How the Jam Works

Welcome to the South Bay Jam! We are glad you want to play with us and join our diverse community of musicians. Most jams feature 30-50 musicians and that's a lot of moving parts, so we've developed the following methodology to keep everything running smoothly:

Signing up

Enroll at the Musicians Portal. You'll be able to give us your contact info, create a public profile, get discounted merch, and start signing up for songs if there are any slots.

Go to the Musicians Portal

The List

Jam themes are planned in advance, but in most cases the process of building the list begins Thursday mornings. We aim to have the list finalized by Friday afternoon, but sadly we suffer from the ADHD and executive dysfunction common to all musicians so sometimes it can take a bit longer.

Singers drive the list

There simply can't be a song without a singer, so they're the ones who put in a request. If you're an instrumentalist and want to get a song on the list, find a singer first, get them on board, and have them request it.

As soon as the list is finalized we will make it public and you will be able to see it at https://southbayjam.com/list/

Player Assignments

The House Band manages each instrument station.

Current House Band

Players of other instruments like Horns, Harmonicas, Mandolins, etc. should work through Barclay. Percussionists should work through Rich.

Special timing needs? 24 hours' notice, minimum

If you have any kind of special needs in terms of timing, please let your House Band contact know ASAP, and at least 24 hours in advance. We understand many musicians come from OC and Hollywood and other places and do try to accommodate everyone's schedule, but we need as much notice as possible to be able to do that. Last minute surprises are not a good idea.

Barclay is the jam founder and our venerated benevolent El Jefe. He is the arbiter of anything that falls through the cracks and has the final word on all Jam business.

Day/Night Of

Check the list by noon WednesdayThe list will be set with approximate showtimes for all songs by lunchtime the day of the jam. Please check https://southbayjam.com/list by noon Wednesday and don't be shy about prodding a house band member if it's not up because of the aforementioned ADHD/Executive Dysfunction thing.
Arrive 30 minutes before your songYou need to be at The Lighthouse at least 30 minutes before you are scheduled to go on. The list will highlight which song is being played so you'll be able to see if we're running early or late, but ideally you're there as early as possible.
Special gear? Tell BarclayIf your instrument needs any special consideration (Harmonica Mic, DI, etc) let Barclay know and he'll connect you with Mike Roberti who handles our sound.
Running late or can't make it?If you need to arrive late or cancel for whatever reason (and it better be a good one) contact your house band contact or Barclay directly. We don't excommunicate people from the jam often or lightly, but ghosting us or repeatedly flaking will do it every time.

And then when it's over on Wednesday night... we reset everything and start planning the next Jam.

In General

The Jam runs on professionalism, good communication, and mutual respect for everyone involved. We welcome musicians of all levels but this isn't an open mic. We truly enjoy watching less experienced musicians rack up stage time at the jam with some of our veterans, but it's on you to make sure you're realistic about what you can pull off.

If you're on the fence about signing up, come hang for a night first. There is sometimes a "Slush time" at the end where the list is finished and we're able to accommodate first timers, but even without that you'll get a sense of how things run and get to meet the folks who play each week.

Originals are generally not allowed. Exceptions are made for featured acts or whole bands that come in, but 99% of the jam is and will always be covers that everyone knows well and can easily practice.

Above all: communicate

More than anything, be communicative, don't surprise the people you're playing with by being late, or having a weird arrangement you haven't discussed, or missing a song completely.

Thanks for reading all this, and we'll see you Wednesday!