SkiJam 2005 with Relix Magazine
Day 4 : Day 3 : Day 2 : Day 1

SkiJam Log, Day Four: Keller (Sun)Shines: 2005-01-15 00:49:59 Keller and toys....photo by Alex Anderssen  From Relix Magazine Keller Williams: With a cover-ladened set—Sublime's "All I Got" lifted the roof, as did a raucous "Smells Like Teen Spirit," while "Rocky Mountain High" provided the local flavor and a quirky rendition of "Ship Of Fools" all highlighted Williams' eclectic tastes—fans were treated to vintage Williams.

Thursday turned out to be the best day on the mountain. With the temp in the low 30's once again, the sun was out and the day was glorious. A couple more inches of powder had been laid down overnight and conditions were perfect for any snow-related activity.

The perfect conditions also produced a significant increase in the number of people jamming the slopes. Even with people flooding in for the weekend and additional fans taking advantage of a day on the slopes before Keller Williams' show, things didn't feel crowded. And as quick sampling of different groups soon bore out a common theme—Williams is a popular draw card in this neck of the woods.

Fans had traveled from as a far afield as southern Florida, though not as far perhaps as Williams had—fresh off the boat from JamCruise 3, he had flown home for a day, then directly to Steamboat. Williams is no stranger to Steamboat locals, having spent two seasons in '96 and '98 as the house act at the downtown Tap Room Bar.

The main tent filled to capacity in anticipation of Williams's appearance and he didn't disappoint. With a cover-ladened set—Sublime's "All I Got" lifted the roof, as did a raucous "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Tenacious D’s "Fuck Her Gently," while "Rocky Mountain High" provided the local flavor and a quirky rendition of "Ship Of Fools" all highlighted Williams' eclectic tastes—fans were treated to vintage Williams.

After the show, Relix caught up with SkiJam promoter and organizer John Dickson, of Austin-based Dickson Productions, to get his take on success, jamming and the truth of happiness. Growing up in a musical family has imbued Dickson with a deep and passionate love of music in all its myriad forms.

Relix: We were talking before about success; what for you measures success at SkiJam?

John Dickson: I was sitting back here with some of the musicians and thinking the success of it (SkiJam), is the happiness of the musicians and the fans. That’s success, not just bringing in a whole bunch of people, but as long as they are all on the same wave length, just happy what they are doing. As long as they leave like they had a great experience, there is so much here to offer and experience, and when people feel that way, then that’s success any way you look at it.

R: This is the second year that you’ve organized SkiJam. What do you envision as far as growth is concerned?

JD: Well, we just want to grow in small increments. Our whole goal is too keep it small, not to turn it into this huge 20 or 30,000 (person) festival. We want to keep it intimate and about the music, not to lose that focus. I’ve seen some big festivals grow so quickly that they lose the focus on the fans and the music, they become events about themselves, you know? Some of the festivals I really like and admire have this incredible longevity. Kerrville folk festival in central Texas is one example, a real singer/songwriter festival, attracting people from all over the world, and it’s a big festival and yet remains intimate and it’s been going for 34 years. And it can be done, you just have the space and the mind to do it.

R: It seems that in a small community like Steamboat, you need to be a good neighbor, that you need to keep things manageable. Is that something that is at the front of your mind?

JD: One thing I can say about Steamboat is they embrace the music and the musicians. Colorado is a music-oriented state, and you can say that about most states and their own genres, but Steamboat is a relaxed resort, it’s laid back, the locals enjoy the music and it’s really a neat vibe. I mean, we’ve done festivals in Aspen and it’s a great place, but Steamboat has this extra quality, not just the beauty of the place but the people are real down to earth and welcoming, they embrace whatever’s coming into town.

R: The week before SkiJam you also organized the Mountain Musicfest featuring an extensive showcase of Texas musicians. Was the timing coincidental?

