Happy Holidays!  With this article, the Alamosa Live Music Association (ALMA) begins an occasional series keeping you up to date with ALMA events.

This fall, ALMA started monthly jam sessions for experienced musicians at the Square Peg Brewerks in Alamosa. This is an opportunity for Valley musicians to play together in an informal setting. A sound system and a sound engineer are provided, you just need to bring your instrument (and a cable if the instrument is electric) and/or your voice. You need not be a professional to participate, but there are a few guidelines:

* Share the stage: you can participate in as many or as few songs as you would like. We ask all musicians to give their peers an opportunity to participate.

* Be open to playing with new people. We are hoping that these jam sessions will serve as an opportunity for local musicians to play together who might not otherwise get such an opportunity.

* Know the songs you want to play, and be able to explain them to the musicians on stage. We especially need to know the style, key, and chord changes.

* Be comfortable playing in a variety of keys and styles.

At the jam session on Dec. 6, instruments (and players) included guitars, bass, conga, bongo, drum set, keyboard, saxophones, and trombone (see photo). The music varied from rock and roll to folk-rock to jazz. Both musicians and audience had a great time!

Jam sessions at Square Peg Brewerks are already scheduled for the first three months of 2019 – Jan. 10, Feb. 7, and March 14, each from 7-10 p.m. Come join us for a fun evening and shake off those cabin fever blues!