By William Kelly
London has the Royal Albert Hall and the New Jersey Pine Barrens has its Albert Music Hall, named after brothers Joe and George Albert, whose remote deer cabin was once the scene of musical jam sessions every Saturday.
In my story, “Waiting on the Angels – The Long Cool Summer of ’65 Revisited,” which was serialized in the Shore Local last summer, I devote a chapter to Nucky Johnson and Judge Ed Helfant visiting the Alberts one Saturday, and tried to describe what visitors would experience.
George Albert was born in October 1899 in Sayreville, and worked for E.I. du Pont for 43 years. He would venture to Waretown in the Pine Barrens on weekends to hunt and play his fiddle. After his wife died in 1945, he retired from du Pont, moved to his Waretown cabin and began performing with a group of pineys who called themselves the Pineconers.
His brother Joe joined him, playing a washtub bass. They hosted a weekly gathering of musicians every Saturday in their cabin, nestled back in the woods off Route 9. Without electricity, they used gas lamps for light and a pot-bellied stove for heat. There was a hand pump in the sink and an outhouse out back. Some say there was also a moonshine still.
The music was basically bluegrass, with a tinge of country and folk. With guitars, banjos, George’s fiddle, Joe’s washtub bass and whatever their neighbors and friends brought along to play – tambourine, washboard or spoons – it all jived together.
In Ireland, almost every pub has a weekly jam session where local musicians get together and play traditional Irish music informally, and the Alberts’ sessions were much like that. The music you hear on National Public Radio’s “Live From the Mountain Stage of West Virginia” on Sunday afternoons is similar to the music you hear in the Pine Barrens.
“Air Tune” is a popular number with a legendary origin story behind it. According to Piney lore, a musician was walking through the Pine Barrens when he came across the Jersey Devil who said he would let him go if he played a tune the devil had never heard before. So the musician came up with a song “out of thin air” which became known as the “Air Tune.” The musicians start by playing a certain rhythm, then each player gets a turn playing something improvised, making it up on the spot.
The Alberts’ cabin was called “The Home Place,” where all the musicians gathered every Saturday and continued performing into the early hours of Sunday.
They say they kept a jug of moonshine on the table and a dozen or so sewing thimbles. Whenever anyone new came in to join the jam, they got a thimble of homemade whisky.
October 1973, George went back to Sayreville where he died at his daughter’s house. Today there’s Albert Street in Sayreville, and relatives still live there.
Shortly thereafter, in January 1974, National Geographic magazine ran an article on “The People of New Jersey Pine Barrens” which featured a photo of George.
Joe couldn’t keep the Saturday jam sessions going, but the friends and neighbors missed playing together so much they rented a barn at Waretown Auction, and continued playing there until the barn burned down.
The musicians continued playing in the parking lot, and in 1974 some of them formed the Pinelands Cultural Society (PCS), also known as the Pinelands Cultural and Historic Preservation Society, an all-volunteer, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization which raised enough money to build the Albert Music Hall (alberthall.org), at 131 Wells Mills Road (Route 532), just off Route 9 in Waretown, Ocean County. Not only is it staffed by volunteers, the musicians don’t get paid either; they do it for the love of the music.
Built on land donated by the local Board of Education, and next to a school, the beautiful wood building was financed entirely by donations raised from concerts, raffles, snacks, gifts and donations.
The legendary Pete Seeger came down from the Hudson River Valley to perform a concert to raise money for the new building May 1976, and returned for a second show in August 1980. Seeger is featured in the new Bob Dylan movie, “A Complete Unknown,” which was filmed in Cape May and will be released in theaters in December.
Albert Hall shows are performed every Saturday; doors open at 5:30 p.m. On a recent visit we got there early so we stopped by the nearby Lighthouse Tavern, an Irish pub which features a very good raw bar with jumbo shrimp, oysters and clams on Saturdays.
Albert Hall charges a $6 cover. Children are $1 and parking is free (cash only). The money goes toward the construction loan and contributes to a music scholarship for students. They also have a gift shop and snack bar with kielbasa and kraut, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, meatballs, soft drink and coffee. There’s 350 seats. The mainly gray-haired, older crowd brought cushions to sit on.
The walls are lined with photos of the Albert brothers and others who performed there over the years. Above the photos are vintage musical instruments including George Albert’s fiddle enshrined in a glass case, and Joe’s washtub bass, along with other musical artifacts like banjos, tambourines, a washboard and spoons.
There’s usually four or five different acts each Saturday lasting a half hour to 45 minutes each, and different acts going until about 9 p.m. While mostly amateurs, some are professional entertainers and all are quite good.
If you can’t spring for the cover charge, they also jam on the front porch and there’s no cover for the Pickin’ Shack next door, where the musicians sit around and play for free.
On Saturday, Aug. 17, they will be having a special 50th Anniversary Celebration, “Sounds of the Jersey Pines.” There will be four hours of music and seven bands, including the Libby Prison Minstrels, Fish & Whistle, Billy T. Midnight, Elaine & The Cimarron Sky Band, Cranston Dean, Redbird & Raven and Josh Werner and Friends.
Other future special shows include the Americana Fest on Sept. 14; Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day Sept. 21 featuring traditional Irish music, Harvest Hootenanny Sept. 13; Jersey Devil Show Nov. 2; Veterans’ Show Nov. 9; Homeplace Show Dec. 7, and on Dec. 14, the Singing Santa Show to round out this anniversary year.
