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This Year's Lineup of Artists
A festival different than any you’ve experienced, Ski Jam throws a different twist on the average festival model. Intimate venues, no long lines, and no binoculars needed. Ski Jam is about the music, the fans, and the scenic slopes of Steamboat that highlight this one of a kind festival. Priding itself on the casual, relaxed vibe of Steamboat, the Ski Jam festival schedule is a perfect compliment to its stunning mountain surroundings.
- The Wailers perform legendary album EXODUS -:- South Austin Jug Band -:- Sam Bush :-
Johanthan Tyler & Northern Lights
Todd Snider -:- The Greencards -:- The Gougers -:- The Band of Heathens-:- The Magpies
Relix Magazine eloquently summed up Ski Jam’s unique appeal:
“As much as we love High Sierra, Bonnaroo, and the other multi-day all-day music bashes, it’s an exhilarating relief to find a music festival that concentrates its acts in the evenings, keeping the days free for skiing, boarding, gourmet snowshoe treks, sledding or just working your way by the fireplace through the gigantic bottle of Ketel One you got for your birthday.”
-Relix ’04 Ski Jam WebLog
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South Austin Jug Band
South Austin Jug Band, the no-jug quintet that’s grown way past its traditional roots, has music writers enthused over the smart, nimble-fingered original songs and Beck cover on its new album, the self-produced Strange Invitation released April 1.
Comparisons, if they must be made, might meander more toward a low-intensity Grateful Dead (which, it should be noted, started out as a real jug band) or something with an even more melodic and laid-back vibe. Lead singer/acoustic guitarist James Hyland, whose tenor redefines mellow, would be quite happy if you’d just go with “bitchin’ tunes.”
Regardless of how they’re played or what they’re about, the songs on Strange Invitation have one thing in common: They can’t help but sound melodic. Even the occasional melancholy verse can’t put “gravity shackles” (to quote Beck) on the uplifting sweep of that beautifully braided mandolin-fiddle combo. That may have something to do with the fact that Ludiker, a Spokane, Wash., native, and Beken, of Montgomery, Texas, are about as tight as brothers themselves; they’ve been making music together since they were kids.
Though he mainly plays mandolin in the band, fourth-generation fiddler Ludiker started “sawing” at 3. By 5, he was strumming a guitar. It didn’t take long for him to try mandolin, piano, bass, mandola and just about every instrument he could get his fingers on.
Beken, who handles fiddling in the Jug Band — along with acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, piano, organ and harmony vocals and occasionally, drums — started learning the Suzuki method at age 8. But he soon switched his style from violin to fiddle and met Ludiker at an Idaho fiddle contest. They befriended semi-regular bassist/guitarist Noah Jeffries on the same kid-competition circuit, and the three progressed from sharing campsites to sharing rent — and stages.
Hyland, a Charlotte, N.C., native raised in Corpus Christi, started playing guitar until he was a University of Texas student. He bought one on a whim, along with a Willie Nelson chord book. Soon, he was writing songs instead of the screenplays he’d planned on.
Strange Invitation is said to be much warmer-sounding than the earlier albums. It also reflects more of the band’s non-bluegrass influences. Like Beck. And Stevie Wonder. And former tourmate Todd Snider. And even (praise Johnny Cash) Nine Inch Nails.
Now, if they could just decide what to do about their intentionally confounding band name – which, if you really must know, was derived from a film. Specifically Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.
Hey, inspiration is where you find it.
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Listen Here:
Long Journey Home (624k MP3)
No Baby Swings Like Mine (668k MP3)
Overdrivin' the Mic (692k MP3)
For more music and info, visit the
South Austin Jug band website
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The Wailers perform legendary album EXODUS
Together with Bob Marley, the Wailers have sold in excess of 250 million albums worldwide. In England alone, they’ve notched up over twenty chart hits, including seven Top 10 entries. Outside of their
groundbreaking work with Marley, the Wailers have also played or performed with international acts like Sting, the Fugees, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, and Alpha Blondy, as well as reggae legends
such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, and Burning Spear.
