Eclectic mix of rock bands keep Main Street grooving
Columbia’s Main Street was a wave of sound on Saturday. Patrons from all over came to the second annual Jam Room Music Festival to get a taste of local music and food.
Jay Matheson, who has run Jam Room Recording Studio in Columbia for more than 25 years, conceived the event last year to help showcase music and bands from all around.
Even cloudy skies and rain didn’t stop people from coming out and enjoying the music.
“It has a great atmosphere,” said fourth-year international business student Will Osler. “It’s a nice way to spend your Saturday — good music and good people.”
There were two stages, one on Main Street (Whig Stage) and one on Hampton Street (WXRY Stage). Both of the stages offered an eclectic range of music; some were local bands and others made the trip to Columbia to share their songs.
Dear Blanca, a local band, played a set of its punk-driven folk rock on the Whig stage, while the WXRY Stage featured some alternative country with Jackson, Tenn. based The Kernal and festival headliners Son Volt.
The rest of the festival saw everything from brit-pop punk rock (The Woggles, Jam Room Music Festival veterans) to jazz-rock infused with West African rhythm (Diali Cissokho and Kaira Ba).
“I did not get to play last year, but I went and had a great time,” said Dylan Dickerson, lead singer and guitarist for Dear Blanca and a 2013 alumnus of USC. “We got asked to play this year, and we were pretty stoked about it.”
Dear Blanca also played at South by Southwest this March in Austin, Texas and also has a full-length CD out on iTunes.