We Jammin': Acoustic Band at Westside Methodist Church

Arty Morelli hears today's music and shakes his 69-year-old head.

"I don't get it, really," he said. "I guess it's the beat. You've got have a beat."

Morelli remembers when legendary disc jockey Alan Freeman owned New York City's airwaves with what's now considered classic rock. So do many members of Northwest New Jersey Acoustic Jam, which plays Tuesdays from 6:30-9 p.m. at Westside Methodist Church.

Kevin Devine, 55, grew up listening to the Grateful Dead. Rod Bucks, 60, considers bluegrass music at its best. Steven Sonne, 58, plays the fiddle. Two members play mandolin while five man acoustic guitars.

It all makes for an experience organic in sound and feel. The music never stops. It never starts, either. One guy strums. Another follows. Then everyone's singing Del Shannon's "Runaway."

"There's all ranges of experience here," Morelli said. "If anyone has a question of doing something, there's [usually] 10 guys here who can answer it [and] take them under our wings."

"Or 10 guys to give them the wrong advice," Ron Olsen, 63, added.

The crew started 10 years ago. They practiced together in a small room at the church, but their sessions interfered with the choir. So they began practicing on Tuesdays while watching Westside's thirft shop.

"And then we decided to open it up to anybody," Morelli said. Only four of the original members are still around. The band also includes guitarists Bill Brandon, 69; Olsen; Bob Black, 68; and Kevin Devine, 55, and mandolin players Bucks and David Sowinski, 53.

Devine said many people have played with the band over the years. Only one was rejected.

"He was into Led Zepplin and stuff," Devine said. "We'd play a song, and the next thing you'd know he'd be jamming away on his stuff in-between stuff. We told him that's not etiquette."

The band plays mostly cover songs, occasionally adding its own twist to popular artists' work. Most of the tunes are from the early 1960's.

But they don't consider themselves above more contemporary work. Sowinski said the band plays a little Jimmy Buffett.

Devine said he likes the group's character.

"What happens a lot of times, I've found, is that with musicians especially there's a lot of egos," he said. "The one jam that I went to my ears were ringing and they only had acoustic guitars. People were beating their guitars so they could be the loudest.

"That doesn't exist here."

Black joined the action to improve his guitar skills. He used to search the Internet for tutorials. Now he learns from other members.

"When you get here, it's a whole different ballgame," Black said.

And while the members take their crafts seriously, they don't seem to take themselves seriously. At a recent session, one member routinely cracked jokes at another, encouraging others to join in on the good-natured ribbing.

"It's good therapy," Sowinski said.

They're also not afraid to rip themselves a little.

"We're still not good," he said. "We're still practicing."

Then one guy strummed. Another followed. Soon, everyone was signing "Runaway."