Their nucleus formed in 1969, when Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh recruited the Barrett brothers – bassist Aston “Family Man” and drummer Carly – from Lee Perry’s Upsetters to play on hits such as Lively Up Yourself, Trenchtown Rock, Duppy Conqueror, and many more besides. Inspired by Rastafari and their ambitions of reaching an
international audience, this is the line-up that pioneered roots rock reggae, and signed to Island Records in 1971. Bunny and Peter left two years later. It was at this point that the in-demand Barrett
brothers – whose rhythms also underpinned innumerable seventies’ reggae hits by other acts – assumed the title of Wailers, and backed Marley on the group’s international breakthrough album, Natty Dread. Under Family Man’s musical leadership, they then partnered Bob Marley on the succession of hit singles and albums that made him a global icon, winner of several Lifetime Achievement awards, and
Jamaica’s best-loved musical superstar.
Drummer Carlton “Carlie” Barrett died in 1987, leaving his brother as the main beneficiary of the Wailers' mantle. Subsequent line-ups have
revolved around Family Man, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest bass players. Modest and unassuming, he was present on all of those unforgettable performances by Bob Marley & The
Wailers from the seventies. He and lead singer Elan Attias form the main axis of the current Wailers – a group that’s one of the last, great reggae institutions, yet which refuses to live off past glories.
Hailing from Los Angeles, Elan was discovered by Wailers’ guitarist Al Anderson, and first sang with the band in 1997. After a brief hiatus to record his acclaimed debut album Together As One, produced by No Doubt’s Tony Kanal, he was soon called home by the Wailers’ mesmerising rhythms, and the opportunity to revisit those landmark reggae hits. Since reuniting with them, Elan has seamlessly worked some of his own songs into their repertoire, and also formed a joint production venture with Family Man that’s designed to extend the Marley legacy yet further, and branch out into all areas of
contemporary music. By way of example, their first project – which promises to be a revelation – is a new Wailers’ album featuring some of the biggest names in popular music. Prepare to be amazed!
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Listen Here:
For music and info, visit
The Wailers Band website
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Todd Snider
Keith Richards said humor was rock and roll’s greatest weapon, Bob Dylan proved it and Snider takes it to heart. For twelve years, Snider has been a satirist, class cutup and the rare artist who understands and celebrates the connections between the Stones, Dylan, Bill Hicks, John Prine, Mitch Hedberg, Kris Kristofferson, Hunter S. Thompson and Randy Newman. Snider’s records are fun even when they aren’t being funny, funny even when they’re sad, and no less truthful for the laughs.
Which brings us to The Devil You Know, a sparkling, smiling, snarling portrait of the doomed.
“I was angry because I had no shoes ‘til I saw a man who had no feet. Now I’m really pissed off,” he explained. “If you’re going to accept your fate, you might have to accept fate as your enemy.”
Things don’t end well, you know. But Snider has a unique way of sidling up to a topic, spinning a yarn, making you chuckle amidst all the sinister stuff going down. There’s an edge to what he’s done over seven albums, and this eighth album hones that edge. It’s not any more a concept album than many others – all albums come from concepts – but it’s as direct an attack as this master of the odd, oblique angle has ever waged.
“I think I’m doing okay,” said Snider, who is the only folk-singing fellow of his generation who has earned both the blessings of his esteemed inspirers and the career path that is allowing him to fill their rooms. Shaver writes about Snider’s talents in his autobiography. Kristofferson calls him “A true songwriter,” Walker says “Of all the young songwriters out there, I think Todd Snider is the best,” while Prine calls him “great.”
Greatness is in the angles. In conversation, Snider is quick to remind that we live in a time when the president of the United States openly proclaims to know what God wants him to give the rest of us, and to remind that the impact of those proclamations tends to be received in inordinate doses by the poor and disenfranchised. In song, Snider shifts from the president part and moves right to what some might call the side stories.
Eric McConnell’s as-yet-unnamed studio – the same place where Loretta Lynn recorded her Grammy-winning Van Lear Rose – was the setting for Snider’s new album. It’s the same structure where Snider made his acclaimed 2004 album East Nashville Skyline, and the musicians used the whole place.
With The Devil You Know, Snider has assembled a bag of songs that speak to the politics of the day without ever speaking politics, that talk to the wars being fought away from cameras or reporters and that balance truth, beauty and humor.
