Our town is relatively small but has several site's for good music. My favorite in Hot Springs is the Ohio Club (Est 1905) with a rich history of visitors from all over the world. They have an open mike blues jam every Wednesday night. If you've got a favorite let's hear about it.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

The only local Blues Bar is the Fat Cat Blues Bar and they have a pretty lax attitude about playing there and just about any night they'll let anyone get up and jam with the band that's booked that week.They also have open mic nights on the weekends that go pretty well.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

The only place in our little town that has an Open Mike or Jam Night is The "VIKING"., Trouble is, it's not all Blues and a lot of Country and Not to mention, The bar croud usually has a short fuse. The other night a young kid got up and was about 1/2 way through his second song and realised that the place was about MT. In our State Wee have a no smoking law, so all the smokers get up and go outside for a smoke. Not a good thing for him. hope he dont give up.The kid was realy prity good.

I've been to the Rhythm Room here in Phoenix. Pretty cool bar, and it's not too far away, so I can stumble home in about 45 mins. without driving afterward.

north eastern hotel, every sunday. i've gotta mate whos 18 and reguralary gigs there, so i always say he supervises me

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riley

take your pic.

http://absbluesnotes.com/?page_id=32

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

It's not my, favorite, but it's the morning and evening commutes, on the Long Island Railroad, and the subways, getting around Penn Station in NYC every day. There's a blues jam if ever the song "Stormy Monday" could describe.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I'm waiting for a place to open that has a "Chicken Pickin' " jam.

Seriously, I have been to a few blues jams in my life and they are pretty boring, especially to listen to. I suppose it's a good place to get some stage experience, though, if your first starting out but the progression out of a situation like that should be "as quick as possible". In my opinion you're better off starting a band and doing something creative rather than "wanking off" at a blues jam.

far to often this is the case.
i blame this on whoever it is thats throwing the jam mostly.
they have to do things to keep it ever changing. these type
situations can get boring pretty quickly if its the same thing over
and over again. its all about how its organized. ive seen some real messes
but ive seen more that i wish the night wouldnt end.
my advice to you is to keep looking for better spots. you have to realize that
there are several good things to these jams. like you mentioned, stage experience
is one of the cool things about these jams. the better part is the networking that
can be had. your in a room full of folks that have the same interests as you do,
and thats the time to start meeting people. i use to go to jams just to talk with
people and never even brought a guitar to play. this is something you can do if
your in a spot where the jam isnt going so well. ask around and see where other
jams are being held at. get some names. remember faces. sometimes you gotta
find the good inside the bad.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

most importantly though, HAVE FUN.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I remember a TV interview with some of the so-called 'Kings of Comedy'...the great standup comics of the '40's and 50's who were the influences of todays genre. What they said about the hotels of yore, in NYS's Catskill Mountains was that that was a place you could go to be 'bad', to learn and fine tune your craft, and they were quick to recognize that, in the time of that interview, those kinds of venues were becoming few and far between. In the Greenwich Village of 'the day', 45 years ago past, venues like The Cafe WHA?, The Nightowl, and others of their ilk used to have what they called "Hootenanny".
Usually on a Sunday afternoon, it was just that kind of a place, where all kinds of talent could get stage exposure. It was from that kind thing that our 18 month long gig evolved, and where we first came to meet Jose Feliciano, among others. These days, the expectation seems to be that everything that comes forward on stage has to be entertaining and skilled. That's not, in my mind, what I expect at these jams, and I would hate to learn that a hopeful neophyte would be deterred from 'taking the plunge', because of an unrealistic expectation of the audience. Anyone having the 'cojones' to bare themselves in front of an audience deserves at least a modicum of respect for doing so, and whatever constructive criticism which might be offered, in a spirit of goodwill and music fellowship, to encourage that individual to go on.

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"Another day in paradise!"

well said doc. your wisdom and experiences shine in your posts.
sometimes when i read your posts i feel like i should change my screename
to grasshopper. (some folks might not get that)

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

My guess is that you have already crossed the rice paper without leaving a trace.
The rest is but living the life.

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"Another day in paradise!"

amen. lol

its taken me years to realize its all about what you give back.
giving back is the key to EVERYTHING.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Sorry if I seemed a tad harsh but I think I was stating the truth.

As stated Blues Jams are a good place to start, to gain experience and to meet people and socialize but for every 1 good, organized jam there are 20 "dogs" and the sooner you can get what you can out of that scene and on to a solid project the better off you'll be-unless you HAVE found a constantly good, high quality jam with only good players (highly unlikely, in my experience as the talented players usually form their own band or start a serious project so you're left with a core of guys that are "weekend warriors" with average abilities.)

But don't get me wrong. For what it is-it is a good thing.