Re: [Harp-L] Jam Format

[<bfrain@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

i was at a jam last sunday.  they brought me up w/ 2 guitar players.  they were so loud it was like a jet engine.  i walked off the stage after 60 seconds.  the audience looked miserable.  you couldn't make out individual notes till you got in the parking lot!  that's incredibly stupid and rude.  the owner might stop hosting jams.  the crowd will depart.  other musicians won't return (i'm not going back).  all becuase of the ego, or whatever it is, of the guitars.  i've had guys plug in and turn the amp to 10!  i walked over and turned 'em down to 4, ready to fight if i had to.
your friend needs to FIRMLY establish that it's not  a stadium venue, and we have to keep the volume down.  if anyone can't cooperate, you turn the amp off and ask 'em to get off the stage.  you really gotta be tough about it.  guitar players are a-holes!
---- Robert Cole <poidog@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> Hey Gang
> A good friend of mine has started a blues jam at a very cool retro club into Portland.
> A great room that has a capacity of 125 and a
> very supportive proprietor. Who takes good care of the paying customers and treat the musicians with respect. 
> 
> I am not much of a jam person as we play 3 nights a week and I do not have the time or energy. He is new at this and would like to know if any of you cats have a format that would help him be organized. On the one time I did attend my criticism was the volume that reached intolerable levels and of course it was the  guitar animals that were the offenders. 
> 
> Anyway after 6 wed nights he is attracting some of the upper level musicians in Portland OR. (musicians are moving here  in droves thinking there's a gig on every corner-not). Last week the attendance reached almost capacity as far as the audience. 
> 
> If any of you good folks have any suggestions please contact me off list.
> I can't wait because I know there are going to be some gooduns.  My friend is new at this and has asked for guidance. Who better to ask then harp players who have fought the guitar volume wars and all of the other issues in the jam scene.
> Contact me off list amigos.
> 
> Thanks in advance
> Bobby Cole
> 
> 
> RRC
> 
>