Another Jam Disappointment

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Some jams are good...

If they are, word gets around, and they get crowded...

Then, it's hard on the guy(s) and/or gal(s) running it because everyone wants to play and you'd be amazed how childish all these grown up folk can be when they feel like they aren't getting their turn...

Then, the host quits because he/she is tired of babysitting...

Process repeats at new jam where someone who used to complain to the old host just *knows* he could do a better job.

That's just my experience in the last 25 years of so of open jams. It doesn't always work that way, but it does often enough to see a pattern.

Fortunately we do have some great hosts and some great jams in Orange County, but because of that, they can get really crowded.
If only that Griff guy would host a jam...
 

Marsh

Are those real valves in your amp?
Some jams are not really organized. That seems to result in unpredictable outcomes. I went to one where I ended up being the lone band member with a bunch of harmonica players. That was not something I was really prepared for or was hoping for. Haven't participated again in that one so far.

I have discovered another jam locally that seems like it might be promising. Meanwhile, I have continued to play at Uncle Chicken's Wednesday night jams (weather permitting). It is far more professionally managed. They do their best to accommodate the newbies, the somewhat experienced, the experienced and the egocentric.
 

TwoNotesSolo

Student Of The Blues
The solution to too many guitars at the jam- play bass!

(I actually got to play bass behind Griff at a OC Blues Society jam a few years ago)

Stop letting the secret out! I've been to jams in the Denver area where they had a hard time fitting in all the bass players, because the word is out. There is one jam I had to "volunteer" to play guitar instead of bass because htey wre going to recycle some of the guitar players to allow more bass players to get a turn. (OK, that only happened once, but evne a few years ago, I would get to play with a few groups on bass, even though I was a beginner)
 
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