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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:46 pm
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Here in Central WI the choices and opportunities for "open" jams is pretty sparse.

There are only two that are organized and they are organized in such a way that only the same circle of people are ever inolved or "invited" to play. I've attended both of these "jams" at least 3 times and will not go back.

Seems that in this town there's a very tight circle of "old timers" for lack of a better word that run the scene and if you aren't part of that forget about it. I was told that the one open mic is considered a "pro jam" and I don't cut the mustard on their level.

Luckily I have two bands to keep my interest up. And recently I've started a "fun" jam with two former coworkers that are now retired. It's all fun and screw the rest of them.


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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 2:01 pm
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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 2:03 pm
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Miami Mike wrote:
Eroot64 wrote:
We have one here (or used to ) at the House of Blues. I've seen it, but never sat in. I can riff to just about any blues type stuff but I don't know many of the standards. I don't think I would get any love if I just went up and cut improvised leads all over regulars. They would probably give me the Hook, lol. My band mate and I are starting a very loose, no ego, jam session. We thought we would throw it up on craig's ang see who showed up. Might be fun.


Since you usually just get 3 and out (unless you can sing too) try concentrating on
just a few of the standards like:

Sweet Home Chicago
Born Under a Bad Sign
Messin' With The Kid
I'm Tore Down
Shake Your Moneymaker
Stormy Monday
I Can't Quit You Baby
Born In Chicago
Five Long Years
Hideaway

Good luck!

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_bluesong.html

Good advice thanks, I'll take it :wink:


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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:17 am
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Eroot64 wrote:
Miami Mike wrote:
Eroot64 wrote:
We have one here (or used to ) at the House of Blues. I've seen it, but never sat in. I can riff to just about any blues type stuff but I don't know many of the standards. I don't think I would get any love if I just went up and cut improvised leads all over regulars. They would probably give me the Hook, lol. My band mate and I are starting a very loose, no ego, jam session. We thought we would throw it up on craig's ang see who showed up. Might be fun.


Since you usually just get 3 and out (unless you can sing too) try concentrating on
just a few of the standards like:

Sweet Home Chicago
Born Under a Bad Sign
Messin' With The Kid
I'm Tore Down
Shake Your Moneymaker
Stormy Monday
I Can't Quit You Baby
Born In Chicago
Five Long Years
Hideaway

Good luck!

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_bluesong.html

Good advice thanks, I'll take it :wink:


Good luck! Find your key and let it rip!!!

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Don't leave home without it!


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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:14 pm
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My first public performances were at the Sunday Night Open Mic Jam at the lamentably defunct J&J's Blues Bar in Fort Worth.

The rules were simple:
If you wanted to jam, sign up on the sheet and state what instrument(s) you played.

A local band started out the night, playing a four-or-five song set to warm up the crowd (and themselves).

They would call up the Jammers, in the order they signed up.

If you sucked, you were politely brushed aside after one short song. If you were decent, you got to perform a second song. If you were good, you got to perform a third. If you were great, you were often invited or allowed to stay on stage as an auxiliary member of the host band (if there weren't already other members or Jammers that played that instrument).

Since the lion's share of the Jammers played guitar, it was advisable to bring or play another instrument that made you stand out...singers were in short supply, as were harp/harmonica players. Horn players were very welcome, if they knew when to shut up and didn't try to turn everything into a 30-minute bebop excursion.
(I usually signed up to sing and/or play harp, since it gave me more of a chance to stay up there and since I felt my fledgling guitar skills weren't strong enough to impress at the time; later, I also started concentrating on my slide-playing, since that was a rare skill amongst this group for some reason).

The audience was tough but fair. The bands were usually tougher to impress, but gave credit and commendation where due.

There were certain bands/artists that got "jealous" or upset if they were upstaged, and they would often ignore or disregard a player who had previously outshined them...however, the bartender/booking agent Dave Jeffery (who had a harp mic that was plugged into the house PA and would occasionally add his prestigious harmonica skills to the show) kept a lid on that type of behavior, at least as much as he could.