JD: More a function of efficiency. We have the venues and the main tent already in place so it makes sense to make the most of it. Is there a better time to do SkiJam? Sure, maybe, but we have a great staff who stay up here for two weeks and we want to put everything to good use. We’re at the shows, out on the slopes alongside the fans and musicians too. We’re taking care of business but also enjoying it just as much as anyone. Most of my staff have music or music business backgrounds, so they have that focus.

R: Is that your background?

JD: I grew up in a family of 5, all of whom are musicians of some kind. I got grandfathers and relatives who were some of the best-known white jazz players back in the '20s and '30s. I grew up around music. I don’t know why I haven’t taken the time to take up an instrument. Music is around my family and it’s always on. Me and my dad built this barn, just for having jams and hanging out. So no, I’m not a musician, I can sit down and hold a beat with them, but that’s it. I have the utmost respect for artists and musicians; they all have god-given talent, but they also craft their art.

R: It seems with the lineup that you’ve created a forum to give some emerging artists the opportunity to reach out. Is that intentional?

JD: Well that’s what it’s all about: To bring in some artists who already are successful, but who also embrace what these new guys on the scene are about. There are a bunch of new artists out there, and we like it when we catch the vibe that they’re really into it for the music. And we are fortunate to be able to bring these two groups together, and put together a show which has time for both elements. 'Cuz anyone who’s tried to start up as a musician knows how hard it can be to break out. So if there is any way that I can help out, to help give that first push, well that’s what it’s truly about.

R: What are some of the things that have been going on late night?

JD: There are some late-night impromptu jams which go on in the condos and the rooms of the different artists. When we ask these guys to come up here, we say, "Sure, come up early, but if you can, stick around a few days afterward." When these guys play at certain festivals they may only hang out for a night, but up here we have five or six days together. And you know they’re riding, they’re jamming, we’re up till four or five in the morning. Some choose to hang out together, writing, jamming whatever. You have to remember they’re as much on vacation as everyone else.

R: That certainly seems the case—this sense that the musicians are here on vacation but also performing, doing their jobs.

JD: There is this atmosphere where the musicians can enjoy each other’s company, each other’s music and then they can go back to wherever the jam room is, and just hang out and expand on what they are doing. I think it’s the ambience of the area too. I mean, this is the Rockies, it’s a majestic place. They get to walk outside and you’re looking at a 10,000-foot mountain. You add all that together and you got a magical thing going on. And that, at the end of the day, is what we want SkiJam to be.

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SkiJam Log: Day Three: Bring the Powder 2005-01-15 00:48:09 Hitting the Pipe Big photo by Alex Anderssen  From Relix Magazine

Wednesday dawned bright and clear after 6 to 9 inches of Steamboat’s legendary champagne descended during Tuesday night. After a hectic couple of days and nights, today was the day to take advantage of the fresh, powder-soft snow and make a full day of it on the slopes.

With no music scheduled for the main tent, it was the local venues of Bear River Bar and Grill and Levelz nightclub that played host to the eclectic sounds of LARRY, and another rockin' set from South Austin Jug Band.

Hailing from Austin, LARRY opened up the evening’s music with an After the Hill Chill session at the Bear River. Fusing some soulful blues and rock progressions, the septet welcomed skiers and boarders straight from the slopes for a warm-up after a long day carving the hill.

South Austin Jug Band kicked back another rollicking set at the late-night venue just off the main ski area. The 10:30pm show kept some of the crowd away, but the balance of the fans were hungry for more of the bluegrass-infused jamming that the Austin natives had displayed the previous evening, following a solid set from the Hot Buttered Rum String Band.

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SkiJam Log, Day Two: Spread the Butter 2005-01-12 12:26:54 Photo Alex Anderssen A Conversation with the Hot Buttered Rum String Band We have an expression that “music is the best part of the day,” because the actual “work” that we do is driving eight hours and setting up. Just the idea that what we get to do with our lives is, “Okay, the better time we have, the better we’re doing with our profession—so, okay, we’ll have more fun and it’ll be better.”

