I was thinking along the lines of what Midchuck had to offer. We have bars here, not pubs (at least not locally). There are local coffee houses that do offer music on a weekly basis and at least one of them always allows for folks to step up to the mic to do their thing. They offer a jam session sometimes but it's not the sit around and play kind of thing that you will find in pubs in Europe (at least from the ones I visited).

On our mountain top, we play on the porch, under the big maple, and invite folks over who we want to play with. It's always informal and many times involves just the two of us and that's fine too. We've also had picnics where folks sit around and play whatever and whenever they want, a good time for everyone involved and absolutely no pressure.

For us, music is about relaxing, enjoyment and having fun. Neither of us are performers, nor do we wish to be...but we do like to play with like minded people. A club around here could be fun, but I don't think the local economy would support it....and some local jams have proven to be more stressful than anything else...so the front porch suits us just fine. :)

Michelle