Let's face it, not many of us guitarist have the privilege of performing out in public with any degree of regularity. We all start at home, practicing in the bedroom, and few of us graduate to playing out. It is truly a blessing and we should be grateful every time we get to perform out. If people actually show up, that's a bonus. But by playing out, you develop your chops and learn a thing or two you wouldn't have at home.
I started playing guitar when I was 15 and have played in rock and country bands in college as well as youth groups and church services throughout my life. But I didn't start playing blues seriously until a few years ago. My first experience at a jam reads like out of a bad movie...
An older friend and fellow musician had been bugging me and a buddy(a harmonica player) about hitting up the local blues joints. He's a seasoned player and co-leads a blues band in the area. But I wanted nothing to do with it. Truthfully I was terrified. I had been to Cafe Bugaloo in Hermosa Beach often and JJ's here in the bay area and knew how good, how great, some of the players are whom you've never heard of. And I knew I had no business being on the same stage as them, even during an amateur night jam. But this guy is persistent. Week in and week out he is bugging us. Finally one day he tells us he is going out to JJ's the following Tuesday night to hang promotional signs for his upcoming gig on Friday and that we should come along...there was an amateur jam. He counters our immediate apprehension with, "There's going to be no one there, it's a Tuesday!" So we decide to go. We are to meet him there at 9pm. And we are scared.
That night before the jam, my buddy and I are eating dinner. And he looks over at me and says, "We're playing JJ's tonight, like in an hour." And my stomach just tightens up. I am really nervous. To make things worse, we haven't even been given the songs we're playing that night. But we are reassured by the fact that it's a week night and the club should be dead. We head over.
When we drive up, it's like something out of bad movie. It's packed. There are bikers outside. The crowd is a mix, but looks pretty rough. We are thinking, "What are we doing here!" Mark comes up and says we're on "The List." Then we see the calendar sheet...it's Fat Tuesday, and it's a pro jam. My buddy and I look at each other and say, "Mark, this is a pro jam! We're not pros! We need to get out of here!" He says, "Pro is a relative term...come on. It will be fine...we'll pray before we go up." At this point, I'm just laughing. I don't even look the part with my surf shirt, jeans, Chinese made Vox AC30 and a cheap Epiphone Dot. I mean this is just ridiculous.
Then this big African American gentleman comes up to the house band and says he wants to play. The band tells him, "You want to play, get on the list." He yells, "I'm T-Bone something something, I don't wait on no F#*%-ing list." The band tells him, "This is a pro jam, you have to get on the list or you don't play." Mr. T-Bone comes back with a big "F%$# You!" The band says, "Would you like to say that to everyone" and hands him the mic. "F&$# YOU!" The club goes quiet. And good old T-Bone walks on out. We're hoping he won't be returning with a gun. Next thing we hear is the band on the mic calling out our names...we're up next!! Are you kidding me? We have to follow that?
We head outside, say a quick prayer, and jump up on stage. Trust me, that prayer helped a lot.
Well things went fine, actually they went great. We were given a fourth song, instead of the standard three songs and off, and people were up, dancing, and applauding. I was so nervous my legs and fingers were shaking. And my solos definitely showed it! But man, what a rush. I was flying high! I had just played on a stage that legends like John Lee Hooker and BB King had graced...and wasn't been booed off!
That was the first of many more times playing out at blues jams. I now perform in a local gospel blues outfit.My point in this post is to encourage players to just get out there and play. The first time you do, it's not going to be comfortable. And you're probably not going to impress anyone. But you will improve. In time, you'll get over those nerves and be able to just relax and have fun. And the improvement you'll see will be light years ahead of what you could have achieved by sitting at home and running through your scales or jamming along to your favorite Zep song. There's nothing wrong with that of course...we all started there. But there comes a point in every musician's journey when it's time to man up and play out.Trust me, you won't regret it!
I started playing guitar when I was 15 and have played in rock and country bands in college as well as youth groups and church services throughout my life. But I didn't start playing blues seriously until a few years ago. My first experience at a jam reads like out of a bad movie...
An older friend and fellow musician had been bugging me and a buddy(a harmonica player) about hitting up the local blues joints. He's a seasoned player and co-leads a blues band in the area. But I wanted nothing to do with it. Truthfully I was terrified. I had been to Cafe Bugaloo in Hermosa Beach often and JJ's here in the bay area and knew how good, how great, some of the players are whom you've never heard of. And I knew I had no business being on the same stage as them, even during an amateur night jam. But this guy is persistent. Week in and week out he is bugging us. Finally one day he tells us he is going out to JJ's the following Tuesday night to hang promotional signs for his upcoming gig on Friday and that we should come along...there was an amateur jam. He counters our immediate apprehension with, "There's going to be no one there, it's a Tuesday!" So we decide to go. We are to meet him there at 9pm. And we are scared.That night before the jam, my buddy and I are eating dinner. And he looks over at me and says, "We're playing JJ's tonight, like in an hour." And my stomach just tightens up. I am really nervous. To make things worse, we haven't even been given the songs we're playing that night. But we are reassured by the fact that it's a week night and the club should be dead. We head over.
When we drive up, it's like something out of bad movie. It's packed. There are bikers outside. The crowd is a mix, but looks pretty rough. We are thinking, "What are we doing here!" Mark comes up and says we're on "The List." Then we see the calendar sheet...it's Fat Tuesday, and it's a pro jam. My buddy and I look at each other and say, "Mark, this is a pro jam! We're not pros! We need to get out of here!" He says, "Pro is a relative term...come on. It will be fine...we'll pray before we go up." At this point, I'm just laughing. I don't even look the part with my surf shirt, jeans, Chinese made Vox AC30 and a cheap Epiphone Dot. I mean this is just ridiculous.Then this big African American gentleman comes up to the house band and says he wants to play. The band tells him, "You want to play, get on the list." He yells, "I'm T-Bone something something, I don't wait on no F#*%-ing list." The band tells him, "This is a pro jam, you have to get on the list or you don't play." Mr. T-Bone comes back with a big "F%$# You!" The band says, "Would you like to say that to everyone" and hands him the mic. "F&$# YOU!" The club goes quiet. And good old T-Bone walks on out. We're hoping he won't be returning with a gun. Next thing we hear is the band on the mic calling out our names...we're up next!! Are you kidding me? We have to follow that?
We head outside, say a quick prayer, and jump up on stage. Trust me, that prayer helped a lot.
Well things went fine, actually they went great. We were given a fourth song, instead of the standard three songs and off, and people were up, dancing, and applauding. I was so nervous my legs and fingers were shaking. And my solos definitely showed it! But man, what a rush. I was flying high! I had just played on a stage that legends like John Lee Hooker and BB King had graced...and wasn't been booed off!
That was the first of many more times playing out at blues jams. I now perform in a local gospel blues outfit.My point in this post is to encourage players to just get out there and play. The first time you do, it's not going to be comfortable. And you're probably not going to impress anyone. But you will improve. In time, you'll get over those nerves and be able to just relax and have fun. And the improvement you'll see will be light years ahead of what you could have achieved by sitting at home and running through your scales or jamming along to your favorite Zep song. There's nothing wrong with that of course...we all started there. But there comes a point in every musician's journey when it's time to man up and play out.Trust me, you won't regret it!
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