Day two of Ski Jam in Steamboat Springs brought snow, snow and more snow. And, of course, music, in the form of five guys from the Bay Area, who traveled, with stops along the way to play a series of gigs, in their veggie oil-powered bus, Buster. Only Buster—unlike the down-hillers on the slopes—isn’t particularly keen on the cold. Or rather, his veggie oil isn’t. “Above the snow line there’s no way to claim it from the back of restaurants, the oil’s so cold,” says mandolinist Zac Matthews. Not to worry, says guitarist Nat Keefe. “We’ll develop something eventually, where you put a heater into the vat. We’ll figure it out.” Given the measured, steady rise of this band of intelligent and hard-working players, we’ve no doubt they will.

Relix sat down with the band in their room shortly before they opened the second night of Ski Jam, to talk about their upcoming album, why the Hot Buttered Rum String Band can be blamed (or credited) for the past election, and how having more fun makes it all so much better.

HBRSB: In this day and age, music is one of the few excuses for large amounts of people to congregate—not a lot of people go hear political commentators or huge crowds, so we like to bring the music to that audience and lift everybody’s spirits, but then in that moment also remind people that there are people in other parts of the world—not to be heavy about it but to keep it a little bit real and use the positivity that’s created by the whole audience/musician interaction.

Relix: And the feedback from your audience has been good? How’d your voter registration [drive] go?

HBRSB: We take most of the blame for the election! If we’d played just a little better…[laughs] There were some high harmonies that we missed, and we’re taking it heavy. We’re all political creatures, whether we like it or not by, our action or by our inaction.

R: We hear you have a new album in the works. What can you tell us about it?

HBSRB: This album has been one of the greatest experiences so far us. Our working title is “Well-Oiled Machine.” Mike Marshall is producing it—he’s one of these aliens on the planet who kind of raises the bar daily. He knows the recording studio inside and out. I think that’s something we’ll see more in the next couple of years—It’s good working with some of these more experienced people in the business, to get a feel for not only how to play the music more effectively, but how to live as musicians. So much of the music we play is lineage music—it hasn’t been taught orally, and to be able to have access to someone like him [Marshall] who has played with everybody, it makes us play so much better.

The crowds are getting better, and the buzz is getting positive, and that’s really all we can ask for, and do what we need to at this point, which is get out there and play as much as possible and make good business decisions and consult our elders, which we’re doing constantly, and getting positive feedback pretty much around the board.

It doesn’t matter as much what we’re bringing to the table—we’re going to absorb whatever this room full of however many people is bringing to the table, and that’s actually what’s happening—we’re pretty much the conduit for what everybody else wants us to do. If they want us to take them for a big ride, we’re going to take them for a big ride. If they want it to be folk sing-along songs, we’ll go in that direction, too. We pay close attention to the energy—we read that, paying close attention to the setlist, calling stuff on the fly, too—if people are bouncing up and down, it’s good to keep them bouncing up and down.

We have an expression that “music is the best part of the day,” because the actual “work” that we do is driving eight hours and setting up. Just the idea that what we get to do with our lives is, “Okay, the better time we have, the better we’re doing with our profession—so, okay, we’ll have more fun and it’ll be better.”  

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SkiJam Log, Day One: Staying Human 2005-01-11 02:14:49 photo: Alex Anderssen  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.

THE PLACE: Steamboat Springs, CO, January 9-14, 2005
THE VENUES: Ski Jam Tent; After the Hill Chills; nightly after party at Levelz; local venues
THE LINEUP: Michael Franti & Spearhead (1/10, Ski Jam Tent, 7:30pm); The South Austin Jug Band & The Hot Buttered Rum String Band (1/11, Ski Jam Tent, 7:30pm); Keller Williams (1/13, Ski Jam Tent, 7:30pm)
THE WEATHER: Snow, snow, more snow

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.

