By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

RUSSELL -- It's a musical potluck. With everything from guitars and fiddles to autoharps and a saxophone, Pickin' and Jammin' at the Deines hardly has a boundary.

Numerous musicians gather every month at the Deines Cultural Center just to play, listen and learn.

"It's kind of esoteric, eclectic," Russell bass player Bob Roe said. "You never know what you're going to get from one month to the next."

During any given gathering, one can find Linus Sarver, Osborne, dancing his fingers across piano keys, trying to keep up with the fiddle play of Peggy Anschutz, Gorham. Once in a while, Larry Nelson, Sylvan Grove, will tuck away his guitar in favor of a saxophone that gives the group of stringed instruments a unique sound.

Many play guitars, but a few contribute autoharps and harmonicas to the music making, too. And a few spectators attend as much as possible in hopes of lending their voices to the music.

"I love music, and I love to sing every chance I get," said Barbara Hartley, who travels the 140 miles from her home in Herington almost every month just to hear the music.

Pickin' and Jammin' at the Deines began as a quarterly music event about six years ago, but its popularity made it a monthly event before long.

"I knew some people around the area that played music, and I thought it would be nice to be able to get together," said Russell musician Ronn Raymer, one of the co-founders of the jam session.

"Once we started, it was kind of word-of-mouth. We've got people coming out of the woodwork everywhere."

And they each bring a little something different to the musician's circle.

"I'm not particular what kind of music I play as long as I get to play," Nelson said.

With different age groups and different musical styles, the jam session usually includes a variety of classical, jazz, blues, country, folk and ragtime music.

The musicians tend to keep it simple, Nelson said, but they're also learning from each other too.

"You can always learn from someone else's expression," Hill City guitarist Eric "Doc" Nevins said.

Pickin' and Jammin' has been the stage for many area musicians through the years, meaning many connections have been made on the local music scene.

"It's a good place to meet new musicians," Ellis musician Lyndell Rorabaugh said. "You (never) know. It could be the same people you see all the time, or they could be new."

Rorabaugh has added a few of the Deines regulars to her family band after meeting them through the Pickin' and Jammin' event.

In 2006, the late Wayne Billinger, who was a regular at the jam sessions, recorded an afternoon of music and produced a live CD, which is available at the center.

Pickin' and Jammin' at the Deines takes place on the third Sunday of every month, beginning at 3 p.m. The only requirement for the event is the instruments must be acoustic.

Along with the musical potluck, musicians and audience members are asked to bring a food item for the potluck supper following the jam session.

"I like the music No. 1 and the food No. 2," Sarver said. "Those two are constantly in competition."