At a monthly jam session in Northeast Portland, blues, folk, and rock songs alternate with calls to action for freelance musicians. Since February, the Freelance Musicians Guild has hosted “Solidarity Jams” to draw in musicians with something more enticing than a regular union meeting. Jam organizers want to build a community of local musicians and encourage them to organize for better working conditions.
“What we try to do is not only make music and have fun, but educate folks about their labor,” American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 99 organizer Hunter Buen told participants between songs at the April 29 Solidarity Jam.
“Music is an art form, but it’s also labor. It’s physically taxing. It takes a lot of dedication and time to practice. So think about it that way. As you go to your next gig, as you go to your next event, think very deeply about the value that you bring,” Buen said.
The monthly jams are held in the rehearsal space at Musicians Local 99’s union hall at 325 NE 20th Ave. in Portland’s Kerns neighborhood.
At the April 29 event, Dan Kaufman, one of the Freelance Musicians Guild organizers and a Musicians Local 99 member since the late 1990s, jammed alongside his teenage son. Kaufman said like at any jam, there are moments that feel magical — and others that don’t. Musicians trickled in throughout the evening. Some strode onto the low stage readily, while others held back, listening or playing their instruments from the sidelines.
Musicians played the guitar, bass, saxophone, piano, violin, tambourine, and more, coming with their own instruments or borrowing from the guild’s collection. Each solo or new addition to the group was celebrated, with extra hoots and hollers for the oboe, xylophone, and drums.
Singers and instrumentalists rotated through, playing original music, protest songs, and covers across genres. Between classics by the likes of Johnny Cash and James Brown, musicians walked each other through the chords of new songs.
The Freelance Musicians Guild formed in 2024 with support from Musicians Local 99. A core group of volunteer organizers formed the guild and planned the Solidarity Jams. They include Kaufman and Geebs Rojas, who works for Oregon AFSCME by day.
Kaufman started playing professionally in high school. He says 40 years later, pay hasn’t improved much.
“The scene is difficult. Some people are practically paying to play. And I just think that’s not okay,” Kaufman said. “The only way that we’re going to solve this is by coming together and talking about our issues — not just monetary issues, although those are key, but all the issues that we have as professional musicians.”
Local 99 represents musicians in the Oregon Symphony and a dozen other groups, as well as dues-paying freelancers who get resources like rehearsal space use, AFM contracts, and legal assistance. But the Freelance Musicians Guild welcomes nonmembers, erasing a barrier to entry.
Freelance musicians performing at clubs and concert venues are classified as independent contractors and don’t have legally recognized collective bargaining rights like W-2 employees. Through the Freelance Musicians Guild, gigging musicians are organizing outside of the traditional union structure, to advocate for government policy and legislation that helps musicians, caution their peers about venues that treat musicians poorly or celebrate venues that respect their performers, and encourage musicians to use contracts.
“We get folks to walk in the club, we get folks to dance, to get thirsty, to patronize, to get an appetizer,” Rojas told the Labor Press. Guild members talked during the jam about the value that musicians bring to bars and clubs while club owners offer them pennies.
Santiago Ortega, another core member of the Freelance Musicians Guild, told attendees he wanted to organize gig musicians because he was tired of seeing musicians die of preventable causes that could have been avoided if they could afford health insurance.
“A lot of associations out here will say we need to support live music — and we do. But more than live music, we need to be supporting the whole musician,” Ortega said.
Rojas said community members contributed rugs and lighting to get the rehearsal space ready for a jam. Musicians Local 99 has been in the building since the early 1970s. The recent additions of a plain fabric backdrop and string lights aren’t awe-inspiring stage design, but they make the modest space feel more welcoming. The group is raising money for additional improvements.
The jams are scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. on the last Tuesday of each month.
Union playlist
The Labor Press asked supporters of the Freelance Musicians Guild to name their favorite union songs. Here are the ones they came up with.
- “Take This Job and Shove it” by Johnny Paycheck
- “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton
- “Big Boss Man” by Jimmy Reed
- “Factory” by Bruce Springsteen
- “16 Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford
- “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley
- “Clampdown” by The Clash
- “Never Picked Cotton” by Roy Clark
- “Which Side are You On?” by Peter Seeger
- “Working Class Hero” by John Lennon
- “Funky President (People It’s Bad)” by James Brown
- “There Is Power in a Union” by Billy Bragg
