Everyone gets the blues every now and then, and when you got them, the best thing you can do is get them off your chest.  If you need an opportunity, everyone at the Kern River Blues Society would love to hear about it.

The blues society meets every second and third Saturday of the month at Rockwell’s Trout’s on North Chester Avenue for a blues jam session from 2-8 p.m. Their purpose is to nurture and grow the blues. The sessions offer a chance to perform without constraints and commitments of a proper band; to play for the sake of playing and to revisit the style of music which is the foundation to many styles of music, predominately rock ‘n’ roll, in a communal fashion. In the iPod era, where music has become more personalized than ever, the public jam can feel like an authentic cultural coup.

The Blackboard stage at Trout’s provides the necessary equipment for musicians to express their inner most emotions through waves of amplified sound.

“People just show up with their sticks, plug in their guitars and start playing,” said John Cameron, guitarist and jam master for the afternoon.

Cameron said the jam session is open to the public, but is limited to those 21 and over. The process to play is informal. All it takes is to sign in on a registration sheet set atop a dimly lit table, and once your name is called it’s your turn to take the stage. Each performer is allowed to play four songs at a time.

“We try to get two guitars, a drummer, a bass, and harmonica and get them up there in the order they came in the door and we’ll call them up randomly, unless they specifically ask to play with certain individuals. They get four songs and we rotate out the next guys on the list. When we’re done with the list then it’s just whoever wants to go up there and play,” Cameron said.

A core group of 50 musicians run through classics and original compositions. Many bands have formed as a result of playing together during the six-hour long jam session.

Established bands also have the chance to crash the jam and work out kinks to their set list in front of an audience before heading out to a gig that same night.

Ray Mendenhall, bass player for local dance band The Usual Suspects, doesn’t attend jams too often due to his busy gig schedule, but was convinced by a friend to make it out whenever he had a free weekend.

“You never know what you’re going to get,” said Mendenhall. “You might get some really good players, you might get some beginners, but that’s just pretty much a roll of the dice type of deal. That’s what makes it fun. You get all kinds of different players and no one is tripping on nobody and there’s no expectation level.”

Beth Selzam founded the society in November of 2009, after voicing her intention of starting the group while serving on the board of the annual CSUB B-Town Blues Festival.

“I asked the people in the room, ‘who here would support a blues society in Kern County?’ Everyone raised their hands and that was the impetus I needed to go forward,” Selzam said.

The event’s popularity has led Selzam to add a monthly jam session at the Kernville Saloon in Kernville, on the first Saturday of each month. She believes the jams are an ideal location for musicians and vocalists to network and learn from one another no matter where you are at in your skill level.

“A lot of styles of the blues are represented by our membership, and it stretches them as musicians to learn a new style that they haven’t played before which helps them become more versatile with their playing,” said Selzman. “We encourage beginners to pros. That is our philosophy, because if you’re an old timer you can mentor to a new person to a new genre and instrument.”

Membership to the society is $10 a year and gives members priority for the jam sessions. Nov. 17 marks the KRBS third year anniversary and will celebrate by having a potluck and jam session at Trout’s. The public is invited to attend and enjoy a night of blues.