RE: [Harp-L] San Francisco blues jams?

["Bill Hines" <billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Leslie,

Check out Biscuits 'n Blues when you are there, it's right downtown.
They have a new upstairs area which I believe I heard hosts a blues jam.
Maybe Greg Heumann or Robert Gaustad will chime in since they're san
fran area folks. If not a jam they'll probably have a darn good show to
go to, they always have top acts like Jason Ricci.

I travel a lot as well and try to hit the jams. Some other jams to look
for if you are in the area(s) are the one at Blues Station in Columbus
Ohio, Warmdaddy's in Philly (new location), and the best one which I
think is ours at the 40 & 8 Club in Harrisburg, PA. Now that one is at a
real old-style crowded, smokey juke-joint type place in a field (you
park in the grass or dirt) with cheap booze, an old porch where you can
drink and great music and all kinds of "excitement" on any given
Thursday! A great group of folks from many races and walks of life, no
"house band", just put your name on the clipboard and wait your shot.
Better for beginner/intermediate players early on because later in the
night the pro-level hot shots get up there and torch the place!
Sometimes they even bring up some "ringers" from the delta down south.
On harp, you get everything from hacks like me to pros like Mike Easton
and Daine Paul Russell when they are there. Sorry to gush, but I've been
all over and to me this place is the epitome of a blues joint/jam, at
least best you can get north of the mason dixon from what I've
experienced. I just don't get the "vibe" in these newer, shiny neon
polished bars with big parking lots and a freeway or shopping mall
outside. A friend went to DC's last night (Sunday) and said it was good
but I don't know where it was held.

Bill Hines
Hershey, PA

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Leslie
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 9:42 AM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] San Francisco blues jams?

Hello, I've been reading this list for a few years now and really 
enjoy it. So thank you to all who write in! I've been playing 
harmonica for about the same amount of time.. about 2 and a half 
years, and am finally to the point in the last 6 months where I can 
hold my own at blues jams pretty much wherever I go. My husband plays 
guitar and travels with me on all my trips which are mostly work 
related. Our favorite thing to do is look for blues jams in whatever 
city we're in. We always find the local musicians extremely welcoming 
and enjoy meeting people this way. We've been to Chicago, NYC, San 
Jose, Wilmington, NC, Boston and Halifax, NS. WIlmington and Halifax 
are 2 favorites of ours for the blues, small cities but loaded with 
great blues musicians. Chicago of course was an incredible 
experience... I was still too new at harp to join in but it was 
extremely inspiring (if you don't mind hearing"Little Red Rooster" 
played 2 or 3 times a night :-) )

We are going to be in San Francisco this week from Tues through Sat. 
for the MacWorld conference and would like to find a blues jam or 2. 
We will be in the Union Square area/Moscone Center area and won't 
have a car but can taxi it (hard to take equipment on public 
transportation so we would like to stay in the city). We prefer jams 
to open mics and also like smaller clubs as sometimes in the bigger 
clubs you have to wait 3 hours to play just 2 songs.. and it's harder 
to interact with other musicians. Our style is more towards 
rock/blues than jazz/blues. I've looked on the internet and found a 
few sites that lists jams but I was wondering if anyone here could 
recommend a SF blues jam from firsthand experience.

One last thing... how many woman harmonica players are on here? 
...just curious... I play both harmonica and drums, but not at the 
same time... yet! ;-) Recently I received a comment that I have the 
good timing and rhythm of a drummer while playing harmonica.. it was 
the first time I ever considered the connection. Are there as few 
woman harp players as there are woman drummers, or even less?

Thanks in advance!
Leslie & Tony
Brewer, Maine
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