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Hosting a Blues Jam

Tazziedevil

Tazziedevil

Apr 2, 2019
735
1,112
48
Tasmania
#1
So instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself and cursing the lack of musical opportunity in my city, I've decided to be proactive and host an open blues jam. I've booked a rehearsal room with a P.A. and mics (very big, is used for a kid's rock band thing during breaks) I'm paying out of pocket for it (It's $50 for 3 1/2 hours, + the guy who owns it sets up the mics and PA) and have created an event on the socials. Have personally spoken to at least 5 people who are excited and will show up, about a dozen more have RSVP'd on the facebook event page so far - the event itself is January 17th so still a little more time for some promotion.

I'm trying to promote it as an "All-skill levels" type open jam, It's not at a bar so there's no reason under 18's couldn't come (but no one has yet to RSVP that age). Not unexpectedly, there's a whole slew of guitarists coming, a drummer, a pianist and several vocalists. Some guitarists are not "Blues players", they just want to jam with others.

Has anyone ever done this or had much experience running one? I've been to dozens in my life, but just showed up and played a few tunes and left. I'm planning on uploading a few lead sheets and lyrics so people can have a little look over them before the jam. I want to have a bit of a variety. Here's a few i'm going to call:


The thrill is gone
How blue can you get?
Folsom Prison Blues
She took the Katy
Crosscut saw
pride and joy
Texas Flood

Some non-blues:

Black Magic Woman
C jam blues
Sidewinder
Chameleon

Any tips or song suggestions?
 
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#2
Good for you!

I attend a bunch of these and watch the hosts. Some create a grab bag of folks and put them up together, others rotate players in a little more seamlessly, one worries about having a good "band" to keep the audience

Be a good guy and talk to the better players about what you're trying to do. Talk to the lesser players and help mentor them through it. Don't be shy about asking for everyone to kick in a couple bucks for the rental room. One jam I know of does pay a drummer and bass player so they have at least one show up. They have a list of folks they use. Don't be a hardass, make it fun even if there's trainwrecks. If you can have beer at your rehearsal hall, ask folks to bring some.

Good luck, you'll have a great time.
 
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#3
Tazziedevil said:
...
Some non-blues:
Click to expand...
Jazz blues:
Blue Monk
All Blues

Song For My Father and Cold Duck Time use mostly blues changes.

Blues:
Crossroads is good for introducing the concept of the Quick-IV (So is Blue Monk, actually...)
One Way Out is a blues most people don't think of as blues because they think it's "Southern Rock."
Sweet Home Chicago is a good introduction to the "Uptown Up" line.
 
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#4
Our band ran one for 3 years here in Memphis ... one year we sent out emails to all of. The IBC contestants world wide inviting them to come by during IBC week ... we even got Andrea Marr from down under to come by. It was in a local music dive bar. We had folks of all levels show up from beginners to pros, it was an interesting run, hope yours works well for you.
 
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#5
ArtechnikA said:
Jazz blues:
Blue Monk
All Blues

Song For My Father and Cold Duck Time use mostly blues changes.

Blues:
Crossroads is good for introducing the concept of the Quick-IV (So is Blue Monk, actually...)
One Way Out is a blues most people don't think of as blues because they think it's "Southern Rock."
Sweet Home Chicago is a good introduction to the "Uptown Up" line.
Click to expand...

Cold duck time is a great suggestion!
So is crossroads- not sure why I didn’t think of that already.

I may keep something like blue monk in reserve, depending on the drummer. I don’t want to a straight swing tune if the drummer can’t swing. Not sure of his skill level.
Also might add in The Chicken by Jaco- it’s a pretty straight forward tune.

The plan is to do the “easy” tunes first and work up to the more complex ones towards the end with the more experienced players.

And yes, if it’s a success and people want to do it again I will Ask for $2-$5 at the door to pay for the space. Get the first one done though before I think about the next one!
 
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#9
buldog5151bass said:
Maybe some more simple I-IV-V songs people know - Key to the Highway and Before You Accuse Me. Maybe Tush for the non-blues guys.
Click to expand...

I agree, at the beginning the more simple/common the better. I attend a lot of these and I don't know Sidewinder or Chameleon (by name at least). Never heard those called.

