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McCreed
02-05-2020, 09:30 AM
I used to belong to a US-based guitar forum (now defunct) and they used organise annual jams in different states for members to get together and make some noise and have some musical fun. They seemed to be well organised affairs, not haphazardly thrown together dogs breakfast kind of things. Of course I never attended one, but kudos and comments always followed in the post-jam forum discussion. And a good time was had by all.

So my point is, there seems to be a fair number of us in QLD and I just thought I'd throw it out there to gauge interest.
Obviously this would have to take place after the CV19 stuff is over, but if there's interest, we could start throwing around ideas now and finalise when it looks like a realistic date could be established. I was thinking somewhere around Bris Vegas as a central meeting point, but all things would be up for discussion.

Of course this would be open to players of all levels and styles and more about having fun, actually meeting folks that we've exchanged posts & threads with than producing world-class performances.
Oh, and non-Queenslanders are welcome too if you're motivated to travel interstate! The more the merrier!

Okay, I've pitched the idea... what do you think?

Cheers,
Mick

Sonic Mountain
02-05-2020, 09:49 AM
Sure, I’d be in that.

McCreed
02-05-2020, 10:25 AM
Okay, that's a duo... anyone want to make it a trio?

Calling all bass players and drummers too!

Cliff Rogers
02-05-2020, 01:14 PM
If I happened to be in Brissy at the time, I'm interested.
Always keen to play some bass, problem is that I live 1653.5kms away.

Andy40
02-05-2020, 01:34 PM
I'm in. I live in Brissy.

McCreed
02-05-2020, 02:36 PM
Cool! Keep 'em coming!

Cliff, I thought of you being in QLD but not being "local". Then again, 1600k's is local in QLD!

The other mob from the US, use award "honourable mention" to the one that travelled the furthest. That esteemed prize could be yours!

Sonic Mountain
02-05-2020, 03:03 PM
So what are you thinking? Hire a Jam space?

McCreed
02-05-2020, 03:16 PM
So what are you thinking? Hire a Jam space?

That's one possibility. I guess it depends on how many players we have.
That's where discussion will be important.
Do we:
Make it a family affair? (spouses/partners/kids)
Have a feed?

If it was at a hall or other venue (in Brissy) I can provide a good PA. There is a rehearsal place here that has a "live" room with stage & PA & lights. I don't know what the total capacity is, but I know bands use it to record live performance videos (with "fans").

Andy40
02-05-2020, 03:48 PM
I imagine that Wazkelly would be in if he's still on the forum.

I don't have any gear except guitars, pedals and amps that I have built sorry.

Marze
02-05-2020, 05:22 PM
Sounds like fun, I’d be in that.

McCreed
02-05-2020, 06:42 PM
I don't have any gear except guitars, pedals and amps that I have built sorry.

No worries. I'm sure between us it would get sorted.
As I said, I can provide a PA with 12 channel desk, FOH/monitors; 4 vocal mics & stands and provide 2 guitar amps for backline.

Hopefully a bass player could provide 1 bass amp. If we have more than one drummer, I might be able to wrangle a kit somewhere.

The optimal scenario would be people just bring their guitars (and show off their builds!)

Cliff Rogers
02-05-2020, 07:42 PM
Cool! Keep 'em coming!

Cliff, I thought of you being in QLD but not being "local". Then again, 1600k's is local in QLD!

The other mob from the US, use award "honourable mention" to the one that travelled the furthest. That esteemed prize could be yours!
I live the same distance from Brisbane as half of Melbourne & I am only two thirds of the way to the tip of Qld.
I do have family in Brissy that I visit, it would just have to line up.

Andy40
03-05-2020, 04:21 AM
I can borrow a bass amp and a bass guitar if we don't find any one. Its a shame I haven't finished my Jazz Bass build yet. damn its been years....

McCreed
03-05-2020, 06:16 AM
I can borrow a bass amp and a bass guitar if we don't find any one. Its a shame I haven't finished my Jazz Bass build yet. damn its been years....

That's great. I figured a few pooled resources would get it done.
Also, I doubt this outing will be happening any time too soon, so maybe you'll have time to finish that bass!

I'm hoping to have my two current builds done by the time we're ready to rock!

jugglindan
03-05-2020, 08:55 AM
I don't have any gear except guitars, pedals and amps that I have built sorry.

