Some of you will remember I hosted a jam session for many years in the old railroad Freight House in downtown South Royalton. It has been ten years now since we ended those sessions. I have much to say about that and those days, but for now, a quick review of the rules.

At some point, early in those dozen years of weekly Thursday night sessions, I thought it would be handy to have a small list of rules. There was hardly ever a need for rules, but still, I wanted to know how to keep the jam on track for the long haul, so I did some quick Internet research on jam etiquette. I can tell you, most of what I found was developed by people who were already pissed off.

I thought the lists sounded angry, demanding and most rules seemed to be written with particular offenders in mind. I found rules like, “You’re not God’s gift to music so play your tune, take your axe and get off the stage,” and another, “Don’t puke in the sink, we have to use it too.”

So, instead of developing rules to correct what had already gone wrong, I made a list to help keep things great. Here is the short list; positive and welcoming, yet able to apply a gentle nudge towards the ultimate goal of full enjoyment for everyone. They worked.