Acting as if proximity to you or anyone else is irrelevant, and money is no object, what are some of the best experiences you can have listening to music in America?
If you want to see some of the best artists in independent country all in one place, but aren’t entirely thrilled with doing so with 30,000 other people, The Jackalope Jamboree will sit perfectly in your country music Goldilocks zone.
For the nonprofit and mostly volunteer-driven SFF Presents, the encroachment and dominance of musical juggernaut Live Nation is not just a hypothetical. The organization is on the front lines of supporting music on a local level.
In 2024, the Jackalope Jamboree (June 27-29) still had some of the topmost names in independent country like Charley Crockett, Kaitlin Butts, and Silverada. It had legends of Red Dirt like Jason Boland, and The Randy Rogers Band.
Seven minutes after their new self-titled album hit streaming services at midnight Eastern, 9:00 p.m. Pacific, the greatest live country band in the world took the stage at the Jackalope Jamboree in Pendleton, Oregon.
They may have a new name, but it’s still one of the best damn live bands in all of country music. Saying otherwise might stimulate unnecessary altercations with ornery rednecks, so it’s best just to accept it as the gospel truth.
In some respects, these are all good problems to have, and speak to the growing pains of an emerging reality where independent artists have just as much pull and agency live as their mainstream counterparts.
Pay attention, festival promoters. This is how you throw an independent country music festival. Up and down the roster you see names that other fests often overlook, and they booked Mike and the Moonpies as a headliner.
One of the reasons independent acts have been rising in popularity to rival and even surpass their mainstream counterparts in popularity is due in part to events like the Jackalope Jamboree.
Ryan Bingham had a big Friday (6-23), releasing a new song, announcing his first new album in four years, and headlining the Jackalope Jamboree in Pendleton, Oregon, backed by The Texas Gentlemen.
The rise of independent country has been so massive, there are now megafestivals built around independent acts. This has attracted Live Nation, putting more established festivals in peril.
Now Central Oregon will have their own country and roots festival, and it may have one of the best lineups of any independent country event all year. Called the FairWell Festival, they have just announced their inaugural lineup for their July 21-23 festival at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond.
f there’s any band that is well past due for finally getting theirs, it’s Mike and the Moonpies. And even though we’re well past the era that making your debut on the Grand Ole Opry would guarantee you a powder blue Cadillac and a guitar-shaped swimming pool…
Don’t fret for the future of country music ladies and gentlemen. If need be, Jesse Daniel will strap it on his back, and carry it into the future himself. This road-doggin’, honky-tonkin’, California-born, Texas-based singer and songwriter will be keeping the twang alive.
If you’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to catch the Turnpike Troubadours on their reunion tour and got locked out of the first round of shows due to the crazy run on tickets, the opportunities to see them live just got a lot more lucrative.