Jackson Hole Underground

Tonight, the Mangy Moose Saloon kicks off a two-week spree of great music with one of the hottest young bands in America, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

The Vermont-based quartet has created quite a buzz by touring the festival circuit and opening for Taj Mahal, Trey Anastasio and Government Mule, among others. The group also has performed on “The Tonight Show” and “Good Morning America.”

Potter, 24, sings and plays guitar and Hammond B-3 organ. She is known for her beautiful, bluesy voice, but don’t expect Lilith Fair. Her band flat-out rocks.

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Wow, a cool band from England — and they actually play instruments!

After visiting the Mangy Moose on Tuesday, the New Mastersounds had the Knotty Pine grooving Wednesday with the funkiest organic rhythms from across the pond. There were no DJs or laptops on stage, just tight playing of quaint throwbacks like drums and guitar.

Young guys doing old-school funk, this band is the British counterpart to Galactic, heirs to the New Orleans musical legacy. Both groups pay the most devout homage to The Meters and bring intense energy to retro grooves.

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“Me whole tribe just having fun … We gonna dance till morning come.”

The spirit of Professor Longhair was in the house as the celebrated pianist and hoodoo guru Dr. John brought his boogie-woogie funk to the Mangy Moose last night.

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After getting my fill of paint fumes and crumpled newspaper working on the Cheney artwork, I went out to the Mangy Moose on Thursday to catch the John Popper Project with DJ Logic.

Blues Traveler will always strike a mellifluous note in my heart, as the band’s eponymous debut and subsequent Travelers and Thieves provided a soundtrack for my formative college days. Along with Shakespeare and Sartre, Popper’s idealist lyrics inspired me to reach for “the flow of all the life that’s there.”

Too bad Popper isn’t writing songs like that anymore. And the band hasn’t had the same depth of sound since bassist Bobby Sheehan died. But old allegiances die hard, the Peace Rally needed promoting, and I like to challenge Popper about his politics (BT played the 2000 GOP convention, and Popper performed at a party for the 2004 inauguration, among other less-than-savory gigs).

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