The Tour de Jam, Etage 1, The Infamous McGrath's Pub Monday Night Jam, Sunday May 17, 2009

I’ve decided to start a new project…a project that has playing bluegrass music at it’s center, and one that I’ve been thinking about doing for some time now…..oh say for at least 24 hours which, is a long time for me.

So tell me, what do bluegrass music and the famous bicycle race the “Tour de France” have in common?………Nada, nothing that I know of except I’m a fan of both, and I secretly fantasize about leading a breakaway every time I’m on my bike, which is easy if you’re the only one in the race……. So inspired by the overwhelming French influence on bluegrass, I will name my project the “Tour de Jam”. You probably can guess where this is going.

Now, the plan is to go around the Bay area over the next few months, with a couple of required side trips….like to FDF, but wait a minute that’s just one gargantuan jam, which qualifies……and visit all the long running, established bluegrass jams and see just what kind of folks are playing there, what the surroundings are like, and what the overall atmosphere is like. 


Actually this is just an excuse to go visit jams in San Francisco and visit some new pubs (I live in the east bay just south of Oakland). I think I have already played many of the jams I know of around here, though there are still a few I know I still need to hit. Since I strongly adhere to the theory that my musical skills are improved disproportionately by liberal applications of home and pub brew, whether in its natural or refined state, the pub based jams are the most interesting.

Unlike the Tour de France, I will not be doing this on the back of my bike….toting my dobro makes that a little impractical and I don’t want my sound well cover to be mistaken for a stolen hubcap. Let the mando and fiddle players and vocalists peddle their bikes to the jams, they have small instruments……The banjo players of course are already a danger to themselves and the public, so I shouldn’t encourage them to become more mobile……..but then again maybe their trying to play while in traffic would be entertaining and provide a Darwinian revelation. Most of the bass players already have wheels and can just giddyap their instruments down the road. The problem with guitar players is that there are so many of them in the world, a few most likely already live under the pub bars….and like termites they lust after things made with pretty wood, live in large communities, eat you out of house and home, and are difficult to get rid of at the end of the evening.

Another reason for the Tour de Jam has to do with the past 15 months, which have been some of the most musically intense months of my life. A little over a year ago I entered a new phase of my bluegrass education by taking some ensemble workshops, going to my second CBA camp, and most importantly….attending jams….including the ever-feared Monday night jam at McGrath’s pub in Alameda. For those of you who were playing a bluegrass instrument in the womb, or singing high lonesome Bill Monroe harmonies in the cradle, and for those of you who are borderline sociopaths or mutant for genes responsible for fear, humiliation and embarrassment…..you don’t know what I mean by “ever-feared”, you don’t have a clue.

McGrath’s Pub is an institution in the community and luckily my local. In addition to hosting bluegrass performances on the weekend, it has one of the better known, longstanding bay area bluegrass jams every Monday night. Actually there are two jams….the rough and tumble front room jam, and the more discrete back room jam. Each has its own idiosyncrasies, rules, and players. Even if you don’t play an instrument, the McGrath’s Monday jam is well worth a visit and a place where you can see everyone from intermediate to professional players jamming together.

To the rookie bluegrassers though, playing the McGrath’s jam is something akin to a gladiator’s first bout in the coliseum……complete with fear of an ignoble death, vainly trying to survive against insurmountable tempos, danger to the right, danger to the left, confronted by predatory keys ensuring a slow, painful, and bloody death by vicious sharps or beaten to a pulp by heartless flats.

It would be a unfair to paint the McGrath’s jam as unfriendly and intimidating….it’s not…..well, at least it’s not unfriendly. It is intimidating to rookie jammers for many of the usual reasons……a large group of strangers, all playing better, faster, etc. In reality it is a supportive, though raucous, group of musicians, hell bent to play as much bluegrass that can possibly be crammed into an evening. I should mention that in the context of McGrath’s, “rookie” should probably best be described as an “unjamitized” intermediate player looking for the next level of challenge…as I mentioned, the level of players includes a few intermediates to a few professionals with most folks being very experienced, many having played more than 30 years.

One strategy for the uninitiated, timid jammer to ease into the front room jam is to play around the edges by discreetly pretending to be invisible, playing in a pretend “dome of silence” off to the side or at one of the tables at the back of the room…and there are often several folks doing that…I did. Beware though, eventually other players will take notice and entice you with sweet promises and perfumed breath into the maelstrom, and onto the rocks, of the big circle.

The obvious advantage to being an edge player is learning what favorite tunes get played every week. It is a big, although fleeting, confidence booster to have some of these under your belt, or at least as new projects, before jumping in feet first. The other strategy is to pick your time to jump in the circle…..through the evening, like ocean tides, the circle will ebb and flow, expand and contract. It seems to be linked somehow with the ebb and flow of players’ beer, wine, and whiskey. One of the odd things about the jam though is the number of dobros……..it is the only jam I know where dobro players occasionally outnumber all the other musicians, and there are routinely more dobros than guitars. Home, sweet home for me and my dobro.

If you don’t already have jam smarts..…I’m not talking about jam etiquette…….you will get them drilled in real quick at McGrath’s. For one, this isn’t a jam to waste time apologizing for mistakes…..here it’s more like hang on and enjoy the ride whatever happens and wherever it takes you. In the circle, the flanking players are often more than happy to take your break if you don’t step up smartly. This is a good news, bad news situation for inexperienced players. 


When I first started in the circle it was a relief to get skipped over…..every song….now that I’m trying to stretch my playing a little more, it is getting to be an annoyance. On more than one occasion I’ve been tempted to see if my axe could split some knotty noggin. In the end though, it is up to players to step up and take the break or lose it. And know your keys…especially the key of the song you call….and you will eventually have to call one. Believe me, from personal experience, you don’t want to call a song in A and enthusiastically kick it off in G to realize 24 bars in, you forgot to put on your capo....this sin will get looks from the other jammers that range from humorous to perplexed to annoyed and you will experience the feeling of driving a jam into complete disarray and utter confusion…What power!…to watch an entire jam spin out of control, sucked right into the maelstrom and spit out onto the rocks….just what I felt like.

Since this is the first stage of my Tour de Jam, I don’t have other jams yet to compare to….but can say with some certainty that if you want to ratchet your jams skills up a level or 3, this is the place to go. You’ll meet a lot of fine folks and some damn good musicians who you will play with over and over again on the “Tour de Festival”…another ride I’ll have to take…….maybe in 2010.

I usually like to close with a quote from Twain or his ilk, but will close this month with some unattributed “gems” that summarize my philosophy to learning bluegrass, learning music, venturing into unfamiliar territories, and other stuff.

“There’s only one way to learn and that’s to crash and burn” (from watching beginning white water kayakers try to negotiate their first rapid).

“If you ain’t falling down, you ain’t trying hard enough” (advice from a ski instructor a long, long time ago).

If any of ya’ll would like to accompany me on the Tour de Jam, I would love to have a few “jam riders” in the peloton, so please drop a note on the message board or send me an email…..and jam suggestions are always encouraged, pub-based or not.

Onwards and jamwards.