by C.C.Mcinnes

Created on: March 10, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

As I go through the week acquiring stress like fleas on a mutt, I take heart in the knowledge that Thursday will soon be here, and that means meeting with like minded musical miscreants at a friends place and committing an auditory assault on the neighbors ears and sensitivities as we try to work out how to play certain melodies without causing dogs to howl for miles around.

Thats right. Thursday night is jam night.

My friend, a bass player for a couple of local bands out here, has held "The Thursday night jam" for nigh on a decade now, and it usually turns into a raucous night of moderate beer drinking, comradery and shared musical knowledge. Everyone is welcome, known or unknown, the only stipulation is that you cant be a jerk. Oh, and don't take a beer without permission.(But I think that gets classified under the jerk clause)
The evening usually begins at a local pub for dinner and a few cocktails, regaling each other with tales of lusty adventure, receiving severe abuse from the the darling servers that have to deal with us every week, then off to the studio.
Some days we fly right at it, being set up, plugged in and wailing in minutes. Other times everyone will sit around and shoot the breeze for hours. It's never the same from week to week, but one thing it always is, is comfortable.
There is a core group of five of us that show up on a weekly basis, and many others that drop by if they have the time. The proprietor always has extra guitars around for the drop-ins, not to mention penny whistles, tambourines and various other noise making shaky bits. Did you know they make an instrument called a VibraSlap? I get the giggles just saying that word.
Once everyone is set up, its now time to figure out a song to torture. This is where we all stand and look at each other like deer in headlights until someone actually starts playing something, then were off and running. AC DC to ZZtop we mash them all up and spit them out in totally different keys because whoever is singing at the time couldn't hit a high note with a mallet.

Sometimes someone will just start a 12 bar blues riff, and we'll run with that for twenty minutes or so, everyone getting a chance to improvise a solo as we move along to what is undoubtedly going to be a train wreck of a finish. This usually results in hoots of laughter and accusations of being off key.

At least once a night, there will be that one song that we play that everyone will ace. Its a different song every time, but the feeling that goes through me when everything runs as close to perfect as is humanly possible is almost rapture. This will be followed by a few seconds of silence as we savor the moment, then hoots of laughter and accusations of being off key.

The jam will run sometimes to the wee hours of the morning, but most normally exit around midnight, as they all have to work in the morning. As I say my goodbyes and hit the road for home, any stress that had been hanging on to me has been blown off by good music and good friends.I leave with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Stress free
Good for another week.

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