Popular rock band Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons will headline this year’s Dolores River Festival on June 10 at Joe Rowell Park.
The jam band plays nationally and internationally and has deep roots in the American rock scene.
Many of Joseph’s songs, including “North,” “Climb to Safety” and “Chainsaw City,” are staple tunes played by jam band supergroup Widespread Panic.
One of his first bands was Little Women, a popular reggae band in the 1980s. Joseph tours Europe under the band name Stockholm Syndrome with Panic bassist Dave Schools.
“He’s a genuine performer, and is a very versatile and respected musician,” said Ryan Robison, producer for the Dolores River Festival. “His songwriting and music have a good message. The Jackmormons are a perfect fit for Dolores.”
Joseph has released 30 albums over the past 30 years and is a relentless live performer, playing more than 150 shows per year across the globe.
Marquee magazine calls Joseph the “Anthony Bordain of traveling musicians.”
He recently volunteered as a music teacher for an underground co-ed rock school in Kabul, Afghanistan, and has performed in Ireland, France, Lebanon, Israel, Cambodia, Nepal, Nicaragua and Mexico.
“Joseph and the Jackmormons have shown a penchant for picking a spot on a map, taking over a town, and putting on a festival,” according to his website.
Leading up to the headliner, the Dolores River Festival features an equally impressive bill of 10 local and national acts.
They include:
Indie rockers Gene Evaro Jr. and his band play a mix of rock, reggae and funky blues. Hailing from Joshua Tree, Evaro is a hit in Southern California, and his energetic live performances are gaining a larger following. According to his website, Evaro’s band has the “folk magic of Paul Simon, the funk fashion of Sly and the Family Stone, and the lyrical poetry of Jim Morrison.”The Yawpers are a Denver punk band equal parts “frenzy, solemnity and menace,” according to their website. “Their new album American Man is raw and melodic, infectious and irreverent, an update of Springsteen’s dream of getting out while you’re young.”Selasse and The Fafa Family bring a world reggae sound to Dolores. Born in Accra, Ghana, Selasee grew up exposed to the colorful and energetic sounds of African music. He successfully created his own style, threading together English and West African lyrics for a bright and captivating sound. He has shared the stage with Reggae greats Steel Pulse, The Wailers, Black Uruhu, and Julian Marley.Sky Pilot returns to the festival this year. Founded in 2012, the Durango-based band describes its sound as electro-fusion jam funk.DDAT, a jazz fusion band led by Navajo trumpeter Delbert Anderson, will entertain the crowd. Anderson combines ancient indigenous melodies with hip-hop, rap, jazz and funk.“I started listening to old Navajo, Hopi and Apache chanting tapes from the 1920s, and those old native melodies really inspired my music,” Anderson said during a performance at the Sunflower Theatre in Cortez. Anderson grew up in Farmington and teaches music and directs the jazz band at San Juan Community College.
Hello Dollface, is an indie soul project out of Durango that veers sharply from your typical Southwest bar band. Vocal powerhouse Ashley Edwards wandered through Spain, Sweden, Vietnam and China, trying to save the world with a song and a smile. After landing in the Rockies, she collided with bass player Jesse Ogle, and they created a jazz-inspired bubbling cosmic soup, all stirred by a heavy backbeat.
Carute Roma (kah-root-say), or “Gypsy Wagon,” hails from Durango and plays traditional Roma music from Eastern Europe and Russia, along with modern Gypsy songs from around the world.Elder Grown will bring their funkadelic, hip-hop style to the festival.The band was started by the Hoffman brothers from Pagosa Springs with Josh on guitar, John on bass, and Paul on percussion and vocals. Rounding out the band is Sam Kelly on saxophone, Josh Dikes on keyboard and guitar, instrumentalist Brandon Clark, and audio engineer/instrumentalist James Mirabal.
“We describe our music as funkalicious rockin’ roots,” said Sam Kelly, a Dolores High School graduate. “Our shows are high-energy fun that takes the audience on a musical journey.”
Tickets for the music festival are $20 in advance or $25 the day of the show. For tickets and more information visit the Dolores River Festival website.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com