Some plants sit on the speakers that flank the stage. It's like someone tried to make a bar into Stevie Nicks' living room but came up with a chapel instead. But for the dozens of people who gather at Wilson's every Sunday night for the Acoustic Jam, this might as well be church. They dutifully sign in and wait for their turn, making sure to throw out support to anyone else taking their shot. It's the only place where an acoustic guitar case is a required fashion accessory.
Tonight is a little extra special.
It's the Jam's one-year anniversary. Co-founder and host Rick Duarte is on stage, clipboard in hand, getting things rolling. He means it. But, while the idea was sound, making it happen was more difficult. Most open jams pop up for a few weeks, attract a handful of loyalists, and then eventually disintegrate into a cesspool of diary entries set to three chords.