I have had a lot of mixed results in this regard. Yes, there are what are called "jams", and these can be playing with a house band or being put together with other players to do some songs. I have had great and terrible experiences in both instances. Let's say, though, the results were so inconsistent that it has not been worth doing regularly. House bands are mainly promoting themselves, and if what you are doing fits into what they want to do it can be good, if it doesn't it can be terrible. It's a hit and miss situation. If you're lucky, and find a group of musicians who are good and really like what you do, it can be a lot of fun and gratifying. Few acoustic opportunities though. There are some local blues societies, all of which have monthly jams, that can be okay too. But usually people tend to play with others they already know or are in a band with. Personally, I think you need to do what Mike is referring to, which is to put feelers out on Craig's list or something to locate similar minded people who are willing to get together. I think it should be open to solo playing, playing together, jamming, whatever the group wants to do. Most of the time in these "jams" people are just playing with the same people, doing the same songs, to promote themselves; it's not really that interesting. I do value the experience of playing with other people. But for traditional blues, as opposed to blues rock, I have not found many musicians who know what they re doing anyway, especially rythm wise. I have never found a drummer at one of these events who knew what a triplet was, or a brush, and usually they take over the song because they have no idea how to do anything moderate to down tempo. You also have to contend with "jam masters" who try and plug you into a formula four piece band format. I have found that the range of music at these things is very limited. Personally, I like to work on things; I'm not that big on jamming. If I think there are some compatible people though I might do it. But I think creating your own social musical group is the most productive approach. I finds jams very cliquey, not always cordial, and not often about the music. However, I have met other compatible musicians more often at open mics, one at a time. You see somebody and you say, "yeah, we're on the same page here, we can play together and at least have some fun." Jams are typically in bars (although not so often if they are sponsored by a blues society), so it is basically loud bar music and more blues rock than blues. If you are here on Sonic Junction, you are a serious student of the form, and you will find that there is a lot of what I call "riffs and ignorance" out there. If you are basically a "plug and play" instrumentalist interested in just doing a few solos it can be fun. But I strongly advise going just to watch first and get the lay of the land, because it is not always worth the time. Oddly enough these blues foundation societies aren't much better, if at all better. So I definitely recommend cultivating your own social-musical group. Then, you can go to a bar and get a night where you can jam and YOU get the bar tab instead of the host band.