“I’m a gypsy first and a singer second, and I always will be,” he says. As for that gypsy spirit, he need not worry about it. Performers wander the world for a living, and the best ones do it for the rest of their lives. Todd Snider is one for the wandering.
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Listen Here:
Visit the official Todd Snider website
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Sam Bush
Though he admits a certain discomfort with the moniker "King of Newgrass," Sam Bush has more than earned it. As cofounder and leader of the seminal progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival through 18 years during the 1970s and '80s, Bush may not be the only person responsible for newgrass, the wild bluegrass stepchild that features rock 'n' roll grooves and extended virtuosic jams, but since New Grass Revival's dissolution in 1989, Bush has certainly been one of the most brilliant of newgrass's many bright lights.
Besides helming the ever-popular Sam Bush Band, featured on the upcoming release Laps in Seven, the mandolin prodigy from Kentucky has been a prodigious influence on musicians young and old. Bands like Nickel Creek, Yonder Mountain String Band, and String Cheese Incident, to name just a few, are indebted to Bush's example, not only in his wide-ranging choice of material and rock-based acoustic grooves, but by his captivating, high-energy live shows, which have made him an in demand headliner, and fan fave at important festivals like Telluride and MerleFest.
When not heading his own band, Bush has spent the past 15 years as a supersideman with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, and the Flecktones; spearheaded boundary-stretching collaborations with Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, and David Grisman, and driven nearly every "bluegrass supergroup" imaginable with his inimitable mandolin playing.
"I wanted to try something different," Bush says of how he approached the new record, inadvertently defining his lifelong approach to music. "I wanted to shake things up a bit while still displaying the live sound of the road band." Bush's band is a tight crew of Nashville's most in demand studio musicians, including (previous 2005) guitarist Keith Sewell (Stephen Mougin has joined the band since the recording was made as guitar picker/harmony vocalist), Byron House on bass, Chris Brown on drums and banjoist Scott Vestal.
In addition to giving his band room to romp, the "something different" that Bush was looking for often occurs when one of his many special guests joins the proceedings. For example, the opening track, Julie Miller's "The River's Gonna Run," features Bush's old boss Emmylou Harris in a duet vocal with Bush, as well as the electric and acoustic guitar playing of Buddy Miller.
Sam Bush's ability to be continually touched and amazed by new music may be the quality that makes him such a successful and virtuosic performer and band leader. He helped create newgrass music almost 35 years ago, but Laps in Seven is evidence that he's still as vital a presence on the acoustic music scene as ever: still making new sounds, still rockin' out on great songs, and still pushing the bar higher for the legions of his proteges, fans and friends.
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Listen Here:
For music and info, visit the Sam Bush website
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The Greencards
Four short years ago, a green card was an immigration document - now The Greencards are an acoustic music phenomenon that has played around the world, headlined major festivals, won awards and toured with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson! They’ve released three fine albums and their latest release, Viridian, was nominated at the Grammy Awards Ceremony in 2008 for ‘Best Country Instrumental Performance.’ Their respect for bluegrass is very evident, but they also bend their music to include more modern influences such as Patty Griffin and Tim O’Brien, meaning you’re just as likely to find them filed under ‘Americana’ as anything else.
They’re a trio, in case you haven’t met. Carol Young plays bass and sings most of the songs; Kym Warner picks the mandolin and bouzouki, while Eamon McLoughlin plays fiddle and viola. The most conspicuous thing they have in common is that they ‘ain’t American.’ McLoughlin is English. Warner and Young are Australians. But all three grew up in households full of honest American roots music - Merle, Lefty, Ricky, Dolly, Loretta to name a few.
Honing their talents at jam sessions and gigs in their homelands they eventually took the bold step of moving to the States to find their musical home. When Kym and Carol met Eamon at a recording session in Austin, the chemistry was there from the outset. Before long, their friendly bluegrass jams turned them into one of the city’s most popular bands. Accolades followed. They took ‘Best New Band’ at the Austin Music Awards in 2004. The Greencards landed a deal with Dualtone in 2005 and released Weather and Water to great acclaim.Their video for the song “Time” became one of the most played on GAC and CMT’s Americana shows. They won ‘New/Emerging Artist of the Year’ at the Americana Awards in 2006. They were in the company of Keith Urban when nominated by the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) for ‘Best Country Album’ of 2007, and in February of 2008 they traveled to Los Angeles for their first ever Grammy nomination! The Greencards pull all this off with a respect for tradition, and a zest for innovation.
