On Tuesday night at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, 303 Main St., the pickers split into several circles around the room. On a Wednesday night in the same room, the newer jam does the reverse. Everyone plays one tune together, the fiddles lead, and the group stays in one key until it agrees to change. You can bring the same guitar both nights and still need to know different things each time.
Lyons has more live music than most towns its size, and summer gets most of the attention. These two jams run through the cold months, though, and they ask very different things of the people who sit in. Before you take a case down Main Street, it helps to know which night you're walking into.
Tuesday Splits the Room Into Circles
The Lyons Bluegrass Jam is the older of the two by a wide margin. Oskar Blues lists it every Tuesday from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and Open Mic Colorado's listing shows the weekly dates running through January.
In a September 2025 roundup, the Longmont Times-Call said Oskar Blues has hosted the jam "for decades." The paper listed it under the names of bassist Eric Thorin and KC Groves and called it "an iconic part of the Front Range open mics and jam scenes." The same item said players from Rail Splitters, Jake Leg, Taarka and Blue Canyon Boys have sat in over the years.
The format is what makes that kind of mix work. The Times-Call described it this way: "Circles of pickers break off into groups." The paper also said, "All levels are welcome." Several circles means several jams going on at once. A strong player and a nervous beginner can both be playing on a Tuesday without sharing a circle. If you walk in new, your first job is to listen around the room and find the circle that fits you.
Wednesday Keeps Everyone in One Key
The Wednesday jam is the newcomer. The Lyons Recorder's event listing calls it "the new Lyons Old Tim[e] jam," says the first one was held on February 26, and gives its own pitch: "Come play tunes. Come learn tunes. Come see friends. Come make friends."
The Oskar Blues calendar holds a 6:30 p.m. Old Time Jam slot every Wednesday in November and into December. The Lyons Old-Time Jam organizer page commits to the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, and the Recorder lists those nights from 6 to 8 p.m. For November and December, the second and fourth Wednesdays fall on Nov. 11, Nov. 25, Dec. 9 and Dec. 23. Check the organizer page before you head out on any other Wednesday, and especially around the holidays.
Where Tuesday splits into groups, Wednesday stays as one. The organizers explain how it works on their page:
"We all play together and support the melody of the tune or play the melody of the tune. Typically the fiddles lead the melody and guitars, banjos etc. will play the melody or support the melody with rhythm until the person leading the tune calls that we're ending."
So there's one tune, one leader and one ending at a time. Underneath that is a practical rule about keys. The group picks a key and stays in it "for a while" before everyone agrees to switch, because, as the page says, "Fiddles and Banjos will sometimes have to retune their instrument to move to a different key." Under that, in capital letters, the page sums up the night: "GROOVE IS THE GOAL."
What the Key Rule Means for a First-Timer
Staying in one key changes how a beginner gets started. On Tuesday, you join by finding the right circle. On Wednesday, there's only one circle, so you join by catching the tune. The organizers say not knowing it is fine: "Hang out for a minute while the person leading the tune is starting and jump in when you're ready!"
"Most of the time tunes are either in D, A, C or G," according to the organizers, who suggest treating the night as practice: "think of it as a game and practice picking up melodies by ear." If you can play comfortably in those four keys, you can follow most of what happens on a Wednesday, even if you've never heard the tune before.
The organizers also list what they consider good manners at an old-time jam, and they ask more of experienced players than of new ones:
- Welcome everyone in.
- Teach folks new tunes.
- Teach folks the chords.
- Be nice.
- Share the joy of music with people.
Listening counts as taking part. You're welcome whether you "lead a tune, play quietly in the background, or simply listen and soak it all in." If you've never played in a jam, sitting at the bar through one Wednesday and humming along is a fine way to start.
The Same Players Turn Up in More Than One Room
Eric Thorin, whose name was on the Tuesday jam in the 2025 Times-Call listing, played bass at the first show of a new jazz series at The Wayback Bar on Feb. 12, 2026. The Wayback sits behind Wildcat Mountaineering at 430 Main St., with its entrance off High Street. In the Times-Call's story on the series, keyboardist Ron LeGault said Thorin "is one of the best bluegrass bass players in Colorado," adding, "But he plays jazz and blues, as well."
Lyons is small enough that a bluegrass bassist can play jazz a few blocks from his usual Tuesday spot. That's also why the two Oskar Blues jams can share a room without competing. They pull from the same pool of local players and give each one a different kind of night.
The Rest of the Week at 303 Main
The jams are part of a full weekly calendar. Here's what the Oskar Blues Lyons calendar lists for the rest of November:
- Sundays, 5:30 p.m.: The Sunday Serenade, with Ingrid Avison on Nov. 15 and Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore on Nov. 22. Emily Barnes & Chris Koza play the 5:30 slot on Nov. 29.
- Mondays, 6:30 p.m.: Open Mic Mondays hosted by Derek Blake. Oskar Blues lists it from 6:30 to 10 p.m., with sign-up starting at 5:30.
- Tuesdays, 6 p.m.: Lyons Bluegrass Jam.
- Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m.: Old Time Jam, with the organizer committing to the second and fourth Wednesdays.
- Thursdays, 6 p.m.: Free Poker Thursdays.
- Weekend shows, 7 p.m.: Johnny Long on Friday, Nov. 13, and Foxfeather on Friday, Nov. 20. High Lonesome plays Saturday, Nov. 14, from 7 to 10 p.m., and the band's listing says the show is free and all ages.
The calendar runs past Thanksgiving with both jams still on it. The Tuesday jam appears on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, and Wednesday slots are listed into December.
On the first Saturday in December, the evening plans move outside. Inside Lyons lists the Town of Lyons Parade of Lights coming down Main Street on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 6:30 p.m., followed by a drone show launched near Bohn Park and visible from Main Street. The drones are now an established part of the night. The Town's 2025 parade notice introduced two drone shows as new that year. Oskar Blues sits right on the parade route, and route and weather updates are posted on the Town's parade page.
Small-town Main Streets keep going through winter thanks to standing nights like these, and they're part of what people mean when they talk about Lyons. If you're thinking about a home within walking distance of Oskar Blues, or wondering what your place near Main Street is worth now, Janet Leap and her team can walk you through the numbers street by street. Request a free home valuation and we'll start there.