One host player, who fancied and billed himself a "Fort Worth Legend" (his words, not mine) played an interesting but understated blend of Western Swing and Fort Worth White-Guy Blues. Due to his "lazy/laid back" style, was in constant danger of being upstaged by anyone with a bit of fire. He was notorious for shutting down such performers (and thus dampening enthusiasm of both the Jammers and the Audience alike). He tried to blackball me and a friend (who was an excellent guitarist) because we got more applause and recognition for out efforts...(we weren't necessarily better, we were just kind of a novelty--two skinny white kids that looked like we just fell off of a horse and wagon, but could more than adequately hold our own on our respective instruments...plus, we were very enthusiastic and pulled out all the stops for our time onstage).
Dave called the host down for his behavior...the guy said, "Those little (insert term for illegitimate children) were showing off!"
"Maybe you ought try that, too!" Dave replied.

Overall, it was a great way to learn to perform and blend with a band (which I didn't have at the time)...I sure miss it.

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 2:13 pm
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Screamin Armadillo wrote:
My first public performances were at the Sunday Night Open Mic Jam at the lamentably defunct J&J's Blues Bar in Fort Worth.

The rules were simple:
If you wanted to jam, sign up on the sheet and state what instrument(s) you played.

A local band started out the night, playing a four-or-five song set to warm up the crowd (and themselves).

They would call up the Jammers, in the order they signed up.

If you sucked, you were politely brushed aside after one short song. If you were decent, you got to perform a second song. If you were good, you got to perform a third. If you were great, you were often invited or allowed to stay on stage as an auxiliary member of the host band (if there weren't already other members or Jammers that played that instrument).


That sound like the way it should be.


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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 4:26 pm
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Eroot64 wrote:
Screamin Armadillo wrote:
...The rules were simple:
If you wanted to jam, sign up on the sheet and state what instrument(s) you played.

A local band started out the night, playing a four-or-five song set to warm up the crowd (and themselves).

They would call up the Jammers, in the order they signed up.

If you sucked, you were politely brushed aside after one short song. If you were decent, you got to perform a second song. If you were good, you got to perform a third. If you were great, you were often invited or allowed to stay on stage as an auxiliary member of the host band (if there weren't already other members or Jammers that played that instrument).


That sound like the way it should be.


I don't think so, I really prefer the more democratic and populous approach at my current favorite place... *everyone* gets 3 songs or 15 minutes. If you suck, people turn their backs, if the host likes your stuff or the response is really good, you get to play an extra song or two (Ha! I usually get asked for an extra song except on nights when it is really over-booked). Open mic nights are for people just starting out, going out to have fun, learn etc. etc. If you're really good, it's not that hard to get a full unpaid gig here in Tucson -- do that if you don't want to deal with the rabble and wannabees... or if you are *really* so good that you can't deal with people that suck, you shouldn't be performing in the same room with them at all!

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 5:06 am
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mh2000 wrote:
Eroot64 wrote:
Screamin Armadillo wrote:
...The rules were simple:
If you wanted to jam, sign up on the sheet and state what instrument(s) you played.

A local band started out the night, playing a four-or-five song set to warm up the crowd (and themselves).

They would call up the Jammers, in the order they signed up.

If you sucked, you were politely brushed aside after one short song. If you were decent, you got to perform a second song. If you were good, you got to perform a third. If you were great, you were often invited or allowed to stay on stage as an auxiliary member of the host band (if there weren't already other members or Jammers that played that instrument).


That sound like the way it should be.


I don't think so, I really prefer the more democratic and populous approach at my current favorite place... *everyone* gets 3 songs or 15 minutes. If you suck, people turn their backs, if the host likes your stuff or the response is really good, you get to play an extra song or two (Ha! I usually get asked for an extra song except on nights when it is really over-booked). Open mic nights are for people just starting out, going out to have fun, learn etc. etc. If you're really good, it's not that hard to get a full unpaid gig here in Tucson -- do that if you don't want to deal with the rabble and wannabees... or if you are *really* so good that you can't deal with people that suck, you shouldn't be performing in the same room with them at all!

