Raised in a small Wyoming town, Jalan Crossland is one of a very few “alt country” artists his age who still claims the “country” as home. Maybe this explains the lyrical, ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ wobble to his songs about 21st century rural life. Live and on recordings he adds dazzling guitar and banjo fingerpicking to his kanky tales of hobos, tires, “mobile homes”, strippers, motorcycles, trucks, cars, vice presidents and methamphetamines (“Drugs are bad” says Jalan).

Jalan has been touring both solo and with a band for ten years, but his musical upbringing is of course longer, and more sordid. Though the guitar spends a lot of time in Jalan’s hands these days, the first stringed entity that caught his young eye and ear was the banjo, his uncle Dan figuring prominently in this. Despite this banjo affliction, Jalan somehow survived his Wyoming Teenage Boy Instinct for Self-Destruction well enough, to emerge in his twenties playing electric guitar for money on the road. All big hair playing a whammy-bar Ibanez Firebird copy, in Iron Maiden wannabe bands.”

Tags: Uncategorized // Add Comment »

Tags: Artists, Video // Add Comment »

Tags: Artists, Video // Add Comment »

Currently on tour doing shows with Gov’t Mule and a string of openers for B.B. King, this New Orleans roots artist springboards through the Black Hills on his Bella Sol pre-party tour, for a double pre-festival show at the Knuckle Saloon in Sturgis on Sunday May 18th, also celebrating the 2nd annual Solstice Shakedown. Ticket giveaways for both festivals will happen on-site, and you must be there to win. An opportunity to score tickets to the Bella Sol festival in Geneva, MN May 23, 24, and 25; and the Solstice Shakedown June 20th and 21st. This is a free show and a chance to preview the Shakedown’s headliner for Friday, June 20th in the Knuckle’s Outdoor Pavilion! This national New Orleans heavy hitter is not to be missed. Join us for a summer kickoff zydeco-funk style!

From papamali.com:

MALCOLM WELBOURNE’s personification “PAPA MALI” is a salute to his home territory of north Louisiana. Malcolm was raised in Shreveport, where absorbing the blues along Bayou Pierre was just as much a matter of course as chasing the mosquito fogging truck with friends — and equally intoxicating. He spent his summers with grandparents in New Orleans digging that city’s rhythm (and blues) and after hearing the Wild Tchoupitoulas and the Meters on the streets of New Orleans at age eleven, he developed an early and ongoing attachment to Crescent City funk.

Papa Mali’s long-awaited second album, Do Your Thing, drops in January 2007. More than a follow-up to his legendary debut Thunder Chicken (which Zigaboo Modeliste claims to have listened to over and over on one particular Christmas day), the latest record marks a Louisiana native’s long overdue homecoming. Although he himself has been playing the clubs of New Orleans for over 20 years, this recording makes the connection to his musical roots more obvious. Featured guests for the journey are representatives from three of the Crescent City’s deepest traditions — Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles, Henry Butler, and Kirk Joseph — as well as Victoria Williams (also a Shreveport native) and Chuck Prophet.

Although Papa Mali is a solo artist (performing on stages as diverse as Tipitina’s and Bonnaroo), slide guitarist, singer/songwriter and acclaimed producer (Lavelle White, Ruthie Foster, and Omar & The Howlers), he can also be seen regularly collaborating with some of the most respected musicians on the scene today, including his longtime drummer extraordinaire Robb Kidd, Cyril Neville, Galactic, MOFRO, Robert Walter, Otis Taylor, George Porter Jr, Johnny Vidacovich, Anders Osborne, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Kevin Russell, and Double Trouble.

Tags: Artists // Add Comment »

Agent Cooper Concepts and Keefe Green Productions have joined forces this year to bring you a festival to be remembered for years to come. A focus on amazing regional, national, and local music promises to stimulate the spirit and green thinking in a tropical setting for two solid days and nights. We challenge anyone across the nation to find a better value in a ticket with this exceptional lineup and opportunities for eco-education.

In 2007, Agent Cooper brought you national girl-rockers, The Donnas, regional reggae jam tricksters, DownLo, and many other great regional artists at the Undercover Music Festival. And last year, Keefe Green brought you techno-jam nationals, Particle, and jazz-funk re-inventor, Karl Denson.

In 2008, this new promotion partnership keeps the dates and location of the Solstice Shakedown and boasts a second year of spiritual awareness through art and music with killer showcases from: New Orleans’ own beloved Papa Mali and his signature swamp-funk; regional jam band favorites, Solution and Gypsyfoot; bluegrass morsels from Johnson Family Band and Wyoming string hero, Jalan Crossland Band; the one-man a capella freak show, Heatbox; blues-punk from Black Diamond Heavies (Alive Records); and many others to round out a full weekend of fun in the sun, on the beach, and in the water, the entire event being centered around the Emerald Pond Stage and Black Parrot Beach Area, at the world famous Buffalo Chip Campground outside of Sturgis.

Come join us for a weekend you won’t soon forget!

Tags: Updates // Add Comment »