JH Underground – news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

At a recent New Orleans Musicians for Obama benefit, I was leaning against the bar, uploading a photo from my phone, when I heard someone sidle up next to me and order a coke. I turned to see one of the performers, Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli.

“Hey, Leo,” I said. “I’m from Wyoming. I hear you’re coming our way this summer for a music camp.”

“Jackson Hole,” he said in the most cool-cat voice imaginable. “Check it out.”

The funk master behind such classics as “Cissy Strut” is indeed part of the staff for the Jackson Hole Rock Camp on July 9-13. Also lending their talents are DJ Logic and hip-hop artist Brother Ali, among other distinguished players.

The camp is for kids 12 and older, and instruction will cover a variety of instruments. Given the teachers, don’t be surprised if some “big kids” hang around the classroom, too. Scholarships ($650) are available.

In 2008, Nocentelli played one of the most impressive gigs ever held at Center for the Arts, a show that unfortunately too few got to see.

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Posted under Entertainment, Music

Tags: barack obama, center for the arts, funk, hip-hop, new orleans, rock

In what hopefully will be a prelude to the band playing in Jackson Hole soon, Center for the Arts will broadcast Phish’s New Year’s Eve concert live from Madison Square Garden in New York.

The show will be streamed on the arts center’s HD screen and digital sound system. The Vermont jam band will play three sets, stretching from approximately 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. MST. Tickets are $10, all general admission.

Phish usually has a few surprises in store for New Year’s, particularly the countdown at midnight. The band often glides to the stage aboard a giant hot dog, and last year at MSG (above) welcomed a chorus line of international dancers for a “Meatstick” extravaganza. The song won’t make sense to anyone unfamiliar with Phish, but it does make for an entertaining spectacle.

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Posted under Holidays, Music

Tags: center for the arts, phish, rock

With four Jacksonites recently relocating to New Orleans, including KHOL co-music director Kelly Huster, the Jackson Hole contingent at Jazz Fest is likely to be even larger this year.

Last night the festival announced its preliminary lineup, featuring the likes of Bon Iver, MMJ, Iron and Wine, Herbie Hancock, Zac Brown Band, and Levon Helm with Mavis Staples. Grace Potter makes her Jazz Fest debut.

Although not held until late April and early May, Jazz Fest sets its lineup early to get the jump on other festivals. Best to plan ahead, as flights will fill up and, you know, Kelly’s couch is likely to be booked.

Closer to home, the Pink Garter is preparing for a grand reopening. While construction is ongoing, the theater will host The Deadlocks for three sets on New Year’s Eve ($15). As reported earlier, The Infamous Stringdusters and Leftover Salmon are among the bands who will play this winter.

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Posted under Music

Tags: center for the arts, galactic, jazz fest, new orleans, pink garter, travel, WGH?

This is the new sculpture on the wall of Center for the Arts. The “river of light,” designed and installed by Bland Hoke Jr. and friends, wraps around the center’s southwest corner outside the pottery studio.

The sculpture is brushed stainless steel, illuminated from within by four strands of LED lights. Here, the evening sky splashes additional color on the work.

I have been spellbound by this piece since discovering it about a week ago. There is much to admire: the flowing texture, precise metalwork, sinuous curves of the river channels and, finally, the lights, which came on via darkness sensor while I was photographing at sunset Sunday.

Amazingly, this was the scrap material left over from the main piece, a cutout of the river, on display at Jackson Hole Airport. Hoke worked with Terry Chambers of Custom Iron Design and Shane Lindsay on the project, which adorns a wall in the baggage claim area. Afterward, he came up with the idea of reusing the metal outline of the riverbanks and islands and rigging it with lights.

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Posted under Art, Environment

Tags: center for the arts, photography, river running, snake river

Pearl Jam Twenty from Pearl Jam on Vimeo.

This weekend saw a pair of festivals by two bands whose music has been a soundtrack for the Jackson Hole lifestyle but who have yet to play here, Phish and Pearl Jam. A herd of the Wyoming phaithful ran like antelope to Denver to see Phish perform three nights outdoors, while in Alpine Valley, Wis., Pearl Jam celebrated its 20th anniversary with a slew of guests and opening bands.

To commemorate two decades of making music, Pearl Jam is set to release a rockumentary that’s nothing short of awesome. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe — he of Fast Times and Almost Famous — the film debuts Sept. 20. The band has lined up hundreds of screenings around the world, yet hardly any in the western United States. How great would this sound on Center for the Arts’ new HD audio-video system?

In the meantime, we have a free concert to tide us over: Banjoist Abigail Washburn will perform in the Center Theater on Tuesday, preceded by a party on the back lawn. Washburn has played the Targhee Bluegrass Festival as part of the Sparrow Quartet with Béla Fleck. Like the recent Deadlocks show on the Town Square, the performance is another seed that could germinate into a free concert series, Jackson’s version of Music on Main.

Posted under Entertainment, Music

Tags: bluegrass, center for the arts, films, pearl jam, phish, rock