Open Mic or Jam Sessions

[67polara]

Do any of you go to open mic nights or Jam sessions where you bring your own gear and set in with a band or just go solo?  Where I live we have a Deli that on Thursday nights they have a Blues jam.  The house band plays for about and hour and then people that have signed up on the list are called up to sit in with the band.  We have harp players, Horn players, guitar, bass and drummers show up every week to play.  Sometimes it's a train wreck other times it's Magic!  I think these are so great because you never know what tune they want to play and it really expands your skills and tends to push you out of your comfort Zone.

Tony 

[simonallaway]

There's a local bar here in Indiana that hosts a jam night on Sundays. I've been a couple of times and it's always been great.

I completely agree with you on the benefits of doing it. You get to meet (hopefully) like minded people, you get to jam with new musicians and perhaps even geek out on guitars and amps. And it's rarely dull. When I was a teenager I learned so much as a musician by going to local organised jams, or just creating one out of thin air by chance meetings with friends. Where I grew up (Guernsey, UK) the music scene thrived on these kinds of collaborations. I miss it. There was never any rock-star attitudes or show-boating...just creation at its finest.

But saying all that, I haven't been to my local jam night in some time. I should change that!

[bigsbybender]

I frequent a couple of jams where I live.  One is acoustic at a coffee shop, it's not a chance to use the gear I've built but it's a great way to learn popular songs and standards in a low-key environment. No drunks, and no people trying to play "rock star" in front of a crowd. I bring my Seagull acoustic guitar and my Engelhardt upright bass there.

I used to host an open jam at a couple of bars using the gear I've built when possible. Most of the guitarists that showed up didn't know what to do with my gear.  I'd bring a beefed-up 5F1, 5E3, 5F6, my 18watt Stout or an old Gibson Falcon. I'd also use the tube bass amp head that I made out of an old Super Twin. Most guitarists looked at it and said, "where's the distortion channel?"  I spent half of my time trying to show them how to use the amps, and the volume controls on their guitars. I always said "You've got to learn to play the amp, if it has a bunch of knobs and switches, the amp is playing you!"  I could draw good musicians to the jams since I've played in or filled in with a lot of groups around the area over an 18 year span or so. My brother has a degree in guitar and would bring along his top students. About a half-dozen bands formed out of the jams, I'd say 3 of them are still going to this day.

After a while I quit hosting them regularly and passed it on to my cousin's boyfriend. I still go probably twice per month to the bar open jams. Depending who is playing, it can draw a good crowd of spectators.  Most people here like to hear rock and blues cover tunes. Late into the night I'll throw down some old-school hip-hop bass lines and see who can rhyme over it. That has been popular with the under 35 crowd and brings together a lot of musicians that wouldn't normally interact with each other. It also stretches their boundaries...

Sometimes it's a train wreck other times it's Magic!

You've summed it up!
 Keep an eye on harmonica players, they can ruin it every time. We have one that shows up from time to time that is genuinely good, but he's played for nearly 50 years and knows when to go in and when to back off.  I've had to kick many off the mic that try to play over the lyrics and solos for other instruments. The ones that do that usually haven't played very long.


j.

[67polara]

Where I go the leader of the house band usually plays director or conductor to control who is up front and with well applied hand jesters can make them understand LOL.

Tony

[rafe]

You just bring your axe to the blues jam here, last time I had a choice between a RI deluxe and an old princeton reverb. Other times its a SS crapiola.....Open mic nights are different and I'll never not bring my amp again .....into the PA sucked .....

[EL34]

I used to do several different jams each week in FL

You got that right about harp players. They go buy a Blues harp and blow in and out randomly.

One guy used to bring a trombone and that was always entertaining.

I hated when a trumpet player would show up. Trumpets hurt my brain.

I used to hate being put up with some singers,
This one girl had waited all night to sing.
I got put up with her and a guy who was a great keyboard player.
She wanted to sing "You are the wind beneath my wings"
I turned my guitar off and pretended to play
I didn't have the slightest idea how to play that song and the keyboard guy covered for everyone.
She looked over at me and gave me a dirty look when she realized I was not playing. 

Then again, once I got put up with a couple really good guitarist and that was always fun.
I remember one guy wanted to play Missiissippi Queen, and I was like, HELL YEAH, LETS GO!

[Madison]

I used to do these at least once a week in Seattle.Usually 2 or 3 times a week.
It was cool because it was basically the same gal and gear that hosted most of the open mics on the North side where I lived.
There was a sign up list that could get to be a long wait.
I got to know her pretty well and she took a liking to me so there always seemed to be a spot on the "list"....or I'd volunteer for bass in the mean time.....or ever drums (yikes!)
Needless to say many folks had a few too many by the time it was their turn to play.(including me).
But everybody kind of knew each other and got along.No real attitudes.
Some of the open mics in downtown would get some pretty good players and more professional, where as, you could bring in your rig and get set up.
Some of the players weren't so great........they were better than bad,they were good?
All of the open mics were fun and lots to learn, see,people to meet.
This was over 10 years ago so know many of those places are long gone unfortunately.
Don't really know about now but there used to be a ton of places to play at in that city.
Good times.