Re: [Harp-L] Old Boys' Network

["G. E. Popenoe" <gpopenoe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Oh yeah. The guy running the jam is running a business. He or she is  
not obliged to give you a damn thing.

Stuff the ego and kiss some ass. Tip the staff well, schmooze the  
house band members as well as the leader.

I'll talk to the regulars to get a feel for the scene. A well  
connected favorite of the leader can sometimes help to get you up  
sooner.

Even with all that sales effort you may not get up. I've gone home  
without success many times. As others have stated, if the scene us a  
good one, hang in there. You'll get up eventually. If they dig you,  
welcome to the club! A couple of nights of sacrifice will reward you  
with many more nights of fun.

I've also discovered that jam leaders from other clubs will audit the  
competition. I've been approached and invited to other jams this way.

My toughest conquest was at a Malibu bar where the jam band was  
comprised of  teachers from Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

The drummer was Chet McCracken (Doobie Brothers), bass - Tim Bogart  
(Beck, Bogart and Apiece). The keyboard player toured with Bonnie  
Raitt. There was no list.

I schmoozed and schmoozed and kissed major ass. But, I was just a  
harmonica player.

I went two or three nights without success. Finally, I went and sat  
right at the stage so they couldn't ignore me. Now this is where my  
chromatic skills saved my bacon. However if you  can get a chromatic  
scale out of a diatonic, you can survive this too.

They tried to intimidate me by suddenly calling me up right in the  
middle of a tune! I've always trained to anything I hear on the radio  
or stereo so I just did what I always do.

After that, I was an accepted regular.

Gary Popenoe

On Mar 14, 2008, at 4:23 PM, Daniel Gage <dan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> As someone who developed his skills at  jams, I wanted to add a  
> little to this discussion.
>
>  The explanation a couple of posts back described the economic  
> realities and some of the politics of why the new guy at a jam often  
> has to wait.  In my mind, that reality is much easier to deal with  
> if jammers stop looking at blues jams as a "right to play".
>
>  People see this list, sign their name and expect some sort of  
> fairness based on "first come, first served".  It's a privalege for  
> an amateur to get up on a stage at a paying music venue.  It's not a  
> right.
>
>  In my experience, breaking into the clique takes time and the  
> correct attitude.  If you seek out people and make friends, you will  
> join the club sooner.  When you travel, you must be especially  
> charming/friendly, and you should know how to "talk the talk" about  
> the music and the harmonica.
>
>  If you're really green, maybe it's better that you stay late,  
> watching and learning.  I know I spent a lot of long nights at  
> jams.  I earned my way into the club, and built skill in the process.
>
>  Dan G.
>  "12gagedan" on youtube
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