Blues Jam Rules For People Who Run A Blues Jam But Don’t Know Their Sound Box From A Hole In The Ground.
I have run blues jams for years and in my estimation, I know how to run a jam. And I hate it when the jams are not well run. It is my basic code as a Democrat that everyone gets treated equally, and well, everyone gets to play. If you run a blues jam, you ought to follow these rules. If you run a jam and don’t follow these rules, then, well, I don’t now what to say except there’s a reason they call it the blues.
- Everyone who shows up gets to play. Of course, they have to sign up and show up before show time. But if someone comes to your jam, they should get to play. Everyone gets two to four songs. If there is more time at the end of the jam, then you bring someone up again. No one breaks in line. Sign up and come up in order as you appeared. If the jam goes from 8:30 to Midnight, and you come in at 10:30, don’t expect to be asked up before someone who has been there for hours waiting to play.
2. Tune your instruments before you get on stage, not on stage.
3. The house band plays for no more than 45 minutes before the jam starts. It’s a jam, not your debut.
4. It’s a jam. So the songs should be long enough for everyone to have a solo, 12 bars or more, in the clear.
5. It’s blues. Which means it can also be country and rock and roll and even some jazz. A rule of thumb is The Harmonica Rule. If a harmonica doesn’t belong in the song, play it somewhere else.
6. Bring everyone up by their name and thank them and have the audience give them a hand.
7. Get to know your players and their strengths and weaknesses. Give them a chance to grow, maybe asking them to play songs that may be a bit beyond them.
8. Yell the key out before the song starts, don’t make the band figure it out.
9. Remind the audience to tip the wait staff.
10. As a general rule, diversify your bands. It’s OK to bring up three guitarists. It’s OK to bring up four horn players, but understand then that often lots of musicians who play the same instrument feel they have to fight for playing time in the clear. Don’t bring up two harmonica players or two bass players or two singers unless they sing together regularly.
11. Forgive and play nicely. Forgive players that don’t always know the rules or make a mistake or play in the wrong key or play over someone else. To a lot of people, this is their moment for the week where they are more than a schlump taking someone’s orders, or getting yelled at at home. Let them shine for a few minutes. If you’re the house band, remember you get to shine whenever you are on stage. Be kind and players will return. The audience also wants to see kindness. If you let players play, they will come back and play. The more players that come, generally the larger the crowd and the larger crowds bring hotter players. This is how a great jam happens.
12. Be humble. If you are famous, you probably won’t be reading this anyway. But attitude will do more to hurt you than you think.
13. Honor special guests, veterans, parents of musicians on stage, famous people, and people who come from across the world to play on your stage.
Final note here. Every once in a while, a regular jam takes off. Like Shaw’s in NE Minneapolis. It’s on Monday evenings and it starts around 8:30 PM and the jammers come up around 9:30 PM. It gets crowded and great players are invited up. And this hole in the wall working class pub shines BECAUSE it’s a hole in the wall and the music is great. And no two chairs match and the bathroom is dirty. And the dog-eared posters are for shows that were over decades ago.
But man, the music is great.
If you play your cards right, you can make a jam take off. If it does, it could stay that way for years and bring so many great nights.
OK. There you have it. This is how to run a jam.
