of the music, crowds, and the electricity that came with it – he was fascinated.
“We launched Smoked Country Jam in 2004 and named it after a band in New Jersey and Maryland that had connections to this local area in the 70s and 80s,” Ron said, “and what a cool name to have for the festival, so we asked for permission to borrow the name by calling the band who had already broken up.”
The band got back together for the first two years of the festival and would come by to play and from then on, as Ron tells it, “it has been a lot of growing pains that we have overcome…it’s like being in a barrel about to go over the falls, you can’t stop it, so just enjoy the ride.”
“Our first venue was in McElhattan for three years which we quickly outgrew, and then we moved on to a private farm in Sugar Valley for another four years and outgrew that 30+ acre farm, but we were determined to stay in Clinton County,” Ron explained.
“If it were not for Quiet Oaks Campground we may not have a spot for the Jam today.”
“Dave and Carla have been wonderful hosts at Quiet Oaks since we moved the Jam up here in 2011,” said Ron.
“We have a huge influx of people from the northern tier of PA and southern tier of New York who come and camp for the weekend, but there are so many people from our own valley who still do not know about us, or this festival,” Ron explained. “We have a gentleman coming for the fourth time from the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, who saw a band play on YouTube and loved them, so he got a plane ticket and flew out this way.”
By definition, according to Ron, Bluegrass “is if you have a banjo, guitar, a bass, fiddle then sure, I’d consider you to be a Bluegrass band…the line is so blurry between Roots, Americana, Old-Timey, so we are a “roots to branches” Bluegrass festival.”
This three-day event also features a two-day auction thanks to donors from businesses, sponsors, organizations, and attendees who will sometimes put their own items in to be auctioned off for charity. “Baskets really spiced up the auction nicely,” Ron said.
In total, the event has netted over $35,000 in monetary donations to the Lupus Foundation of America, tri-state chapter (Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey).
“We have not raised ticket prices in 10 years,” Ron explained, “$80 still buys you three full days of music and the ability camp if there is room, and you really get a great bang for your buck there.”
The Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Contest runs in conjunction with Smoked Country Jam thanks to former Lock Haven resident David Pinelli.
“On Saturday the top three contest winners will perform on our stages, which will be the 14th year for the contest, and we are proud to have it as part of the Smoked Country Jam,” said Ron.
As well, Smoked Country Jam is always on the lookout for volunteers to help with just about any aspect of the music-filled weekend.
“Volunteers for anything are always welcome and appreciated!”
