This will be the first in a series of open letters that I am directing towards the music fans in this community. Please don’t be offended as my intentions are not to belittle or downplay the value of your favorite genre but rather to learn its merits. I’m pretty sure I upset some Jam fans after my review of an “…In The Attic” show a month ago so I think this would be a good opportunity to address you all formally.
Hello, my name is Brandon. I’m a 21-year-old college student who happens to write for the hippest section of this paper, The Ruckus. You may notice the tagline which reads “…two students more qualified than you.” Some might see this as condescending but it is actually quite accurate. I am both a musician and a life-long music fan whose tastes extend to almost every genre in popular and indie music. Before I met Jack I knew almost no one with a similarly wide appreciation of music and its many facets, hence why we are the only writers of this section.
Sadly, over the summer Jack lost his ear for melody and smart pop in favor of only hip hop. Truly a shame but that’s another story all together. The point of this is that, while I am well-versed and open minded about music, there are still some popular forms that I cannot wrap my head around, the jam genre being one.
I used to be a roadie for a Madison based jam-funk-jazz fusion group called “The Groovulous Glove.” I spent a lot of summers hauling their equipment around Wisconsin and dancing like a fool at their shows. During this time they played several festivals and I was exposed to a great deal of bands with similar sounds and musical philosophies. At the time I think I was into punk but could still find things in this music that I enjoyed— the tightness of the bands, inclusion of different musical flavors, etc.
My tastes have matured over the years and I’ve gravitated towards more straight-forward, structure-based pop and rock groups such as The Beatles, Wilco, Oingo Boingo and more. I prefer groups like these that experiment with song structure, sonic elements, production and instrumentation while still keeping the songwriting as the main focus. Jam does not seem to do this.
I should clarify that when I say “jam” music I mean bands such as Phish, The String Cheese Incident, The Grateful Dead, Modeski, Martin and Wood, moe., Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Galactic and so on.
These bands rely heavily on musical improvisation (most often in the form of guitar or piano solos), ever-changing set lists, long concerts (usually two sets or more) and a large circulation of live recordings that fans bootleg to no end.
The main appeal of jam music, I think, is that it is often altered when performed live.
For instance the band Phish will rarely play their songs live the same way twice, opting to raise or lower the tempo, add or subtract instruments and change the style of the solos or musical changes.
This gives listeners the illusion of musical freedom and explosive creativity when it is actually just sound flowing aimlessly.
Readers should note that Stevie Ray Vaughan did the same thing. His guitar solos are always changing and moving in different directions but the difference is that he did it within the framework of set compositions.
This is the main thing that separates jam from all other pop music.
I doubt that when music critics will look back on jam they will call it “classic” or “timeless” as other experimental bands like The Beatles, Dylan or Pink Floyd have become known.
They brought more to the table then just vague musical ideas which changed depending on the night. They succeeded in writing brilliant and moving songs and THEN laying whatever else on top of it.
But I could be wrong. In fact, that’s the whole point of this article. I want every jam band fan who reads this article to e-mail me and explain themselves. I have to figure this out.

Brandon can be reached at BJCostan6348@winona.edu