Our Biggest Open Jam Yet: September at Gus’ Pub

The first Wednesday of every month, Sable Audio takes over the stage at Gus’ Pub for our monthly Open Jam, and September gave us our best-attended jam yet!

More musicians, more people jumping onstage, more original music, some unexpected combinations, a little blues, a violin, and somehow, inevitably, Backstreet Boys. It was also Avery’s birthday celebration, so this month’s jam came with balloons, snacks and cheesecake alongside the usual collection of guitars and amps.

A Very Busy Stage

One of our favourite things about the Open Jam is that we never really know what the night is going to look like until people start walking through the door. This month, the stage barely had a chance to rest!

Avery hosted the night as usual, but also spent plenty of time playing alongside musicians from across the Halifax music community. Hope, Dave, Brad, Devon, Stan, Axel, Dylan and Beverly were among the musicians who took the stage, Ryan from Cubbyhole, multiple drummers and several other performers throughout the night.

At one point, a few open jam first timers took the stage alongside each other for the first time for a performance of “Creep,” which is exactly the kind of unexpected combination we love seeing happen at an open jam.

There was also a stretch of the evening where two guitarists settled into some blues, completely changing the feel of the room for a while.

That's what makes these nights fun. There isn't a setlist telling us where we're going next. Someone just has an idea, musicians start joining in, and suddenly we have a band that didn't exist five minutes earlier.

Original Music Belongs at an Open Jam

Covers will always be a huge part of jam nights because they're an easy common language between musicians who may have never played together before. But one of the highlights this month was how much original music made its way onto the stage.

All of the current members of After The Ashes were there and took the opportunity to perform some of the band's originals together. Ryan from Cubbyhole also brought original material to the jam and performed a few of his own songs.

We want to see more of that.

The Sable Audio Open Jam isn't an audition and it isn't a competition. It's a low-pressure stage where musicians can meet each other, experiment and play. If you've been sitting on an original song and want somewhere to try it in front of people, bring it. You might even find another musician in the room who wants to jump in.

Happy Birthday, Avery!!!

September's jam also happened to give us a pretty good excuse to celebrate our host.

With Avery's birthday falling around the event, we brought out balloons, snacks and cheesecake and turned the night into a bit of a birthday party too.

Considering Avery spends every Open Jam bouncing between hosting, playing guitar, drums, bass, singing, helping musicians get situated and figuring out who is going onstage next, getting to celebrate him in the middle of our busiest jam yet felt pretty fitting.

And, of course, we couldn't possibly let his birthday pass without Backstreet Boys. So naturally, that's how the night ended.

Our Open Jam Is Growing

When we started hosting these nights, the goal was simple: create another place for musicians to meet each other and actually play music together.

September felt like a glimpse of what that can become. We had musicians from different bands and different corners of the scene sharing the same stage. We had experienced performers playing alongside people we hadn't seen at the jam before. We had originals, covers, blues, spontaneous collaborations and plenty of moments we couldn't have planned if we'd tried. And this was our best-attended Open Jam so far.

Now we want to beat it.

The Sable Audio Open Jam happens at Gus’ Pub on the first Wednesday of every month. You don't need to be in a Sable Audio band, you don't need to be a Sable Audio client, and you don't need to arrive with an entire band.

Bring an instrument. Bring a song. Bring some friends. Or just come hang out, listen and meet some musicians.

And please, Halifax: bring us some bass players.

Seriously.

We have drummers.

We have guitarists.

We apparently even have violinists.

We need bass players.

We'll see you on the first Wednesday of October.