Internet Jam Bands Radio
Jams, in the viewpoint of band music, are generally described as improvisations of chord patterns and progressions, sessions that by nature result in rather long sets of music. Mainly because of this very specification of “jamming,” jam bands employ a natural temperament to try out and combine a range of styles, from psychedelic rock to jazz fusion to folk music. Jam bands, to look at definition furthermore, are bands influenced by The Grateful Dead as well as their fan culture – a culture with a strong sense of dedication, with fans following performers from gig to gig throughout the country. Jam bands radio simply is any kind of radio station that plays normally if not exclusively jam-band music.
All this originated with The Grateful Dead, and though the band had a huge fan-base following in the 1980s, bands like Phish, the heir apparent to The Grateful Dead, as well as Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors and Edie Brickell & New Bohemians were setting out to concerts and play jam-band-style music. During this period, due to experimental and distinctive characteristics of jam songs that differ each time they are performed, jam bands radio stations used to be non-existent. Fans needed to do their own recorded concert sessions in an attempt to replay a certain piece from a certain live performance.
Repeatedly regarded as illegal bootlegs, these tapes had been openly shared and traded by fans.
The ‘90s discovered more significant exposure for groups such as The Black Crowes and Aquarium Rescue Unit, and Phish at that time was getting a massive group of followers and bringing out brand new ideas in their shows. The death of Jerry Garcia in 1995 basically ended in the huge increase of Phish’s popularity. The Internet, small as it was then, made the way for the coming of chat groups for these artists together with their music, which likely resulted to a lot more interest and hence more concert-goers for these artists.
Despite the fact that Phish disbanded in 2004, various bands and artists including String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic and Disco Biscuits became popular in the jam-band scene, playing in flourishing jam-band festivals. By these times, obviously, downloading songs on the internet was already a well-known process. What had been exclusive recorded sessions has been very easily shared to individuals with a working computer and an ISP.
These days, a person could very easily stumble on jam bands radio stations within the net, which practically skirts the concern of piracy and unlawful sharing. Yet, this is still agreed upon, as it is part of jam-band tradition to permit the audience to record performances and shows. The fact is, a few will claim that bands that tend not to permit fans to record performances are not genuinely jam bands and artists in the tradition set by The Grateful Dead.

