Gilreins/Worcester, MA

New blues jam and last night was their second Sunday. Gilreins is a blues club that is well known in the area, but has been closed for a few years. The new owner has done a beautiful job of revamping this venue. However the jam still needs some work. First there's a good size stage and sound system. Nice crowd and some dancing, which is always a plus. The jam starts at 4 pm and ends at 9. I arrived at 6 and signed in on the jam list, but never got on to play until after 8. It seems that if you show up with a group to play you get on first, even if you are at the bottom of the list. One group was a jazz quartet that got to play 5 songs. Hey, I thought this was a Blues Jam? Using the sign up list in order and limiting sets to 3 songs or 15 minutes is a good policy to consider here since most players, myself included, won't be returning if they have to wait a long time to play while having to listen to something other than blues. The house drummer is a friendly guy with a great set of Sonor drums with a poppin' Gretch snare. This is one of the nicer sets I've ever had a chance to play at a jam. Check out Gilreins website: www.gilreins.net