At the end of July, we had pleasure of playing at the second annual Some Mountain Jam. As expected, it was one of the highlights of the summer. I want to throw a HUGE shout-out to Jeff Lineback for throwing a kick-ass party that exceeded everyone’s expectations.

It is truly amazing to see how far this party has come in one short year. It is obvious that Jeff learned a lot from putting on the first SMJ last summer. On his second go-around, he took the party to entirely new level.

Last year, SMJ was a small gathering of maybe 50-70 people that lasted one day. Four bands played on a stage that was still being built as people arrived. There was a small tent set up for Gilberto’s Gourmet Goodness to sell burritos. Other than our RV and my friend Kyle’s airstream, there were no other structures present. It was basically a rager party on some open land in the middle of the mountains.

This year, Kyle’s airstream hugged the side of the newly remodeled stage, which provided considerably more shelter (this saved us – the rain gods unleashed their wrath all weekend long). Our RV and Yamn’s tour bus (a remodeled school bus – very cool) created a boundary on the left. In the back of the open space, there were three other RVs, the Gilberto’s tent, and an art tent. This year’s SMJ had the feel of a mini-festival.

The organization this year was top-notch as well. It was an all-weekend affair, and the crowd was easily 2-3 times as large as last year. There were four bands Friday night and six bands on Saturday, with music starting at noon and going until close to 5 in the morning. Despite the un-Colorado-like monsoon rains, all of the bands got to play and the party was a huge success.

Back for its second year was Jeff’s famous pig roast. This time, they had a little trouble with the pit, and the pig did not get cooked as planned. Jeff did a great job improvising on the fly, creating a makeshift rotisserie over the camp fire so that the pig could finish roasting. It made for a gluttonous Saturday evening feast.

We were all blown away by the laser light show accompanying the music Saturday night. It turned the festival into a psychedelic extravaganza. As Frogs Gone Fishing opened their late night set, two thousand glow sticks were launched over the stage to complement the laser show. Words cannot describe the scene at that moment.

Chase, the keyboard player from Springdale Quartet, brought his Hammond A100 organ and full-sized leslie to the party and was kind enough to leave it on stage for all the keyboard players to use. Playing his Hammond was by far the greatest highlight of the weekend for me. There is just no substitute for the power of a Hammond organ pumping through a full-sized leslie. Tunes like What’s Doin’ and Homeless took on a new life. If only it was recorded for posterity. Unfortunately, our set got cut short due to inclement weather. I would have loved to hear Gaboons and Dust Devil through that organ as well.

One of the greatest parts of Some Mountain Jam is the atmosphere among musicians. Jeff has created a festival that brings together many of Colorado’s great local bands, and all of the musicians seemed to enjoy meeting each other. Many connections were made that weekend that will hopefully lead to future collaborations. Once again, there was a late night jam, and I got to sit in with some of the guys from Frogs and the horn player from Liquid Thin. Thanks again to the guys from Frogs Gone Fishing for having me up there. It was a blast.

I spent a lot of time that weekend talking with Chase, the organ player from Springdale Quartet. They are also a Boulder band, and he is as fond of the Fender Rhodes as I am of his Hammond. We spent a lot of time talking about a Boulder show where both bands play. My Rhodes and his Hammond would stay on stage all night – a full-on keyboard extravaganza. Hopefully we can make that show happen sometime this fall.

For those who chose to bail on the weekend, you are truly lame and you easily missed one of the best parties of the summer. I don’t care what your excuse was, you blew it. Maybe next summer you will come to your senses and make sure not to miss this event. I can’t imagine what Jeff will have in store for us next year. He’s raised the bar extremely high. It will be tough to top this one.

“The Jababa Chronicles”: All musings, anecdotes, philosophies, ramblings, rants, and tirades written exclusively by Andrew Martin unless otherwise specified.