Re: [Harp-L] Why Blues Jams are Important

[Garry <harp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 04/11/2011 01:43 PM, Rick Davis wrote:
> A big shout out to my brothers and sisters who host blues jams. It doesn’t
> pay much, it is often chaotic, and you have to deal occasionally with drunk
> and/or egotistical jerks. But it is service to the blues tradition. It is
> helping to keep the blues alive.

nicely put, rick.  i applaud you and all the others who take this on.  in my
experience, the folks who run jams put in a whole lot of effort for little
material return; they get to hear every complaint but seldom thanks.

after a rather difficult first year when i started playing at a poorly 
run jam,
i lucked into another one run by a guy who saw it as his mission to help the
new guys come along.  another guy, this young hotshot guitar player, started
around the same time i did.  johnny had great technique, but was all 
technique.
over the next year or so he was turned into a serious blues guitarist.  
now,
5 years later, he fronts one of the best bands in the area, and i play 
harp in
one of the others.

the other thing that matters, a lot, is that you are providing an outlet for
all of those musicians out there who *need* to play, but for whatever reason
aren't in a band.  how great is it that there's someplace they can go and
find kindred spirits to make music with, even if it's just a couple of 
songs.

so again, hats off to you and the rest who take this on.  may there always
be people like you, and always be jams.

--
We make a living from what we get,
but we make a life from what we give.
- Kathy Moser