Jam Room Music Festival Rocks Downtown

Saturday October 13, 2012

Free Admission

Main St. Columbia, SC

A little less talk and a lot more action is what Main Street in Columbia needs, and it’s finally getting it. This time the Jam Room is trying their hand at an outdoor festival on Main Street with free admission and a couple of high-profile bands.

Anchoring the Jam Room Music Festival lineup are wry Americana rockers The Hold Steady and Justin Townes Earle. Earle, the son of the rebellious Texas troubadour Steve Earle, writes personal songs in his own unique style, finger-picking through his county, blues, and soul roots. God bless his rough and tumble ways.

Filling out the lineup are Cusses, The Woggles, Dead Confederate, B.O.A., and Fork and Spooners Say Brother, and Can’t Kids.

For the past 25 years The Jam Room has been Columbia’s go to studio for local bands and guitar heavy bands. They’ve made their name known on a national and international level over the years recording the heaviest of metal, punk, and hardcore. With this festival they’ll make their name known to a new crowd of folks who will drive in from around the state for this music lineup.

While this music lineup is what Columbia needs, the real question is how will it fare? The independent arts community is very vocal and passionate here, but there aren’t really that many of them. That’s why more concerts like this don’t come to our area, because they just aren’t attended like they should be.  This lineup caters to the same socially literate crowd as Indie Grits, which got seemingly maximum exposure this year, but was under attended overall.  The Hold Steady and Justin Townes Earle are extremely safe bands in a lot of towns across America. Should they be in Columbia, SC? Yes. Are they? No. The Hold Steady played here in late 2006 to a less than sold out crowd at New Brookland Tavern.

Kudos to the Jam Room Music Festival crew for booking an outstanding lineup. Hopefully there are a couple of thousand thoughtful music fans out there in the midlands that we’ve yet to find.