Jam Session

Mike Fleming used to drum for Bo Diddley.

He's one of the handful of musicians with an interesting backstory who gather at The Filling Station the fourth Sunday of each month for an open electric blues jam.

Wendy Beach came up with the idea for Blues Jam. It goes from 6 to 9 p.m. The first half is a house band jam, and the second half is for people to join in or start something.

In fact, there's almost always something to do at The Filling Station now that the Sunday Sessions have congealed into a steady thing. Everything has a $5 suggested donation.

"If you're learning an instrument, come and play with some people," venue owner and trombonist David Sinkus said. "That's why they're called sessions: We come in and we can work."

Beach ran into Sinkus at the Church of Beethoven, where they eventually figured out she had played at his wedding back in the day.

"We used to play at El Madrid - it's on 1st under the tracks - which turned into a really big Wednesday night blues thing," Beach said. "The first time when I walked in there, some guy was helping me move my equipment in, and he had scabs on his face from being in a fight. It was that kind of place, but it was fun. It was really a blast, and it got really busy, and David and I were talking about, 'Hey, it would be cool if we could do that here.'"

There's also cabaret the first Sunday, soon-coming improv or songwriting the second Sunday and poetry night the third Sunday.

He said on Cabaret Night people usually bring show-tune music to sing while a piano accompanist sight-reads.

"But I'd love for people to come in and do burlesque," he said.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Frank Calabretta, who plays harmonica during Blues Jam, also hosts Poetry Night.

"That's been going pretty well," Sinkus said. "He's really good - he actually writes poetry. He was in Iraq, too. He likes the military thing. They wouldn't take him back - this was a couple years ago - 'cause of his tattoos, which they said he could have, then they said no. And then they called him and wanted him back and he said, 'Screw you.'"

Last week, the New Mexico Storytellers came, and, instead of weaving folkloric tales, they told stories about their lives.

"The poetry night is more of a spoken word," Sinkus said. "Anyone with spoken word stuff are definitely encouraged to show."

He said that if anyone has an idea for a show or one-man act or anything, there are plenty of open nights at The Filling Station. You can e-mail Sinkus at FillingStationAbq@gmail.com.

"If anyone has an act, a cabaret act, we'll headline them," he said. "If they wrote a book of poetry, they can read 15 minutes. I really, really want to make it sort of a training ground. We had a stand-up comic at poetry night, Alpine Bob. He was interesting. You can actually try to hone your own craft in a nurturing, supportive environment."

Sunday Sessions at The Filling Station

For more info, visit fillingstationabq.com