With the temperature hovering in the mid-30’s, Ski Jam opened for it’s second year at Steamboat Springs. Famous for it’s champagne powder, Steamboat attracts novice and expert skiers and boarders alike.

Not that it’s all downhill, mind you. In between lifts we managed to spend some time with Ski Jam opener Michael Franti. Fresh off the plane from gigs in Maui (and a couple hours before turning the Ski Jam Tent into a sweat lodge, with his high-energy Spearhead vibe, which sampled Bob Marley, Nirvana, the Jackson Five and, uh, substantial parts of the following interview), Franti talked to Relix about his film, playing guitar in Iraq, and being a citizen of the world. And in case you were wondering, no—the man doesn’t even wear shoes in the snow: flip-flops are his only concession to the elements.

Relix: So, we hear you’re putting the finishing touches on a film for Slamdance [Film Festival, January 21-28]…

Franti: It’s called “I Know I’m Not Alone.” In June I went to Iraq, Israel and Palestine. I went there because I had grown tired of listening to the news about the economic and political costs of the war without any mention of the human costs of the war. I wanted to see for myself how the war was affecting Iraqi and U.S. soldiers, as well as Israelis and Palestinians, so I went there with my guitar and some friends and a video camera. The film is basically a condensed version of what I saw.

At Baghdad I get off the plane and they ask me why I was there. I said I was there to play music on the streets to people and they said, “You’re fucking crazy!” Then they looked at me and said, “Welcome to Iraq!”

I took my guitar everywhere, sang and wrote a lot of songs. Played for people in their homes, families, played for children who’d had both their legs blown off, played for soldiers who were off-duty in a bar, with an M-16 in a hand and a beer in another… I’d walk in and say, “Hey guys, I’m here with my wooden folk guitar to play songs for you!”

R: I bet they didn’t care what your politics were, they probably were just happy to be hearing some music.

F: They were. I was really scared at first because I had no idea how they were going to respond, and I didn’t want to censor myself, because I feel very strongly about the victims of the war—on both sides. So I sang my most political songs: I sang “Bomb the World,” a couple songs I wrote there about soldiers… When I was done, there were two or three or four who came up and said, “I really believe in the war, I try to do my best… Before the war, I thought Saddam had something to do with 9/11, I thought there were weapons of mass destruction, and now that I see that that’s BS, I feel lied to.” Then there were others who felt we should have at least gotten the support of the U.N. Then the rest were like, “Man, fuck this war, fuck Bush, fuck the Army…”, just very negative and bitter about the situation. But every one of them, no matter what their politics, said, “I just want to get home.”

It seems like we have to re-teach peace every generation. As a nation, we have to consult the wisdom of the past. We spent four and a half billion dollars in Iraq—and then something like this tsunami happens and we have to have bake sales. We’re hamstrung because we spent all our money on this war against terror. We all have to get to a point in this country where we shift our view—where we love the world as much as we love our country. Citizens of the world first.  

 
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SkiJam 2005-01-06
Dates: January 9-14
Location: Steamboat Springs, CO

The Skinny: Now in its second year, SkiJam fuses snow culture with jam-rock energy. SkiJam will host performances in many local lodges and cabins, as well as a 50,000-square-foot tent located at the base of Steamboat itself. With après-ski sets scheduled for 5PM, event promoters are hoping to seamlessly segue from the slopes to the afternoon’s first set. Like last year, concertgoers can also check out their favorite players while they zip down Steamboat’s slope. This year’s initial lineup includes Keller Williams, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Larry and the South Austin Jug Band. Extreme snowboarders will be especially psyched this year: The Maverick’s Super Half Pipe is the longest in North America—650 feet.

www.skijam.net

South Austin Jug Band’s James Hyland on SkiJam: “Last year, I literally skied into a gig. I had to play at 5PM after the slopes closed and I skied right to the grill at the base of the mountain where we were playing. I took off my skis and put on my guitar. It doesn’t get much better than that.

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