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Pete Showman's Jams Page

Places to play and hear fiddle tunes in the San Jose / southern San Francisco Bay area

• Monday evening South Bay Old-Time Jam, currently in Palo Alto. The Tune Lists page has a list of “suggested tunes” for the jam. Sheet music (and MIDI files) are available for some of the tunes.


• More Old-Time, Irish and Celtic jams:
  • 1st-Sunday Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association jam (many styles of music)
  • 4th-Sunday* CSOTFA District 9 jam (* Schedule changes in Nov. and Dec.)
  • Tuesday evening Pipers' Club Irish session in Mountain View
  • Wednesday evening Bluegrass Jam in Palo Alto
  • The Irish sessions formerly led most Sundays by Art Friedman at O'Flaherty's Pub on San Pedro in San Jose have ended.
    An up-tempo Tuesday evening session there has continued; see this Facebook page for details.

  Like bluegrass? Check the Northern California Bluegrass Society and the California Bluegrass Association.
  Like folk? Check the South Bay Folks and the San Francisco Folk Music Club

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  More Details

  • The Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association (SCVFA, fiddlers.org) holds a large jam and open-mike stage on the first Sunday of every month, 1-5 pm usually at Hoover Middle School in San Jose. Adult admission to the jam is usually $6 for members and $8 for non-members; children to 17 are free. (Occasionally a concert is held during the jam, with a higher adult admission charge.) A slow-jam Beginners' Circle is offered for an hour or so most months, led by an experienced musician. Sheet music and audio for a few typical tunes are posted on the Beginners' Page. Various youth activities are also offered at the jam from time to time, including periodic KidFiddle youth fiddle workshops and a Youth Fiddle Contest that's been held in November (through 2014, at least). (Note: During July, August and sometimes September this jam often moves to the nearby Rose Garden park -- no open mike, but admission is free. Check the Fiddlers Association website for current information.)
    
    
  • District 9 of the California State Old-Time Fiddlers Association (CSOTFA) holds a monthly jam and potluck, usually on fourth-Sunday afternoons, 1:30-5:00. (The November and December schedules are adjusted to avoid holidays.) These events are held at a church in Castro Valley, at 19806 Wisteria St.
    
    
  • Pipers' Club Session: Irish tunes played somewhat slowly. Or not so slowly. They occasionally publish a list of tunes they've been playing; see their website. A few of the tunes (especially the oldest ones) include a PDF or MP3 to learn it from.
    Schedule: Most Tuesday evenings, “around 8:00 until 10:00pm.”
    Location: Stephens Green, 223 Castro St., Mountain View.
    Session Contact: See link above.
    
    
  • Bluegrass Jam in Palo Alto
    Schedule: Most Wednesday evenings, about 7:00 to 9:00pm.
    Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto at 505 East Charleston Road in Palo Alto.
    Jam Contact: (unknown)

  Links to other Bay Area sites with calendars or event lists

  • The Northern California Bluegrass Society has an extensive calendar
  • The South Bay Folks also have a useful calendar, and operate a regular open-mic session in San Jose.
  • The San Francisco Folk Music Club has a good list of music activities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Tony Becker maintains a Calendar of Northern California traditional music (Celtic and Old-Time) sessions and concerts, under the name "AmeriCeltic". These are accessible three ways: on Facebook, on the AmeriCeltic website, and by subscribing to his weekly email list at AmeriCeltic@gmail.com

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  This page is maintained by Pete Showman.