Special to the Eagle

If you want to bring your instrument — be it your guitar, harmonica, keyboard, voice or otherwise — you don’t have to go all the way to Calgary to enjoy  live music or play it.

The Cochrane jam scene is happening every week, and it’s a great opportunity for music lovers, jammers, budding musicians and seasoned veterans to get out and get on up.

Whether you’re a musician of any kind or a music lover, here’s when and where to go jamming in Cochrane:

• Sunday afternoon at the Rockyview Hotel, Gary Lefebvre from Phantoms Music hosts an open acoustic jam from 1 to 5 p.m. Any genre of music is welcomed, from folk, country and blues to good old rock ‘n’ roll. Keep in mind that the jam is acoustic, meaning that there’s no drum kit in the house, but nevertheless, it’s a great chance to get up and hold up the music.

• Monday night is an all-ages jam at Java Jamboree, beginning at 7 p.m. The jam is alcohol-free and open to all genres, but it’s a particularly valuable opportunity for the young singer/songwriters who aren’t able to go into licensed establishments to work out the tunes.

The jam is hosted by two of Cochrane’s young singer/songwriters, Lucas Chaisson and James Slater.

• Tuesday night is the night for all the jammers to get down to the Cumbrian Arms Pub, where Larry Wackershauser hosts an open acoustic jam from 7:30 p.m until 11:30…or later if the house is rockin’.

Supporting live music is about far more than getting out with your friends on a night otherwise spent at home in front of the television — it’s about fostering a community and creating a network of people through the music. It’s about breaking down the barriers people put between one another by way of finding a common ground.

Music is that common ground — the one language that transcends all barriers, opening up the door to a greater understanding of what makes us all human.
Between the jam scene, live bands on the weekends at the various establishments and the Cochrane Valley Folk Festival, which runs from September through April, Cochrane may surprisingly be the place where “you be jammin.”

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