An hour into a guitar workshop on Saturday, bluesman Toby Walker was singing about beefsteak and whiskey with a backing band of about a dozen guitar students who had just learned the lick and some chords.
"You're all blues musicians at this point," he said.
The workshop was part of a three-day event at Scranton's historic Tripp House featuring performances, stories and lessons by Mr. Walker and portraits of blues musicians by documentary photographer Jim Gavenus. The events are presented by PocoNotes, a Lake Ariel-based organization that brings music and musicians to new audiences at small venues in the region.
The music and exhibit, which benefit the Society for the Preservation of the Tripp Family Homestead, continue today from noon to 4 p.m.
In a parlor of Lackawanna County's oldest house, Mr. Walker demonstrated styles of blues from different eras, regions and musicians. He mixed music with stories and legends and answered questions about everything from his favorite guitar tuning to how he constructed a riff in a song.
"I would combine one style with another because I didn't feel like paying a bass player," he said.
Joe Ducey, 25, from Scranton asked Mr. Walker to replay a musical phrase from a blues song by Son House then worked to follow along on his own guitar. When he got it, he leaned back in his chair with pleasure and played it a few times to himself.
"Nice," he said.
After the workshop, Mr. Gavenus walked through some of the portraits of musicians he'd captured at festivals, juke joints and front porches.
"A lot of these are from trips to Mississippi, North Carolina, Alabama ... and Nescopeck," he laughed.
Some musicians he met by word-of-mouth or accident. Most of the photos are accompanied by a biographical description, a quote or story.
"I go in with the idea that about 80 percent of it is real and 20 percent will be legend that was decided over a bottle of liquor," he said. "I don't try to sort it out."
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com