James North General Store 261 James Street North
Hip new boutique, gallery, and coffee bar James North General Store just opened in June. During my first visit, I came across a poster for James Street Jams. A bunch of venues along the street were participating and the idea was to start a monthly live music crawl on the last Friday of every month along James North.
I missed out on the first one, but for July’s Jams, I recommended my friend, musician Max Wray, to General Store’s owners Mathieu and Setenio. I knew Max’s acoustic set up would be just perfect for the shop.
It was a lovely summer evening and Max began his set outside. Across the street, there was a band of musicians jamming away outside the church’s courtyard. They may have been a little loud by contrast, but Max held his own!
Later on, we brought the music inside and Max continued to play as customers moseyed in and out, taking a look around the shop. At one point, a couple of musicians wandered in, listened to Max for a minute, then tuned their instruments and hopped right in, mid-song. It felt like a flash mob or something – all of a sudden we had a full jam going! Which, I suppose, is the whole point of James Street Jams. I was so impressed because it seemed like it had been planned.
Check out a couple clips from Max’s set below. I hope the monthly Jams continue, or just pop up anywhere, for that matter!
– Kristin