It can get a little repetitive of course I'm the one guilty of bringing the stuff folks don't usually play: "minor blues in F with a quick IV and this cool walkup turnaround", "it's a standard 12 bar pattern in E, but starts on the IV with two beats on the III, measure 8-12 are just E and B". :) I only do this with folks I have played with before and know they can handle it.
 
#13
Chances are always good that the setlist will turn into- Cold shot-A, Cold shot- Ab, Cold shot- A....:
Sound like fun. I hope it works out for you. In my many, many years of running jams, one of the hard things is to prevent the 'endless 12 bar' that goes on way too long.
 
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#14
BUMP!

How did this go?
Tazziedevil said:
...
The plan is to do the “easy” tunes first and work up to the more complex ones towards the end with the more experienced players.
...
Click to expand...

At the now-defunct monthly acoustic blues jam I attended, there were a number of players who would only come up towards the end of the night (start of the morning?) because, skilled or not, they were too shy or needed to build courage and waited for the audience to thin out.

I admire you for being pro-active. If your blues-night was successful and you plan another here's a few more song-suggestions:

SRV : Caught In the Crossfire
Gary Moore: Midnight Blues
WC Handy: Hesitation Blues
Nina Simone: Blues For Mama
Doors: Roadhouse Blues
 
#15
Feral Feline said:
BUMP!

How did this go?


At the now-defunct monthly acoustic blues jam I attended, there were a number of players who would only come up towards the end of the night (start of the morning?) because, skilled or not, they were too shy or needed to build courage and waited for the audience to thin out.

I admire you for being pro-active. If your blues-night was successful and you plan another here's a few more song-suggestions:

SRV : Caught In the Crossfire
Gary Moore: Midnight Blues
WC Handy: Hesitation Blues
Nina Simone: Blues For Mama
Doors: Roadhouse Blues
Click to expand...


It went really well - Thanks for wanting to know a little more!!

about 9 total people turned out- 3 guitars, a harmonica, 3 singers, myself on the bass and keyboard player. No drummer! We had the keyboard program a few basic beats and used that. There was no audience - I rented out the rehearsal room in town and we all jammed there. Lasted about 3 1/2 hours, one guitarist was quite skilled, the other two were novices and 2 of the singers were fantastic, while the third once she got comfortable really sounded great.
Really jammed on "Got my mojo workin'", "The thrill is gone", "Before you accuse me", "Folsom Prison Blues", and "Crossroads". A few others I can't recall but will add in a few more soulful female tunes next time.

I uploaded some basic charts to a dropbox folder of songs that would likely be called which I received some great feedback for, as well as a spotify playlist. I'll be trying to have one once a month at this point, asking for a Donation of $2 - $5 at the door.
 
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#16
Tazziedevil said:
So instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself and cursing the lack of musical opportunity in my city, I've decided to be proactive and host an open blues jam. I've booked a rehearsal room with a P.A. and mics (very big, is used for a kid's rock band thing during breaks) I'm paying out of pocket for it (It's $50 for 3 1/2 hours, + the guy who owns it sets up the mics and PA) and have created an event on the socials. Have personally spoken to at least 5 people who are excited and will show up, about a dozen more have RSVP'd on the facebook event page so far - the event itself is January 17th so still a little more time for some promotion.

I'm trying to promote it as an "All-skill levels" type open jam, It's not at a bar so there's no reason under 18's couldn't come (but no one has yet to RSVP that age). Not unexpectedly, there's a whole slew of guitarists coming, a drummer, a pianist and several vocalists. Some guitarists are not "Blues players", they just want to jam with others.

Has anyone ever done this or had much experience running one? I've been to dozens in my life, but just showed up and played a few tunes and left. I'm planning on uploading a few lead sheets and lyrics so people can have a little look over them before the jam. I want to have a bit of a variety. Here's a few i'm going to call:


The thrill is gone
How blue can you get?
Folsom Prison Blues
She took the Katy
Crosscut saw
pride and joy
Texas Flood

Some non-blues:

Black Magic Woman
C jam blues
Sidewinder
Chameleon

Any tips or song suggestions?
Click to expand...

...hope it went well... cool idea...
 
