There are some really kind musicians in the world. Many are more than happy to share their love of music with other people. They will do their very best to bring you on stage and make you a part of the crew. They will play to whatever level of skill you have. That certainly does not happen at every "jam session," but it does happen often.

I once had a friend who graduated from North Texas University in music. He could play anything. He was super nervous about playing in a jam. I hope I influenced him to overcome his fear of public performance.

There are as many reasons to go to a jam session as there are musicians. No matter the reason, it can be a little scary to be on stage in public. Public speaking and playing music, both take some getting used to.

We now live in a world where we can stand behind an avatar and be almost completely isolated from the real world—living our lives vicariously through TV and the internet. There is nothing wrong with that, giving many people a place to belong. Many, if not most young people seem to prefer it that way.

The need for acceptance is one of the most driving human motivations that exist. That is true for the first grader at show and tell to one of us posting a song on a forum. The fear of not being accepted prevents many people from playing in front of anyone. One of the cool things about this forum is anyone can create a song using BIAB without any ability to play any instrument.

The "blues jam" thing is sort of a universal meeting place where everyone more or less knows what to expect. It will likely be twelve bars in a more or less standard format. It works as well in Japan as it does in Mississippi. No need to speak the language of the country because the language of music is universal.

Perhaps living alone connected only by Zoom is the way of the future. Working from home is getting more common. Perhaps automation will remove the need for live people at the food market. Machines and software will drive the cars. Robotic dogs for pets. Software that makes the song for you just by telling it what you would like to hear. If that is the future I am glad I am getting old and will not be around to have to deal with it.

At least it is not like that yet. People are kind and interact with me every day. Jams still exist and the people there at least put up with my amateur guitar playing!

Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”