(Doors: 8:00 pm) SHOW: 9:00 pm PST
13 NW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR
JERRY JOSEPH AND THE JACKMORMONS
Jerry Joseph is a musician who lives in Portland Oregon, but he’s often gone. He’s been inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame but is still rather obscure to a lot of people. He plays well over 150 shows a year in the usual places. Across America. Sometimes in Europe, Mexico, and Central America. Then there’s these other places he plays—Lebanon, Israel, Kurdish Iraq, India, and Afghanistan. All over the Middle East, often in war zones and refugee camps.
In addition to his touring, Jerry has set up a non-profit called Nomad Music Foundation that acts as a sort of School of Rock for displaced teenagers in areas of conflict. So far, he has taken guitars and taught lessons in camps in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Sulaymaniyah and Dahuk, both in Kurdish Iraq. These life-changing missions have been written up in Rolling Stone, Relix, and PBS News Hour.
Oh yeah, and he’s really fucking great.
A triple threat—someone who works at the highest levels as a songwriter, singer, and player. Jason Isbell, who kinda personifies such, recently tweeted about triple threats and listed Jerry Joseph (along with Richard Thompson and St. Vincent) among the greatest examples of that phenomenon.
Most likely, if you know who Jerry is, you agree, but there’s also a big chance that you don’t. His talent, drive, work ethic, amazing body of work, and flat out badass-ness make him one of the most underrated and tragically overlooked artists alive today. He deserves better, and I’m hoping to help shine a light on who and what Jerry Joseph is and why you should listen to what he’s doing and saying.
First off, there’s the body of work. Jerry Joseph has been playing shows and making records since the 80s, first in a band called Little Women that at one point looked destined to be huge, but this is a crazy business and sometimes things just don’t go as planned. By the 90s Jerry was struggling with addiction while also creating the beginnings of a vast body of work as a solo artist and burning up the road backed by a mighty band called The Jackmormons. They built a considerable following in the great Northwest. Many of Jerry’s songs were recorded by the band Widespread Panic, and there are many people who know of Jerry through that connection. Later, after getting clean, Jerry toured and made some albums as part of Stockholm Syndrome, a sort of supergroup he formed with Panic bassist David Schools, who himself is an incredible musician. Much of Jerry’s following in the so-called jam band circles is through his affiliation with these bands.
Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons
Joseph is a prolific and accomplished songwriter, writing hits for Widespread Panic and releasing 30 albums in his 30+ year career; as a solo artist, with the Jackmormons, supergroup Stockholm Syndrome, his burning two-piece The Denmark Veseys, or originally, with his beloved 80s cult band, Little Women.
Joseph is also a relentless live performer, playing over 150 shows a year across the globe. He has toured with Vic Chesnutt, Chris Whitley and Walter Salas-Humara, among others. His recent musical travels include a stint volunteering as a rock school music teacher in Kabul, Afghanistan; touring Costa Rica's Pacific Coast with the Jackmormons; and solo tours in Ireland, England and France as well as performances in Nicaragua, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal, Lebanon, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Brussels, Czech Republic, Iceland, Mexico, and Israel. Over the years, Joseph and his Jackmormons have shown a penchant for picking a spot on a map, taking over a town, and putting on a festival. Last year, Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons released a live concert DVD, Nicaragua, recorded over three nights just outside of Rivas, Nicaragua.
Joseph was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in October 2015. He will be touring in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand this Winter and Spring in addition to the States.