That must be a pretty cool feeling! I am slowly getting to that point. Just need to finish the Blueycaster and build an amp. Pedals are sorted. Well, OK, I do still need to build a reverb. How do you manage reverb? Did you build a pedal? Or put a spring reverb tank into your amps?

Sonic Mountain
03-05-2020, 09:52 AM
That's one possibility. I guess it depends on how many players we have.
That's where discussion will be important.
Do we:
Make it a family affair? (spouses/partners/kids)
Have a feed?

If it was at a hall or other venue (in Brissy) I can provide a good PA. There is a rehearsal place here that has a "live" room with stage & PA & lights. I don't know what the total capacity is, but I know bands use it to record live performance videos (with "fans").

There are quite a few jam spaces around brissy so I guess we just research which is the best fit. Personally I'd prefer to leave the family at home :P but some drinks and a feed might be a nice idea. So perhaps we could organise for a couple of hours messing around with guitars in the arvo and then head off for a pub feed to wrap up. That'd let me keep it to an easy day trip down.

The big struggle will be deciding which guitars to bring!

Andy40
03-05-2020, 11:59 AM
That must be a pretty cool feeling! I am slowly getting to that point. Just need to finish the Blueycaster and build an amp. Pedals are sorted. Well, OK, I do still need to build a reverb. How do you manage reverb? Did you build a pedal? Or put a spring reverb tank into your amps?

Yep, I have a beltron style reverb pedal. It was the 2nd most difficult pedal I've built. Moodring from Madbean. It was also the most rewarding pedal I've built.

My next amp project will have a spring reverb as I want to learn about them.

Andy123
03-05-2020, 12:17 PM
I've only ever played in originals bands with a pre-arranged set list to rehearse and gig. I have to ask:
What sort of thing happens at a local jam?

Pre-arrange covers are learned and played together?
Spend the whole time sitting on a 12 bar progression and everyone has a go at improvising over it?
Someone brings along a chord progression, tells everyone what it is, and follow the same format as the 12 bar idea above?
Totally random Ornette Coleman style play-whatever-the-F-you-want free jazz?


I'm in Brisbane and play guitar and bass. I'm fairly comfortable playing with others and have a decent enough grasp on theory to get me out of most situations. Can't improvise to save myself though. It's a goal of mine to fix this, and a local jam group seems the obvious way to go about it (once I've tried a thing or two at home first).

I guess in the meantime I could hold down a decent bass line or rhythm guitar while everyone else goes to town.

McCreed
03-05-2020, 01:24 PM
@Andy123, based on what the other group did, (they really had their shiz together) each person picked something like 3 songs (covers), all the songs were compiled and distributed amongst the participants in advance, then "groups" were arranged by whoever already new the songs and some by who were prepared to learn the songs etc, then there's some just left to chance on the day I guess.

I'm sure there would be some free-form going on even with structured progressions ;). I've never organised one of these before so I'm waaaaayyyy open to suggestions and assistance.

I'm also sure there will inevitably be a 12 bar jam of some kind. TBH, I play blues-rock so without I-IV-V and a minor pentatonic, I'm pretty well stuffed.
And FWIW I play blues harp (no, I mean I can really play) so if someone wanted me to blow a bit on their song, I'd be happy to.

Sonic Mountain
03-05-2020, 01:34 PM
Yeah I think it'll mostly end up being a bit of free wheeling. I'm happy to do whatever that majority wants, I enjoy improvisation, but I can learn covers as well. My signature quote pretty much sums up my style.

I can do a bit of almost anything Metal/Punk/Folk/Rock/Indie/Funk/Country

I think mostly we are going to be checking out each others builds and playing swapsies to have a muck around so don't come feelign you have to be 'on'.

The number one rule should be - lets just have some fun.

Andy123
03-05-2020, 02:23 PM
So what music is everyone into?

Andy40
03-05-2020, 03:21 PM
I'm pretty much in the same boat as Andy123. Blues and rock is probs my staple. Man, I'd love you to give me some pointers on the harp McCreed. something i've always wanted to do but haven't. I'm happy to go along with the flow, happy to practice songs that others are into prior to the meet. I'm hoping it will be an ongoing thing as I miss being in a band.

Sonic Mountain
03-05-2020, 06:18 PM
So what music is everyone into?

Well, I've just done that facebook 10 albums in 10 days thing so here's my list of influences.

