A hot summer night, as is almost always the case in Texas. A guitar is strummed, a bass plucked, and a snare drum call the crowd to order. The muddled and lively chatter of the crowd softens to silence as a new singer steps forward and the show goes on. A dirty, grainy guitar riff punches from the speakers and the band rolls into a rollicking cover of The Black Keys’ garage blues hit ‘Lonely Boy’. I’ve heard this song many times over the years, from gym sessions to late night benders, from the election campaign trail to freewheeling road trips. The sound takes over and the crowd rides its sonic pipeline.
This isn’t background noise, easy to ignore or disregard for the casual inebriated bystander. The music is why this motley crew of hippies, students, stoners, metal heads, professional musicians, and hobbyists alike have gathered in this East Side backyard on this sultry September night. This is the Live Music Capital of the World at its most pure grassroots, homegrown form. This is the Hideaway Jam.
The Hideaway Jam is a monthly musician matchmaking event and has linked up local musicians of all stamps with bandmates, collaborators, producers, and most of all friends and family. It’s more than just a musical networking event. It’s a community. One that loves and supports all who have the cajones to step up and sing and play your guts and souls out. Whether music is your life, or just your hobby, if you’re looking to show this town what you’ve got, you can find it here.
The Jam was put together by local musician Jim Briggs in 2023. He’ll send out a song choice sign up sheet to all of the singers. Singers pick their songs and the setlist is created. Jim will send the setlist out to all instrumentalists who are itching to play. This is unlike other Austin jams where you show up and sign up not knowing what the hell you may end of playing. Through this unique system, The Hideaway Jam gives all musicians time to learn and tweak their songs to their advantage. Jim’s got a good system going here, and the Austin Chronicle naming the Jam as the best musician matchmaking event in town only solidifies its reputation among local troubadours.
The Jam itself is a nomadic community. What started out in the bar of a South Austin Marriott hotel has jumped around town its fair share. Tonight we gather in the backyard of The Wolf House, a 19th century East Austin mansion that gives the vibes of a haunted house or maybe the lair of a bitter aged Victorian spinster from a Dickens novel. The look of the place alone could either enchant or scare away curious children. For tonight, this is where we wanna be. Wolf House respects the DIY approach of the Austin music scene without fuss or feathers.
The Jam take care of their own and nourish this hungry, thirsty collection of pickers, strummers, crooners, screamers, and songbirds with cold beer and homemade Tex-Mex, as any respectable institution in the Heart of Texas oughta do. Chicken and cheese enchiladas washed down with Modelo or Red Stripe. All this meal of kings and troubadours alike
Under a canvas party tent, the house band plays with anyone game to step up. It doesn’t matter what you choose to perform just as long as you show up and give it whatcha got. For real. If you sign up, you’ve gotta show up. One no-show without word to Jim and you’re out. You’ll get permabanned. There’s musicians in town that’d kill for a spot in this lineup, so if you’re able to get a spot, you best not let it go to waste.
Aside from that, there aren’t any limits to what music you’re allowed to perform. The setlist runs seamlessly from Dolly Parton to Soundgarden, Living Color to King Crimson. The jazz lounge cover of Dire Straits ‘Money For Nothing’ performed by Graham Mitchell, a software engineer by trade , has you unsure whether to headbang or just smoothly bop along. Young metal guitarist Azzy Arman’s doom and groove interpretation of the theme song to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers grabbed my hyperactive 90s inner-child and made him wanna jump in the mosh pit in in a fit of Mountain Dew-fueled fury and excitement. This was one of the performances of the evening that truly stood out in the best way.
I might be a little biased here, But my favorite performance of the evening came from Louisiana transplant blues rock singer Carly Wascom. That night she premiered her cover of Brandie Carlile’s soaring country rocker ‘Broken Horses’. She was nervous to perform it. I assure her that she’ll do well tonight and in the words of the late, great Miles Davis “Don’t worry about making mistakes. There are none.”
Carly’s got the kinda sweet, but powerful and soulful voice that commands that you pay attention. Call it gravitas or whatever you want to describe it. Most of her regular backing band is on stage with her tonight. She’s in good hands. I hear whispers from the crowd that you gotta hear her sing. When she steps up, folks tune in. For the next four and a half minutes if there were any mistakes at all, the crowd didn’t notice or even care. They love her and I sure do too.
I came to Austin from a world where networking events rule everything in town. A town full of politicos, bureaucrats, corporate lobbyists, and policy wonks eager to inquire “What do you do?”, or more honestly “What can you do for me?”. The Hideaway Jam is like this in a sense. But instead everyone wants to know “What’s in your heart and soul?”, and “Can you play?” This is what makes the Jam special. More of a family affair than a superficial yuppie cocktail hour. I think I like it that way. I’ve only been in Austin a little over a year, and I feel like I’m part of this family.
