A once-in-a-lifetime event is taking place at the Lander Community & Convention Center this Friday night… and you’re invited!
Not only will we be kicking off our 50th Anniversary Celebration and Citizen Advocacy Summit, but we’ll also be hosting the final performance of Wyoming’s own Jalan Crossland Band.
Described as “a grand experimenter” (Northern WY Daily News), a mixture of “raw talent and obvious practice with passion, whimsy, and a feel for what people want to see and hear” (‘The Ear,’ Park City, UT) and “an endemic Wyoming Treasure” (Rita Basom, Wyoming Arts Council), Jalan Crossland does more than put on a show that’s toe-tappin’-good; he creates an experience.
Just ahead of this Friday’s show—his last alongside his bandmates Shaun Kelley and Pat Madsen—Jalan kindly took the time to speak with us and reflect on where he is now, where he’s headed next, and how he’ll feel stepping off the stage this Friday night.
Wyoming Outdoor Council:
Your show in Lander on September 22 marks the end of your band’s journey together. Why did you and the band choose this particular event and location for the last performance of the Jalan Crossland Band?
Jalan Crossland:
It was a most fortunate serendipity that Lander was the last confirmed booking on the calendar when our drummer, Pat Madsen, made the doleful announcement that he would be moving back East, rendering it impossible for us to accept any further gigs as a band. But I can think of no more suitable place for our farewell show. We have loved playing in Lander for years and years. The good people there have always been supportive of us and our music and we are happy to hold the last big hurrah there with all of our friends.
WOC: What are you looking forward to about the “next step” from here?
JC: I’m looking forward to performing as a soloist for awhile, taking it back down home to the basics, the simplicity. I’m eager to write and record an album of new, solo songs, with the only instrumentation being a guitar, or a banjo, a harmonica, a boot stompin’ on a porch’, and a high lonesome voice, just like old times.
WOC: Your show on the 22nd is part of the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s 50th anniversary celebration; what do you admire most about the Council’s work to protect public lands in Wyoming?
JC: Wyoming offers some of the mostest vastest expanses of public land in the lower 48. We all benefit from this feeling of freedom in the great outdoors. It’s among the main reasons that I remain in Wyoming. Sure as hell ain’t the weather. If the Wyoming Outdoor Council is endeavoring to preserve this heritage, then I’m with them.
WOC: As a Wyoming native, what are some of your favorite parts of the state? What is it about this part of the world that makes it so magical and special?
JC: I love all of Wyoming’s natural places, from the high, pined mountains, to the lonesome, sweeping prairies, to the mean ol’ badlands. As I said, it’s the feeling of freedom that can yet be experienced here, amidst the rapid encroachment of Civilization with all of its strictures. In Wyoming, it’s still possible to step out into untamed nature and feel like a wild, hot blooded hominid, with your bare skin touching everything from the earth to the stars.
WOC: As a band, are you doing anything special to commemorate your last show together?
JC: Yes, for the first time in our career, we intend to catch all of our cues and make all of the chord changes at the correct times. I will remember all of the words to ‘Trailer Park Fire’ and perform them in the correct order. Give or take.
WOC: After you’ve played that final song, and heard the last echoes of the applause from the crowd… how do you hope to feel as you’re walking off stage together, one last time, as the Jalan Crossland Band?
JC: I’m sure that we’ll all feel some melancholy. We’ve been partners, brothers, and friends, as they say, making music together for over 12 years. But we’ll be satisfied that it was a dang good run. There’s no time for dwelling on the past anyway. The future will need more songs.”
Don’t miss out on your last chance to see the Jalan Crossland Band, this Friday night at the Lander Community & Convention Center!!
The schedule for Friday night’s free festivities includes:
- 5 p.m. – Doors open
- 5 p.m. – Community mural project, hosted by local artist Virginia Moore and the Lander Art Center (learn more here)
- 5:45 p.m. – Low Water String Band
- 7 p.m. – Jalan Crossland Band
But the fun doesn’t stop there! Tickets for Saturday’s anniversary celebration events, including a host of engaging workshops and a delicious harvest dinner, are on sale now!
We’ll see you this weekend in Lander… we can’t wait to celebrate!