diff --git a/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/sessions/browse-sessions-page.cy.js b/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/sessions/browse-sessions-page.cy.js
index eb48a2b03..7cae42b8c 100644
--- a/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/sessions/browse-sessions-page.cy.js
+++ b/jam-ui/cypress/e2e/sessions/browse-sessions-page.cy.js
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ describe('Browse sessions', () => {
     });
 
     it('alerts when there is no records', () => {
-      cy.contains('No Records!');
+      cy.contains('There are no public, open sessions currently available for you to join');
+      cy.contains('create a session').click();
+      cy.url().should('include', '/sessions/new');
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/jam-ui/cypress/support/e2e.js b/jam-ui/cypress/support/e2e.js
index 3a28a93ed..b9173a41b 100644
--- a/jam-ui/cypress/support/e2e.js
+++ b/jam-ui/cypress/support/e2e.js
@@ -27,6 +27,26 @@ beforeEach(() => {
     statusCode: 200,
     body: [],
   }).as('getAppFeatures');
+
+  cy.intercept('GET', /\S+\/users\/\S+\/profile/, {
+    statusCode: 200,
+    body: {
+      id: 1,
+      name: 'Jane Doe',
+      email: 'jane@example.com',
+    },
+  }).as('getUserProfile');
+
+  cy.intercept('GET', /\S+\/users\/\S+\/my_notifications/, {
+    statusCode: 200,
+    body: [],
+  }).as('getMyNotifications');
+
+  cy.intercept('GET', /\S+\/users\/\S+\/friends/, {
+    statusCode: 200,
+    body: [],
+  }).as('getMyFriends');
+
 });
 
 
diff --git a/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMusicSessions.js b/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMusicSessions.js
index fe018781c..e2d14bc91 100644
--- a/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMusicSessions.js
+++ b/jam-ui/src/components/page/JKMusicSessions.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
-import { Alert, Col, Row, Card, CardBody } from 'reactstrap';
+import { Col, Row, Card, CardBody } from 'reactstrap';
+import { Link } from 'react-router-dom';
 import FalconCardHeader from '../common/FalconCardHeader';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
 import { useDispatch, useSelector } from 'react-redux';
@@ -53,9 +54,9 @@ function JKMusicSessions() {
           ) : (
             <Row className="p-card">
               <Col>
-                <Alert color="info" className="mb-0">
-                  {t('no_records', { ns: 'common' })}
-                </Alert>
+                {t('list.no_records_1', { ns: 'sessions' })}
+                <Link to="/sessions/new">{t('list.create_session', { ns: 'sessions' })}</Link>
+                {t('list.no_records_2', { ns: 'sessions' })}
               </Col>
             </Row>
           )}
diff --git a/jam-ui/src/i18n/locales/en/sessions.json b/jam-ui/src/i18n/locales/en/sessions.json
index e26188e3c..8ef477b49 100644
--- a/jam-ui/src/i18n/locales/en/sessions.json
+++ b/jam-ui/src/i18n/locales/en/sessions.json
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@
     "notes": {
       "invited": "YOU WERE INVITED TO THIS SESSION",
       "has_friend": "YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN THIS SESSION"
-    }
+    },
+    "no_records_1": "There are no public, open sessions currently available for you to join. We suggest you ",
+    "create_session": "create a session",
+    "no_records_2": " that others can join now, or wait a bit and then refresh this page in your browser to see if new public sessions have been started."
   },
   "lobby": {
     "page_title": "Lobby",
diff --git a/web/app/controllers/api_users_controller.rb b/web/app/controllers/api_users_controller.rb
index 6ac36c43b..51bec94a8 100644
--- a/web/app/controllers/api_users_controller.rb
+++ b/web/app/controllers/api_users_controller.rb
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ class ApiUsersController < ApiController
     limit = 20 if limit <= 0
     offset = params[:offset].to_i
     offset = 0 if offset < 0
-    query = @notifications = @user.notifications.joins(:source_user)
+    query = @user.notifications.joins(:source_user)
     @unread_total = query.unread.size
     @notifications = query.offset(offset).limit(limit)
     @next =  @notifications.size > 0 ? offset + limit : nil