#17
Tazziedevil said:
So instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself and cursing the lack of musical opportunity in my city, I've decided to be proactive and host an open blues jam. I've booked a rehearsal room with a P.A. and mics (very big, is used for a kid's rock band thing during breaks) I'm paying out of pocket for it (It's $50 for 3 1/2 hours, + the guy who owns it sets up the mics and PA) and have created an event on the socials. Have personally spoken to at least 5 people who are excited and will show up, about a dozen more have RSVP'd on the facebook event page so far - the event itself is January 17th so still a little more time for some promotion.

I'm trying to promote it as an "All-skill levels" type open jam, It's not at a bar so there's no reason under 18's couldn't come (but no one has yet to RSVP that age). Not unexpectedly, there's a whole slew of guitarists coming, a drummer, a pianist and several vocalists. Some guitarists are not "Blues players", they just want to jam with others.

Has anyone ever done this or had much experience running one? I've been to dozens in my life, but just showed up and played a few tunes and left. I'm planning on uploading a few lead sheets and lyrics so people can have a little look over them before the jam. I want to have a bit of a variety. Here's a few i'm going to call:


The thrill is gone
How blue can you get?
Folsom Prison Blues
She took the Katy
Crosscut saw
pride and joy
Texas Flood

Some non-blues:

Black Magic Woman
C jam blues
Sidewinder
Chameleon

Any tips or song suggestions?
Click to expand...

Tazziedevil said:
It went really well - Thanks for wanting to know a little more!!

about 9 total people turned out- 3 guitars, a harmonica, 3 singers, myself on the bass and keyboard player. No drummer! We had the keyboard program a few basic beats and used that. There was no audience - I rented out the rehearsal room in town and we all jammed there. Lasted about 3 1/2 hours, one guitarist was quite skilled, the other two were novices and 2 of the singers were fantastic, while the third once she got comfortable really sounded great.
Really jammed on "Got my mojo workin'", "The thrill is gone", "Before you accuse me", "Folsom Prison Blues", and "Crossroads". A few others I can't recall but will add in a few more soulful female tunes next time.

I uploaded some basic charts to a dropbox folder of songs that would likely be called which I received some great feedback for, as well as a spotify playlist. I'll be trying to have one once a month at this point, asking for a Donation of $2 - $5 at the door.
Click to expand...

I just wanted to say that’s great that you took the bull by the horns and did this. Well done!:thumbsup:

I wish you lived near me lol.:laugh:
 
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#19
Good for you!
Glad the first night went so well. Love the idea of having charts prepared for those that want some guidance.
9's a good turnout for a first time, and I'd guess you don't want TOO many more than that anyway.

It sounds like this'll be a great way to meet more musicians, and even get a band together, if that's your intent.

My regular jam session (Oddly's Adventures: A session report ) is more a guitarist song circle, with occasional keys, harmonica, cajon.
We use a spare upstairs room in a bar (costs us nothing but a tip for the barman, we throw in a couple of euro each)...the idea of an actual rehearsal room setting would put off some people, I guess. Cost, comfort, and there's never parking space!
Our group is organised through a site called Meetup.com ... might be worth using that or similar if you need more people?
 
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#20
Tazziedevil said:
It went really well - Thanks for wanting to know a little more!!

about 9 total people turned out- 3 guitars, a harmonica, 3 singers, myself on the bass and keyboard player. No drummer! We had the keyboard program a few basic beats and used that. There was no audience - I rented out the rehearsal room in town and we all jammed there. Lasted about 3 1/2 hours, one guitarist was quite skilled, the other two were novices and 2 of the singers were fantastic, while the third once she got comfortable really sounded great.
Really jammed on "Got my mojo workin'", "The thrill is gone", "Before you accuse me", "Folsom Prison Blues", and "Crossroads". A few others I can't recall but will add in a few more soulful female tunes next time.

I uploaded some basic charts to a dropbox folder of songs that would likely be called which I received some great feedback for, as well as a spotify playlist. I'll be trying to have one once a month at this point, asking for a Donation of $2 - $5 at the door.
Click to expand...


I'd definitely see if you could find a drummer for next time...pay someone if you have to. Ask everyone that shows to kick in a little for the drummer. It's so much better that way.


Good on you for the success the first go!!!
 

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