Barcelona Bluegrass Jam finds a new home – two even!

This report on the fate of the popular Barcelona Bluegrass Jam is a contribution from Michael Luchtan, an American bluegrass enthusiast living in Spain. This regular meeting had recently lost its long time home, which had provided a home for grassers along the northern Mediterranean coast to socialize and play together.

We’re excited to share some fantastic news with all of you, our fellow bluegrass enthusiasts. Thanks to some adventurous souls who dared to believe in our bluegrass jams, we’ve been able to establish ourselves in two fabulous locations. We’re sharing this information for anyone who might find themselves wandering through the vibrant city of Barcelona, a Mediterranean gem renowned for its rich cultural heritage.

Our regular jam session, which we’ve proudly hosted on the second and fourth Sunday of each month for over a decade, through economic downturns, pandemics, and the occasional venue change, will now take place at The Black Lab Brewhouse and Kitchen.

The Black Lab was founded in 2014 by an American from the great state of Minnesota, and serves up some stellar American music, along with great microbrews made in house. You can find a Grateful Dead tribute band there once a month led by Aaron Feder, who suggested this new place for the jams, but more importantly, they will now feature the Al Ras Barcelona Bluegrass Jam on the second and fourth Sunday of the month. The Black Lab is right on the water in Barceloneta, a Barcelona neighborhood with easy access from the L4 yellow line. So grab your instrument or simply bring your enthusiasm, and come join us!

While The Black Lab warmly welcomes us twice a month, we’ve discovered a fresh venue for our slow jam sessions. The proprietors of Tradicionàrius, a cultural hub in Gràcia, have kindly opened their doors to our community on the third Sunday of every month. Our inaugural session in May was a rousing success! Tradicionàrius primarily highlights music traditional to the region, but perhaps we managed to win their hearts with the John Reischman show and pre-jam event we hosted last March.

We’re profoundly grateful to everyone who contributed to these opportunities: the team at CAT, Matt from The Black Lab, and the dedicated Al Ras organizers. A special shout-out goes to Joan Manel, the architect of our slow jam sessions, Carol Duran for helping us establish connections with El Bar del CAT, and Marta, who runs the bar and she was really interested in the jam, and Lluís Gómez for leading the charge.

When your travels bring you to Barcelona, be sure to join us at one of these fantastic locations. We can’t wait to welcome you into our thriving bluegrass community!