Pixies - Doolittle (I am a rabid fan and have everything they've done and seen them around 7 or 8 times)
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Beck - Mellow Gold (this guy is a genius and is discography is absolutely amazing)
Alice Donut - Pure Acid Park (Hugely underrated punk/alternative act from NY in the 90's)
The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation (EDM has its place)
Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of the Wishka (I was a very late comer to Nirvana, I only started listening seriously after I saw an interview with Kurt where he said Smells Like Teen Spirit was his attempt to rip off the Pixies)
Mr Bungle - Self Titled (Mike Patton - say no more)
Doug Anthony All Stars - Icon/ Weird Al -Vidiot from UHF (I cheated posting two at once, but I do like a good satirical music track)
The Beatles - Sgt Peppers
Violent Femmes - Self Titled

McCreed
03-05-2020, 07:03 PM
The number one rule should be - lets just have some fun.

What Sonic said!


Man, I'd love you to give me some pointers on the harp McCreed. something i've always wanted to do but haven't.

Andy, I teach harmonica but I had to "close shop" with the current restrictions. If you're northside, happy to give you my details once this whole virus crap is over.


Well, I've just done that facebook 10 albums in 10 days thing so here's my list of influences.

Whilst I've heard of most of those artists, and can say I've heard songs by some of them, I can definitely say I've never owned or heard any of those albums! (nor have I heard of the "facebook 10 albums in 10 days thing")

My world is small.....

jugglindan
03-05-2020, 07:11 PM
Whilst I've heard of most of those artists, and can say I've heard songs by some of them, I can definitely say I've never owned or heard any of those albums! (nor have I heard of the "facebook 10 albums in 10 days thing")

My world is small.....

We could do our own "10 albums in 10 days" thing here.

Cliff Rogers
03-05-2020, 08:24 PM
I love Blues & interesting chords & interesting Chord progressions.
Stuff like
'Key To The Highway,'
'Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do,'
'Same Old Blues,'
'Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out,'
'Alberta Alberta,' (AKA Corina Corina),
'San Francisco Bay Blues,'
'Woman Be Wise,'

Mostly Freddie King & Eric Clapton stuff.

Anything 12 bar.
I have a version of 12 bar that has 9 chords, & I can stretch it out to 11 & an occasional 12th chord but you can't overdo the 12th one.
I also do a progressive simple 3 chord 12 bar with key changes.
Starts in F, goes to G, A, B, C, D, E & back to F.
I just play the rhythm & watch whoever is soloing get their head around it.

The band I'm in play Gypsy Jazz, Swing, & there is a splinter group that plays Blues.

I also play Bass for the local Uke Group, great place to get some bass practice.
I get to play all sorts of stuff with the Uke Group, they play mostly sing-a-long stuff, old Rock, Pop, Country, Blues, etc.

I play Finger Style guitar, Rhythm, Bass, Baritone Uke, & can bend my brain enough to play Tenor Uke.
I don't read notation but can understand Tab enough to work it out.

I'm not a lead player, I can kinda rough out the melody with Finger Style arpeggios.

Not fussy, happy to play along with almost anything, but not keen on Reggae, not into classical guitar, I have played along with Trad early Australian stuff & find it as boring as bat shit, not into Celtic but happy to sit in if that is all that is on offer.

Sonic Mountain
04-05-2020, 06:07 AM
Whilst I've heard of most of those artists, and can say I've heard songs by some of them, I can definitely say I've never owned or heard any of those albums!

Well, they are all on Spotify (not sure about DAAS) and premium is free for a month so you’ve got a good chance to expand your horizons 😁

McCreed
04-05-2020, 07:10 AM
Well, they are all on Spotify (not sure about DAAS) and premium is free for a month so you’ve got a good chance to expand your horizons 😁

This sounds crazy... but I don't really listen to music...

At least not much, and certainly not radio. I have very little interest in streaming options either. Guess I'm just weird.

Sonic Mountain
04-05-2020, 07:22 AM
Ok well, its not really radio (which I can't stand, especially commercial radio) and is a pretty good way of taking the music you like with you everywhere. You can listen to them in their normal album formats no problems (so long as you get premium)

That does sound crazy, I pretty much have it on all my waking hours.

Marze
07-05-2020, 10:00 PM
OK, just catching up on the thread. I am a very long term beginner guitarist. I will bring my daughter as my sub for any playing, she far exceeds my skills.
I like your 10 album choices Sonic, never heard of Alice Donut though, will have to look them up.
My musical tastes are generally alternate/indie and rock, bookended by Folk and Jazz. There is a fair bit of Reggae and Funk/Soul mixed in there too.
I won't put up 10 albums (haven't thought that through and too many of them to pick), but FWIW the first Album(s) I ever bought with my own money were KISS Unmasked & Dynasty when I was a young lad in year 5.

glenwilliam
08-05-2020, 06:04 AM
Brisbane here too - I'm interested!