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Listen Here
For music, visit The Greencards' website
Quick Links
South Austin Jug Band
The Band of Heathens
Todd Snider
Sam Bush
The Greencards
The Gougers
The Wailers
Jonathan Tyler & Northern Lights
The Magpies
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The Band of Heathens
The Band of Heathens just released their self-titled studio debut and as of press time, it sits at #4 on the Americana Chart and #30 on the Texas Music Chart. The album features the Heathens as live as ever, only this time they're in a recording studio with special guests Patty Griffin, Stephen Bruton, Gurf Morlix, and Ray Wylie himself.
The Band of Heathens was recognized at the 2006/2007 Austin Music Awards as the Best New Band and they have quickly cultivated a loyal and growing legion of fans that took to the band's distinct quality of having three front men, each one of whom sings, writes and plays lead guitar. Drummer John Chipman joined the band this year and helped fortify their country-soul-rock-and-roll sound.
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Listen Here:
For music and info, visit
The Band of Heathens website
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The Gougers
The Gougers’ latest album, A Long Day For The Weathervane, resulted in the group’s storming of the Americana charts, hitting the chart’s Top 10 and gaining the four-piece airplay on prestigious outlets like Austin’s KGSR 107.1FM with the breakout single “Everybody Knows.” Formerly as The Sidehill Gougers, band contributed a stunning example of the neo-traditional porch-and-parlor, mandolin-and-fiddle approach in its debut CD.
Now, the Sidehill has been dropped, a drummer has been added, and there’s been a switch to electric guitar and bass. The fuller, more layered show highlights the already more than solid dueling songsmiths as they exchange witty jabs and play off each other’s impressive performances.
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Listen Here:
For music, visit the Gougers website
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The Magpies
The Magpies bring a new reverent energy to roots music performance. The Ohio four-piece formerly known as Roger Hoover and The Whiskeyhounds are now four albums into a career that has taken them all over the country, preaching a rowdy gospel of sin, redemption, love, and death — it's indiefolkrockrevivalism.
The Magpies' live shows are a spectacle of rare energy, with intimate verse and fist-pumping chorus taking turns across the spectrum of blues, gospel, folk, and rock. Hoover's electric tenor is as captivating as the words he sings — he whispers with the same urgency as he screams, while sweating out dirty slide guitar solos plucked right out of the Mississippi River. And Gorski holds his audience in rapt attention, squeezing and shaking out accordion and keyboard melodies with all the charisma of a hexed snakehandler. As writers, The Magpies are twisting Americana's calloused chords into a redemptive hook that at once recalls the first notes of rock-n-roll and resets the boundaries of what we know as roots music.
As entertainers, they present lyrically heavy, searing American rock-n-roll with a contagious fervor that lifts ghosts from the floorboards and hands them a microphone. They are breathing new life into roots music. Wherever they find themselves, it's the most unforgettable show in town.
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Listen Here
For music, visit The Magpies' website
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| Jonathan Tyler & Northern Lights
Something magical happens when you combine the ferocity of youthful abandon with the serenity of an old soul. Enter Jonathan Tyler and The Northern Lights; a soul singing and fiercely hard rocking band. In just one listen, this brood will have you right where they want you -- rocking.
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Jonathan Tyler and The Northern Lights first began to take shape when childhood friends Jonathan and Kansas began playing guitar in their teens. With shared common influences ranging from the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix to Bob Dylan, The Band and Muddy Waters, the two were compelled to write and play together.
Night after night they deliver a wall of sound with a groove so undeniable it makes fans rise to their feet and stand at attention. The band is tight and Jonathan’s raw energy coupled with blazing guitar work and rugged vocals has heads turning.
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Listen Here
For music, visit Jonathan Tyler's website
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