With the original Grateful Dead's demise in the late 80's the audiences in the States began looking for other groups to carry on a post hippie era underground. This new generation followed a similar lifestyle to their parents socially and culturally.
The closest parallel in the UK would be New Age travelers which began to assemble in the early eighties at similar festivals and open air "shed" gigs.
Although outside of the States the geography or climate for such road lifestyles make it near impossible for groups to survive for any length of time. In the UK for example a road journey could be over in a little more than 6 summer weeks of festivals and in the present era with venues on the decline or have "pay-to-play" or play for nothing there's more than a fair chance you'd lose money attempting it.
"Most jam bands start out with nothing more than their music gear, a battered old van, and maybe enough gas money to make it from Athens, Georgia, to Boulder, Colorado. Their business plan calls for several years of constant touring from one low-paying gig to the next, sleeping on borrowed couches and in five-to-a-room cheap hotels. If they're successful, they might get to hire a combination roadie/sound man/merchandise guy/van driver. If they're very successful, they might trade up from a battered old van to a not-so-battered, not-so-old bus a few years down the road. There's virtually no support for the upstart jam band: no publicist promoting their tour, no agent squeezing club owners for higher pay, no one pitching their new single to radio stations.
Rolling Stone magazine asserted in a 2004 biography that Phish "was the living, breathing, noodling definition of the term" jam band, in that it became a "cultural phenomenon, followed across the country from summer shed to summer shed by thousands of new-generation hippies and hacky-sack enthusiasts, and spawning a new wave of bands oriented around group improvisation and super-extended grooves... Rob Mitchum blog
The on going list of jam bands in the States is extensive, old rockers who've already been there decades back are still amazingly on the road (sometimes with just one original member) and are now joined by a myriad of new young groups. The styles can range from the eclectic fusion to traditional rock. Even some of the Indie bands have been dabbling in the rock improvisation. eg. Velvet Undergrounds "Sister Ray" is seen as a standard to improvise. Others use unusual instrumentation to embellish and extend their songs live. They are in many ways the complete opposite in concept and practice of mainstream artists and bands. Check out a long list of them here
"By the 2000s, as internet downloading of MP3 music files became common, downloading of jam band songs became an extension of the cassette taping trend" Wiki
The bands do a trade or give away or sell recordings at their gigs after the show ends. It's the "fair trade" equivalent of bootlegging only now done by the band itself.
"The jam band template of steady touring and varied shows, and encouraging fan community is now a viable alternative to the label-dependent radio and CDs model that has become a victim of the changing market of media consolidation, file sharing, and vast entertainment options for consumers".
The 'Live Music Archive', which is part of the Internet Archive has become the trading home for fans of the many bands out there with an extensive free collection.
Try this widget out and see what you find lurking there. You can be sure it'll have the good, the bad and the noodling.
