By: Matt Warnock
Jimmy Page Photo Ross Halfin
Jam sessions can be a guitarists best friend or their worst nightmare. I’m sure many of us have stories of nights when a big-name musician was traveling through town and decided to sit in with us at the corner bar, making for an unforgettable night of music.
But, there are also those jam sessions where the participants have spent too much time with a bottle of scotch or not enough time in the practice room, or both, and their 12 minute version of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” almost made us want to quit music.
Though jam sessions have their ups and downs, as up and coming guitarists we keep coming back for more. For one, because we like to play and jam with our friends. But we also do it because we know that if we play well on a night when a big local, regional or national name is sitting in we can get that all important call for our shot at a steady gig, tour or recording session that can take our careers to the next level.
Led Zeppelin guitarist and rock legend Jimmy Page is living proof that this can happen to anyone at anytime. Before he was a member of The Yardbirds or the guitarist for the Mighty Zep, Page was an art school student without a paying gig. As he told Guitar Player in 1977, “I stopped playing and went to art college for about two years, while concentrating more on blues playing on my own.”
But, the future Rock n Roll Hall of Famer didn’t stop going to jam sessions at the Marquee Club, which as he explains led to his big break, ” I used to go up and jam on a Thursday night with the interlude band. One night somebody said, “Would you like to play on a record?” and I said, “Yeah, why not.” It did quite well, and that was it after that.”
Woody Allen says that 80% of success is simply showing up, and Page is a living example of this thought in action. He could have stayed at home and practiced in his room, waiting for the phone to ring. But instead, he got out and played at his local jam session, in the interlude band no less, which led to the first major breakthrough in his career.
This led Page to more work, which led to more work and before he knew it he had to make a tough choice, “From that point I started getting all this studio work. There was a crossroads: is it an art career or is it going to be music? Well anyway, I had to stop going to the art college because I was really getting into music.”
I’m sure all of Zeppelin’s fans are glad he choose music over art, and are also glad that he got out of his room and lugged his gear out to a jam session that may or may not have led to anything further than a few bucks and a pint at the pub.
So the next time you’re sitting at home and the new episode of Survivor comes on, and you’re feeling like just killing time on the couch rather than hitting the jam session at your local club, remember Jimmy Page’s story.
It won’t happen to all of us. But if you don’t show up in the first place, you can guarantee that you’ll never get that all important call, leading to the next level in your career.
Read the full 1977 Guitar Player interview with Jimmy Page
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Did a jam session help you move forward in your career or do you have a great story from a night at a session? Share it in the comments below.
