Things are heating up in the blues jam world. We just had a jam this past weekend at Halligan’s. This is the place I keep saying is in the middle of nowhere. It’s not. It just feels like it. And this weekend coming up we’ve got another jam happening. This time at a place called Moochies. It’s a little closer in for me. Which will be nice. I have been having a lot of fun at the jams these past few months so I’m happy to get to have one more to go to.
This last one was a lot of fun. We had a couple of new people which is always good. That’s how you keep live music going, by getting more people to participate. And we had one person who, apparently has attended before as a bass player and this time came out to play harp (harmonica). His enthusiasm was fun and a little contagious. I don’t think anyone of us was having more fun than he was.
Watching one of the new players reminded me of when I first started going to the jams a few years ago. I didn’t know the songs we were playing. I might have heard some of them or heard of them but most of them I didn’t know them to be able to play them. I learned a few but most of the time I was learning on the fly, right there on stage. I still go through this. Just a couple of months ago even. So it was interesting for me, the other night, to watch this new person learn to play ‘Crossroads’ right there on stage and then to realize, I’m pretty sure the first time I played that song, ever, it was at a jam.
As terrifying as it can be, it’s also the fun part. Just getting up there and seeing what comes of it. It takes some time to get comfortable with it. It takes time to get comfortable with not knowing
and doing anyway. It doesn’t mean you don’t still have anxiety or doubts along the way. I can say I sure do.
Every time I try something new I’m wondering if it’s going to go ok. Will it work? I hope it doesn’t sound too bad. And then after, I’m usually hoping that it just didn’t suck. Really. That’s the best I’ve been willing to hope for. Though, I was having so much fun this time that I forgot to worry about that. I’m pretty sure, I didn’t ask anyone this time if it at least didn’t suck. Wow. That makes me feel good to realize that. I call that progress because I’m not sure what else to call it. Maybe confidence?
If it’s that, it’s because I’ve had a couple of encounters that have helped in that area. Not because I’ve suddenly decided I’m good at this. The first month I sang a full set was the encounter that may stick with me most. In my mind it only went ok. I messed up and forgot words on one song and we played too fast on another and I don’t remember what else. But I had done it and it was ok. It didn’t suck. Mind you, this was my mind set at the time. I just wanted to not suck. I got off stage and one of the musicians I had been sitting with during the other sets came over and quite enthusiastically told me to ‘keep doing what you’re doing.’ So I tried again.
The next time, I had someone tell me they were disappointed that they had gotten there too late to hear me sing. I was surprised. And a little embarrassed, I admit. Obviously, I didn’t have the expectation that mine would be a voice anyone would seek out. And yet, a similar thing happened again this weekend. A woman, whom I’ve seen before as a patron, sought me out to tell me how much she liked seeing me sing and play. She told me that I and one of the other musician singers are her favorites. Just her telling me that she liked what I did was flattering and encouraging, then to have her put me in the same sentence with the other person, who is really good at what he does, I think I’m still stunned.
It’s always great to get encouragement from your peers. They’ve been there and they know how hard it is to get up there and put yourself out there like that so when one of them says, yeah, that’s one of my favorite songs and you did good. It really counts for something. Then, when someone outside the your peer group offers encouragement, it’s a little different. It’s humbling. And, it makes me very grateful that someone took the time to share with me that what I was doing made them happy. That all by itself is an incredible gift. It also makes me think that even though, there are lots of times I’m not sure of what I’m doing, I must be doing something right. Or at least I’m on the right track. And it makes me want to practice more and learn more and try to do even better, every time I get up there.
And now I have just one week before I get to do it again. As you might guess, I’ll be doing lots of practicing. I don’t know if I’ll have another new song ready. I’m not expecting it. But I wasn’t expecting to pick up ‘Rock Me Baby’ for this one either. I do have new video. One is a new one, ‘Rock Me Baby’. The rest are songs I sang last time. I’m still going to upload them. There are a couple that I think show some improvement in either my singing or playing. I’m going to try to get those up on the YouTube channel in the next day or two so watch for them. Or subscribe to the channel. You’ll get updates when I post something new. For now, I’ve included some still shots from this most recent jam.
I’m off to practice. I can’t wait for the next one.