Guest, what I did isn't the point, the point is that one CAN start up a new session, and that it's easier than one might think. I'll trust Jiggers to know if anything there is useful in his situation, thank you.

Jiggers, we have not seen anything of the sort you are worrying about, so please feel free to use anything that's helpful to your situation. Our jams (US) seem to be different from your sessions (UK I'm guessing) in some respects. Here, people overcome needing to be note-perfect by sitting off to the edge a bit and playing quietly to the extent one can. For instance, at a workshop I attended, when this question came up, the workshop leader and the experienced players present indicated that it's fine to play just the notes that carry the accented beats, and fill in the rest as one gets to know the tunes better next time around. I don't know if that's considered bad form in your area, but you might ask one of the players how they got so good and how to get from your skills to skills you are more confident in. And you might find recordings or online MIDIs of the tunes to help you prepare to play with that group.

Mr. Happy seems to indicate that other session players may be more helpful than you fear they will be. In any event, if you focus on the love of the tune, that's what will pull you forward as you gain more skill AND confidence.

~Susan