This Sunday (Sept. 7) marks the fourth anniversary of the Brackendale Art Gallery's (BAG) Grassroots Jam Sessions - an event that, on the first Sunday of every month for the past four years, has encouraged musicians of all calibre to come out with their musical instruments for a spontaneous jam.Carolyn Grass, the organizer and one of the jam sessions' founders, said she's pleased with the event's growth of the years. "It started out very small," she said. "There were three musicians the first night, and it just kind of carried on from there."The jams started when Grass and two colleagues recognized a need in the Squamish community for a regular place and time for musicians to gather and jam. Once the trio committed to the sessions, the choice to have the BAG as the venue was easy."It's been around for years and years," said Grass. "It's one of the original homes of the arts."The intimate nature of the jams are what make it special, said Grass. Very large jam sessions are "not as great" as smaller ones."It takes forever for you to get your turn on the mike," she laughed.The sessions are informal, with an open invitation to everyone, she said. "Everyone is welcome; it's very inclusive. It's just a fun evening."The format is simple: participants sit around in a circle while a microphone is passed around for a vocalist to lead a song. "One person is suddenly the star," said Grass. "It's their song."Once the song begins, everyone listens closely and joins in any musical way they feel. Sometimes other vocalists will harmonize."Nine out of 10 people know the song," Grass said, "but [if not], then you can clap, hum or play a drum."Participants bring a variety of instruments to the jams, including fiddles, harmonicas, drummers and accordions - although the most popular instrument is the guitar. All performances are acoustic, with the only electronic device being the microphone, and only so everyone can hear the vocalist over the musical din."You just never know what's going to be there," said Grass, who plays the guitar, sings and brings a variety of percussion instruments like the spoons, a tambourine, shakers, and the African drum called a djembe."The whole thing is an ad-lib kind of evening."Currently the BAG jam sessions are one of three places where musicians can perform, although it is the only place where musicians can actually jam. "There's a desire to have a place for musicians to come and play," said Grass. "There are few places where that can happen."The other two options for musicians to share their music with the public are the open mike nights on Monday evenings at the House Sound Brew Pub, or on every other Wednesday evenings at Gelato Carino. But as Grass pointed out, both of those events are performances, not jams."They do a performance for the audience," she said. "In a jam everybody participates and the whole room is full of guitars playing and everyone singing, harmonizing or doing whatever they do."On the heels of the BAG jam's success, Grass is now thinking of expanding with sessions for more accomplished musicians. So stay tuned.