Sonic Mountain
08-05-2020, 06:24 AM
OK, just catching up on the thread. I am a very long term beginner guitarist. I will bring my daughter as my sub for any playing, she far exceeds my skills.
I like your 10 album choices Sonic, never heard of Alice Donut though, will have to look them up.

They have everything on Spotify, well worth it if you like some of the other stuff I've posted. I keep thinking of bands I didn't include.. Regurgitator, Melniks, Custard, The Melvins, Def Leppard... there's been a lot of musical water under the bridge.

McCreed
08-05-2020, 06:40 AM
Well based on replies to the thread there's 6 possible participants. I guess we won't need to hire out Suncorp Stadium!

A large rehearsal room might be the go, unless numbers increase radically. I know we have a couple of bass players in the mix, how about drummers? If not, I might be able to wrangle one in just for a jam.
Oh, and what about singers? I sing pretty well, but not looking to be the "lead singer" here. Plus my voice may not suit all songs/genres.

Music-wise I'm sure there's some common ground within the veins of blues and classic rock stuff. Easy enough to fill up a few hours (or more). Of course that can ironed out if/when we get to the point of setting a date.

I'll try and bump this thread along from time to time to keep us all interested.

king casey
08-05-2020, 07:09 AM
Well based on replies to the thread there's 6 possible participants. I guess we won't need to hire out Suncorp Stadium!

A large rehearsal room might be the go, unless numbers increase radically. , how about drummers?



Not that I'll be going (due to living in Melbourne) but I have had unfortunate experiences with 'rehearsal' venues.
What really bugs me is that to a man, they all miss the point of 'rehearsal' and actually think they are playing a gig.
Once you add a drummer it's 'ear-plugs' all round.

cheers, Mark.

Sonic Mountain
08-05-2020, 07:45 AM
It's be nice to have the option of someone having a bang on the drums, but I really think we are going to be spending most of the time checking out eachothers builds and playing swapsies rather than actually rehearsing.

I can sing some stuff and I can hold a standard rock beat on the drums fine. I agree, 12bar and standard rock stuff is likely to be the easiest thing for everyone to goof around with together.

Bakersdozen
12-05-2020, 05:12 PM
Yep, I have a beltron style reverb pedal. It was the 2nd most difficult pedal I've built. Moodring from Madbean. It was also the most rewarding pedal I've built.

My next amp project will have a spring reverb as I want to learn about them.Clear out your PMs dude

Andy40
12-05-2020, 06:14 PM
Done I've cleared it all BD

jugglindan
12-05-2020, 06:20 PM
Done I've cleared it all BD

The 50 PM limit seems a bit harsh given that one uploaded image would be a lot more data to store.

Marze
20-05-2020, 07:07 AM
I can maybe wrangle the drummer from my daughters band, Tyde. He also plays for Fat Picnic and a couple of others. Let me see when we get closer to the date.
Keep an eye out for Tyde’s first single in September too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

McCreed
20-05-2020, 07:20 AM
Sounds good Marze. Ta

Hardcoretroubadour
24-05-2020, 05:54 AM
I'm interested in meeting up and putting some named to faces. Not really a player but happy to bring both builds along to muck around with. My musical tastes pretty much same as Sonic, but love ZZ top and Alt country stuff Steve Earle, Towns van Zandt etc.

Cliff Rogers
19-02-2021, 06:31 PM
We have to come to Brissy for 3 or 4 weeks shortly.

We will be staying in Eatons Hill.

Saturday the 20th will be a birthday party & Saturday the 27th will be an engagement party.

SO has to have treatment at Greenslopes, weekdays only.

We may have to be there by Monday the 1st of March, I will know more by this Monday night. (22nd of Feb)

If we can't manage a jam I am still interested in meeting a few people & having a look at their gear.

I'll be driving & hope to have a Bitza Tele/Strat/Bigsby/SSS to finish assembling while I'm there.

I'll have an iRig & an iPad to test it but no amp.

Keen to catch up.

Cliff Rogers
24-02-2021, 07:05 PM
Anyone?

We have our dates now, we will be there from the 8th to the 28th of March.

The weekend 13 - 14 March is best for me, even if it is just a shed visit. :)