The Deadwood Jam is proud to announce its Headliner for the 18th Annual installment of the Black Hills premiere multi-genre music festival for 2008. Grammy-award winning modern rock icons- The Wallflowers, featuring Jakob Dylan and company. The Jam is honored to bring the Wallflowers to the area for the first time, and will once again offer the best value in a ticket for a major concert throughout the region. Friday night’s confirmations include Reverend Peyton and his Big Damn Band, and irish rockers the Young Dubliners to headline….. More lineup annoucements to come soon, so stay tuned for updates as things develop…

Official Notice of Proposed By-Law Change to the Deadwood Jam Committee

By-Law change to increase the number of members on the Deadwood Jam Board of Directors from 12 to 15.

The proposed By-Law changes will be voted on at the April 15 regular Deadwood Jam Board of Directors Meeting.

…are one of those very special bands that defy genres and categories…a rock-n-roll band in the broadest sense – folk, blues, country, rhythm and blues, soul, contemporary, indie, alternative and everything in between. In a review of BHTM’s most recent studio release, Crimes of Passion–recorded in TODD’s solar-powered studio–The London Times described the band as “scandalously overlooked” and “as classy as American rock gets.” The band certainly deserves its place in the Rock pantheon, though they are ever defiant of the tired and well-traveled commercial formula that seems to define the overwhelming bulk of contemporary music.“Independent” and “alternative” are terms that are often used to describe Big Head Todd and The Monsters’ sound, but there is an undeniable pop/soul polish here, a song based accessibility that elevates BHTM from the mosh-pit. The band’s greatest strengths are their incendiary live performances and the songwriting of TODD PARK MOHR. Todd has consistently plowed new ground writing and helming BHTM’s seven studio and two live releases. He’s a writer in the tradition of Dylan and Springsteen, but with the rock/blues guitar chops of Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughan. Add to that Mohr’s gritty yet powerful and dynamic voice, and the band’s legendary live shows, and you have a most potent force.Big Head Todd and the Monsters’ original members have stayed together since their beginning in the mid-‘80s. They are truly a “band” in every sense of the word, rare in today’s world of short-lived collaborations. The band’s tight and explosive rhythm section is comprised of drummer BRIAN NEVIN and bassist ROB SQUIRES, who met Mohr at Columbine High School in Colorado and joined forces to develop what would be a lifelong musical partnership.The band launched its own independent label, Big Records, to release their first two albums, Another Mayberry (1989) and Midnight Radio (1990), still considered cult classics. These two self-releases and BHTM’s constant roadwork soon put the band in the national spotlight. In the process they sold an unheard of (for those pre internet days) 58,000 copies on their own without any major distribution or help. Mainstream success arrived when they were discovered by music business legend Irving Azoff. After seeing Big Head Todd and the Monsters in a tiny Aspen venue, he signed them on the spot. The first major label release, Sister Sweetly, would become a platinum-selling smash, producing several top ten rock radio hits such as “Broken Hearted Savior,” “Circle” and fan favorite “Bittersweet.”The group would go on to produce four more outstanding studio releases over the following decade. But unlike many mainstream successes, BHTM work hard to break new musical ground. According to Mohr the main rule is, “Never write the same song twice.” And that statement reflects the band’s determination to push its own creative horizons. The band has consistently chosen to follow its heart rather than sacrifice it for easy commercial success. Their refusal to make a video for their most successful song, “Bittersweet,” in an era when music video was the industry’s driving machine, is one very significant example.After the success of Sister Sweetly, the band’s subsequent recordings, Stratagem (1994), Beautiful World (1997), Live Monsters (1999), Riviera (2001) and Crimes of Passion (2004), continued to move BHTM’s music and live show forward. In 2004 Todd, Rob, and Brian brought JEREMY LAWTON on board, and BHTM released their first DVD, “Live at the Fillmore,” filmed during two sold out nights at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco.BHTM have garnered golden opportunities to pay tribute to, as well as to perform with, their heroes. While producing the band’s Beautiful World disc, Talking Head Jerry Harrison brought blues legend John Lee Hooker into the studio with the band to record Hooker’s immortal “Boom Boom” shortly before his death. After playing a whirlwind U.S. tour with Zeppelin front man Robert Plant, BHTM were invited to contribute their rendering of “Tangerine” to the gold-selling Encomium, A Tribute To Led Zeppelin. The band’s covers of “Within You and Without You” on Songs From the Material World: A Tribute to George Harrison and most recently the moody acoustic version of “Sweet Home Alabama” featured on Under the Influence: A Jam Band Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd are all testament to BHTM’s willingness to reinvent other writers material.Big Head Todd & the Monsters have always felt a gratitude and connection to their fans. They have deepened this relationship by signing autographs after every show and hosting intimate outings. In March 2006 the band set sail on their second annual fan cruise of the British Virgin Islands on the four-masted Star Clipper. The band continued the tradition with a “land cruise” trip to the Big Island of Hawaii in May of 2007.

In the increasingly uncertain atmosphere of the music business, BHTM continue to innovate not only with their music, but with technology within the changing business model. The band was recently approached by NASA to write a song in support of the Space Shuttle program. The resulting “Blue Sky” single and video, both produced by Todd, were featured at the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery and continue to reach a significant Internet audience as it is featured on iTunes. Big Head Todd and the Monster’s newly launched Podcast, “Big Head Toddcast,” will push the band further into the 21st century, as file sharing and free music are all ideas which the band has embraced and helped pioneer. A 2006 recording project with legendary producer Alan Parsons of Beatles and Pink Floyd fame, and their 2007 release From the Archives Vol. 1 (a compilation disc of unreleased and rare tracks from the band’s early days), shows that after all the band has achieved in their unusually long career, they are showing no signs of settling down.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters will be in the studio recording their 8th studio project to be released late 2007/early 2008.

