The venue also made an unpopular decision to charge musicians at the door. Other venues offered to pay a host band to bring equipment for the jam, and to charge no cover to either musicians or listeners. We tested the event at a couple of places, then settled in for a year of the great hospitality at MVP's in north Raleigh. We always enjoyed a large musician turnout and a packed house at MVP's, but several of the regular musicians who live in Chapel Hill, Durham, and Cary asked for relief from what was a long trip for them. Rick Nunez brings out musicians and equipment from his bands to host the jams at Carolina Brewery, while Cass Cohn, the clubs' booking agent provides equipment for jams at Tony's and Michael Dean's.
Players can just grab their own instruments, cords, and drum sticks and come.
You never know who will turn up. For example, Carolina Brewery has twice been harmonica heaven, with so many great harp players that they had to double up on a couple of sets. Playing time is limited to 20 minute sets, and since turnout is often large, only rarely can a set be given to less than a full slate of performers. To insure a fair and friendly distribution of playing time, a TBS person handles the list. Our aim is for everyone who wants to play blues to have a chance to participate TBS jams have evolved, through five years' trial and error, to the present format.