This week in live music in the Wood River Valley is what summer is all about for enjoying great music at a beautiful time of the year. This evening, July 6, from 6-9:30 p.m. at the Back Alley Party at the Wicked Spud in Hailey, enjoy music by Up A Creek to benefit Sun Valley Adaptive Sports and the Wood River Ability Program.
Other live music in the valley includes live jazz at Trail Creek Cabin with the Paul Tillotson Trio, which will play Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer at Trail Creek Cabin.
At Mahoney's Bar in Grill in Bellevue, Cow Says Moo will play on Thursday, July 7, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Also on Thursday in the Ketchum Town Square from 6-8 p.m., valley siren Kim Stocking will play for the free Town Square Tunes series. At the Silver Dollar in Bellevue, hear live music on Friday, July 8, at 9 p.m.
At the Sun Valley Brewery in Hailey, Carter Freeman will play on Friday, July 8, at 8 p.m. On Sunday, July 10, enjoy Jazz in the Park at Ketchum's Rotary Park with free live music by the Sun Valley Latin Jazz Ensemble from 6-8 p.m. Ketch'em Alive on Tuesday, July 12, will feature reggae band Rising Lion from Florida for free in Ketchum's Forest Service Park from 7-9 p.m.
Live music will also take place at the Hailey Farmers' Market on Thursday, July 7, from 2:30-6:30 p.m. with Mr. Cappi. At the Ketchum Farmers' Market on Tuesday, July 12, The Mighty Shims will play from 2:30-6 p.m.
Those who are in Stanley can enjoy live music at the Stanley Street Dance on Thursday, July 7, on Ace of Diamond Avenue with Gizzard Stone and Mike Goodrich from 5-9 p.m. In addition, on Sunday, July 10, from Nashville, Tenn., Compass Records recording artist Bearfoot will play Redfish Lake Lodge at 4 p.m.
At Whiskey Jacques' in Ketchum on Friday, July 8, at 10 p.m., the Honey Island Swamp Band will take the stage to play its brand of roots music. In addition, Cherry Royale will play Whiskey's on Saturday, July 9, at 10 p.m. Tickets are available at the door.
< Members of the Honey Island Swamp Band include Chris Mule on guitar and vocals, Aaron Wilkinson on mandolin, guitar and vocals, Sam Price on bass and vocals, and Garland Paul on drums and vocals. The band was born when Wilkinson and Mule were living in San Francisco, marooned after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, and they encountered New Orleans evacuees Price and Paul at John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room on Fillmore Street in San Francisco.
They all knew each other from having played together in various New Orleans bands. Not knowing if anyone would return to New Orleans, the group decided to put together a band. Boom Boom Room's owner Alex Andreas offered the band a weekly gig.
Honey Island Swamp Band's sound is described by the band members as "Americana on the Bayou." Their music has a variety of influences in the world of roots music, including artists such as Lowell George and Little Feat, Jimmy Reed, Taj Mahal, Jerry Garcia, Gram Parsons, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and New Orleans' own "Night Tripper," the legendary Dr. John.
The band released "Good To You" in April 2010, to a positive reception by radio stations and fans.
"We started the Honey Island Swamp Band in the fall of 2005 after Hurricane Katrina left us high and dry but far from home in San Francisco," Wilkinson said. "We'd worked together in New Orleans bands for years, but with no prospects of getting home anytime soon, we thought we'd better cook up something new, and quick. A few days later we'd put together a song list, landed a weekly gig and settled in to share a little taste of Southern culture with our new West Coast neighbors."
For a complete listing of music events in the valley, see the Music, Dance and Theater section of the Calendar on Page C3.
—Sabina Dana Plasse
Bringing a taste of New Orleans and down-home roots music to Ketchum, the Honey Island Swamp Band will play Whiskey Jacques’ on Friday, July 8, at 10 p.m.
