Jackson Hole Underground

After years of traveling to and writing about music festivals in places like New Orleans, Austin and Bonnaroo, at last a big fest has come to us — without even a drive to Grand Targhee.

We will be in full regalia for the second day of the Jackson Hole Music Festival at Teton Village. Reports from the first day said the music and sun were hot.

I wonder whether Ben Harper will sport the Stetson he purchased in Jackson back in 2001, when some of the local ladies took him shopping before his show at Snow King Center. Will Robert Randolph bust out his Fennis Dembo UW hoops jersey, as he did while opening for the Black Crowes at Snow King in 2006?

(I asked Randolph that night whether he had rolled through Laramie on his way up to Jackson, or whether the jersey was a gift. “Yeah, it was a gift,” he said, “from Dick Cheney!”)

The main question I have is whether the Teton area can sustain the tremendous amount of music we’ve been blessed with this year: two great fests at Targhee, a full slate at Center for the Arts, Music on Main, the Mangy Moose, and now this, a two-day marathon produced by one of the industry’s heavy hitters, Festival Network.

I don’t know what you come to do, but as an all-too-short and frenetic summer draws to a close, it’s time to stomp and scream.

The New Mastersounds continued their conquest of America with two gigs in the Tetons, kicking off a spree of music that arrives at just the right time.

On Thursday night the booty-shaking Brits rocked the free Music on Main concert in Driggs, an event that quickly has mushroomed into a pillar of community. (Jackson Town Council, are you listening?)

Last night the lads from Leeds conducted an exercise in “tension and release” at the Mangy Moose. Borrowing from The Meters, Sly and the Family Stone and, if I’m not mistaken, even Lionel Richie, the group let loose and turned what could have been a slow night before a small crowd into an outrageous funk party. The release was akin to the Snake River pouring through Jackson Lake Dam.

With a full moon shining over the mountains, and shooting stars streaking across the sky, it was a perfect summer night (even if some yahoo dancing with a beautiful girl got a little too carried away with the tambourine at the end).

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(The Neville Brothers were in Jackson last night to play a concert at Center for the Arts. Last summer, before their performance at Targhee Fest, I sat down with the venerable keyboardist Art Neville, aka Poppa Funk, for an interview, in which we discussed the fate of The Meters, the state of New Orleans, football and the Iraq War.)

It was late in the afternoon, and golden light bathed the Targhee basin. A black SUV pulled up behind the stage, and out stepped one of my musical idols, Art Neville.

A crew member helped him from the vehicle, and he walked slowly with a cane. I set up two folding chairs. There was a break in the festival, and it was quiet.

I asked him how he was feeling, having heard that the band was struggling with the altitude at 8,000 feet. “I feel pretty good,” he said, “as long as you don’t have any wild animals running around.”

This was his first visit to the Teton Range. I asked him what he thought of Wyoming. “Good people,” he said. “I can see that already.”

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Photo © Jim Stanford. Click to enlarge.

As first reported here back in April, a new music festival will be making its debut at Teton Village this summer.

The Jackson Hole Music Festival has added soul guitarists Ben Harper and Robert Randolph to a lineup that already features Wilco, the Black Crowes and Son Volt. The two-day event will be held at the base of the Eagle’s Rest slope on Aug. 16 and 17.

Harper and his band, the Innocent Criminals, have performed several times in Jackson Hole, as have Randolph and his Family Band. Both are fan favorites.

So far, the lineup looks like this: Saturday, Aug. 16 — Wilco, Kaki King, Medeski Martin & Wood, Backdoor Slam; Sunday, Aug. 17 — Black Crowes, Ben Harper, Robert Randolph, Son Volt, the Avett Brothers.

The music will run from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days. Single-day tickets are $72.50, while a two-day pass costs $130. For a limited time, you can purchase a discounted “early bird” pass for $110 (plus $13 service charge) by clicking here.

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It’s hard to believe the spree of great music headed to the Tetons this summer.

Grand Targhee has bolstered its Targhee Fest in July with the addition of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, who will play Saturday, July 19. The sensation from Vermont nearly shook the moose from the rafters in her Mangy Moose debut in February.

Here is how the three-day lineup is shaping up: Friday, July 18 — Martin Sexton, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival; July 19 — Potter, Taj Mahal, and Emmylou Harris; and Sunday, July 20 — Josh Ritter and Lyle Lovett.

The full roster can be viewed here. Targhee still has five slots to fill.
(Jim Stanford photo; click to enlarge)