The venue I was talking about was an interesting mix of bikers, college kids, Blues Nerds and older progenitors of the Fort Worth Blues scene (which was thriving at the time). It was an encouraging but tough crowd. They gave everybody a polite "E" for effort, but you didn't get a trophy (I.e., lots of applause) just for participating, either.

The reason for politely shuffling the bad players was smart: if each player were given 10-15 minutes no matter what, two or three bad performers in a row could cause the energy to lag for up to 45 minutes. The bikers and blues nerds would be out the door and at one of the three blues venues that were within a one-mile radius, or one of the other six that were within 5 miles.


J&J's was the epicenter, the bedrock of said scene, but it was not the only choice on the Blues Bar menu.

Also, these host bands weren't playing for free--they were paid to host, and told to keep the energy up and the beer (sales) flowing. If they didn't keep the energy up, they were in danger of not being hired again...and they generally wanted to keep in the good graces of this bar, especially since it was a pretty easy gig, overall. I mentioned the host who was upset when he got upstaged--he was only asked to host a few more times, and when he refused to be reasonable, was no longer hired to do so.

If a performer was bad, that didn't mean they never got another chance--if they came back the next week, they were called (in order of the sign-up sheet) and given another shot. If somebody was consistently terrible (or conversely, very good but was a stage hog), they might be passed over a couple of times in favor of another more balanced performer--but rarely were they ignored or blown out for the night.

The scene was very friendly and nurturing...new players (whether they were kids like myself at the time or an older guy finally getting around to chasing his dream) were offered as much help as they would accept. Some of the leaders of the host bands would often offer some friendly advice or tips for getting better. Even though I was generally playing harp at the time, I would ask the other guitarists--both Jammers and hosts--about how to play certain riffs, licks, turnarounds and tricks, and most of them readily showed me what I asked, even allowing me to try it on their guitars (this was between sets, obviously).

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Texas Roadhouse Music at It's Finest...


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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:34 am
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Just showed up one night with my guitar & amp, played some improv with the house band, then some actual songs i wrote. Now I'm in the house band haha.
The guys are welcoming to anyone who wants to sing or play , if they arent good yet, 1 tune....if they're good, then 3-4 songs.
We try to play as much improv as we can get away with, then some arranged compositions. But almost ALL originals. We want to play music people haven't heard y'know. The problem is we live in a sleepy town so 50% of the time, we don't have a crowd. Plus, it's tues nights. The nights with a crowd are so awesome. When u look up and see ppl dancing to your song, it's almost like ur dancing with them.

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:39 am
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twirlyboggs wrote:
Just showed up one night with my guitar & amp, played some improv with the house band, then some actual songs i wrote. Now I'm in the house band haha.
The guys are welcoming to anyone who wants to sing or play , if they arent good yet, 1 tune....if they're good, then 3-4 songs.
We try to play as much improv as we can get away with, then some arranged compositions. But almost ALL originals. We want to play music people haven't heard y'know. The problem is we live in a sleepy town so 50% of the time, we don't have a crowd. Plus, it's tues nights. The nights with a crowd are so awesome. When u look up and see ppl dancing to your song, it's almost like ur dancing with them.


Awesome!

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:53 am
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Your whole story is cool, and I agree with everything you said, but this statement is beautifully true and poetic:
twirlyboggs wrote:
When u look up and see ppl dancing to your song, it's almost like ur dancing with them.

8) Good Vibes to You!

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:36 pm
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I think there's a huge difference between an "open mic" and "open jam" with a house band. I'm a songwriter, so I'm only really interested in the former... and since people actually like my songs, but I suck as a musician... not surprising! :)

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:43 pm
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...regarding "looking up" and feeling good. I usually close my eyes when I really get into it and listen to myself coming off the back wall, once it felt good when I looked up and saw a guy cheering me by name at the edge of the stage and was video *taping* me on his iPhone. Haha! Like I was actually *someone*. :)

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Post subject: Re: Jam/Open Mic Protocol
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 11:13 am
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We be jammin'

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