Blues Traveler returns, featuring modern-day harmonica prodigy, John Popper, to rock the Jam, Friday the 14th. Robert Randolph & The Family Band will light up the stage Saturday the 15th with pedal steel wizardry and soul-boogie goodness. Alt-rock princes, Cracker, will also grace the stage on Saturday with their signature power-rock. Learn more about our headliners by clicking on their pictures below.

UPDATE: Blues Traveler has canceled, citing medical reasons. Big Head Todd & The Monsters has been slated to headline Friday.

Friday, September 14th	Saturday, September 15th
Big Head Todd & The Monsters Rock’n'Roll	Robert Randolph & The Family Band Funk & Soul	Cracker Alternative Rock

See Full Line-up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Randolph-guitars, vocals Danyel Morgan-bass, vocals Marcus Randolph-drums Jason Crosby-Hammond organ, piano

from amazon.comColorblind isn’t an adequate title for this album. Randolph’s follow-up to 2003’s Grammy-nominated Unclassified is bright and energetic as a tie-dye-patterned pinwheel. Mostly its 11 tunes are about grooves plucked from the era of Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder, dappled with brilliant classic rock musicianship (think Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck) and driven by frenetic verve. When things slow down, it’s usually to let the young pedal steel virtuoso revisit his roots in the Holiness Church, although the team of pop-world songwriters he collaborates with make the lyrics of Randolph’s R&B hymns ambiguous between devotion to a woman or to God. Guests Dave Matthews (singing backup on “Love Is the Only Way”) and Eric Clapton (lending second guitar to a hot-but-rote cover of the Doobie Brothers’ hit “Jesus Is Just Alright”) are oddly subdued, but neo-soul diva Leela James puts sex and smolder into her duet with Randolph on “Stronger.” Ultimately, though, this album’s all about Randolph himself, who has loosened his grip on the blues and gospel bedrock of his earlier playing to become a master of flashy funk and rock riffs and the owner of a tone so gargantuan it’s earned him a place in rock-guitar Olympus–if not Heaven. –Ted Drozdowski

from crackersoul.com “Well I ain’t seen you so I drank all night now my eyes are black cause I fought all night I come stumblin home to sleep alone and it’s alright, yeah it’s alright and it’s hard to tell what it is and what its not until it is something you ain’t got”The lyrics to “Something You Ain’t Got,” open Cracker’s new Cooking Vinyl release “Greenland” and, with them, quickly sets a very different tone for the usually self mocking, irreverent band. Cracker’s “Greenland” is far from a promised land of green and plenty. “That song was like a punch in the stomach,” Cracker’s lead singer/songwriter David Lowery explains after hearing it played for the first time. “It didn’t matter that I’d hadn’t written the song, it was just the way the album needed to begin. The record tells a story and each song ended up exactly where it needed to be on the record.” “Greenland” begins with a bottle of scotch and ends with the bitter dregs of wine. “Greenland” was one of the most difficult albums to write for Cracker singer/songwriter and co-founder, David Lowery. In the studio, his core band surrounded Lowery: Co-writer and co-founder, Johnny Hickman, on guitar, vocals, Frank Funaro on drums and Kenny Margolis on keyboards and accordian. Lowery sang lead vocals and played guitar, keys and bass. Also joining them in the recording process was David Immergluck from the Counting Crows as well as Mark Linkous from Sparklehorse and John Morand, among other guest players and musician friends of the band. A palpable sense of darkness amongst seemingly carefree environs permeates “Greenland.” Lowery takes the listener on a ride across vast spaces, from an autumnal high school dance to standing alone on a mountain top in “I’m So Glad She Ain’t Never Coming Back.” We find him sitting in a Mendicino County bar where “…I saw Thomas Pynchon at the end of the bar, no that’s just Rob Brezny writing his ‘Free Will Astrology’ column,” and then evoking his inner Hemingway with images of Spain and the African sea, drinking wine and pondering forgotten loves in “Sidi Ifni”. “…we drank wine and toasted to the day when she was the queen, before the long decay, we drank wine, slept off hangovers, lethargy, decay, and forgotten loves.” Still, Lowery has not lost his humor. On “I Need Better Friends” he sings “I was drinking jasmine tea when the goon squad came for me, it was all my drunken friends, they kicked down my front door again.” But, even in the humor, the foreboding undertone is hard to miss. Greenland speaks of times of great turbulence, destruction and change, of losing and finding oneself again, perhaps in a most unexpected place. This time, Lowery is the lone man at the end of the bar. “This album is the most personal and is the most directly about my life, my own experiences, and those around me,” he shares. “I found myself asking whether I wanted to continue to be a musician and keep writing songs. Those questions were answered by writing this record.” For copies of the upcoming Cracker release “Greenland” and/or to set up advance press please contact Jody or Pam at JLM PR.

David Lowery - guitar, vocals John Hickman - lead guitar, vocals “Black Sal” Maida- bass Frank Funaro - drums Kenny Margolis - keys, percussion, accordion