Jam Room Music Festival Check-in with Dear Blanca

To make up for the missed time and excitement these past few years, the Jam Room Music Festival is chock full of great acts from across the country this year. Of course, the festival would not be complete without talented sound from our own back yard. Dear Blanca, a Columbia based band made up of members Dylan Dickerson (vocalist, guitarist), Cam Powell (bassist), and Richie Harper (drummer) will be featured in the lineup alongside regional and national acts including headliners Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Titus Andronicus.

If you are unfamiliar with Dear Blanca’s work, Dickerson said that the best way to describe their sound is “power-pop with a mild proto-punk obsession”-think The Who mixed with a bit of the Raspberries-and will mesh easily with the indie punk headliners. The band has been around for quite some time and has worked with some of the other acts from Jam Room before; “We’ve played with Titus Andronicus once,” Dickerson said. “I think it was around a decade ago. They are a great band.” Dear Blanca has been expanding their reach from outside Columbia and into the rest of the United States as they return from a joint tour with The Sloppy Boys out on the West Coast.

It’s been several years since Dear Blanca was a part of the Jam Room Music Festival, but they’re more excited than ever to get back to performing in something both local and massive. “The last time we played Jam Room was 9 years ago, so we’re excited to do it again. We’re also very excited to share a bill with Sun Ra Arkestra!” said Dickerson. There’s something magical and different about the energy of Jam Room that sets this festival apart from others for the acts involved; “Festival culture isn’t always my favorite, but Jam Room and other fests like this one are definitely a great time.”

Dear Blanca is one of the notable Columbia bands at Jam Room Festival alongside Bailey Road Band. The other involved acts are The Explorers Club, The Shaniqua Brown, Titan to Tachyons, Shiner, Mourning [A] BLKStar, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Titus Andronicus, and the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Jam Room Music Festival lasts all day on October 1st and the Jasper Project will be there, too, with a chance for you to win a Jasper Prize Packet full of all kinds of goodies!

SC Music Goes to SXSW - Guest blog by Greg Slattery

Jasper loves it when SC artists go forth and make our talent known so we asked Stereofly's Greg Slattery to write about their new project. Read on. South Carolina is teeming with fresh, exciting and unique art.  We've seen Main Street, a former district of wasted opportunity, turn into a vibrant street filled with businesses that promote art. First Thursday is one of the greatest events in Columbia, a monthly gathering of art lovers for wine, music and gallery openings.  In many ways the historical under-appreciation of the artists within South Carolina has led to where we are today.  The fight has made us stronger, and I think it will all be worth it.  Perhaps it is arrogance, but I believe we are surrounded with some of the greatest artists that ever lived.  Rather than wallow in the fact that the national view of South Carolina is not that of a progressive community when we can take to the streets and go on the national campaign to tell the world.  With enough people spreading the word about South Carolina's artistic merit, we will start to see the bigger changes Columbia needs that national recognition can help facilitate.

We have the foundation. With publications like Jasper, Free Times, SceneSC and Stereofly, artists have the opportunity for exposure and attention from a variety of viewpoints. We have great venues like Art Bar, New Brookland Tavern, Conundrum Music Hall, Tapp's Art Center, Foxfield and great house shows happening at Queen Punx Palace. Radio stations such as WUSC 90.5FM, The Palm 92.1FM and WXRY 99.3FM are constantly spinning local music. Columbia Arts Academy has two schools now teaching the younger generation guitar, piano, bass, voice and drums. Jam Room Studio is hosting a yearly free music festival on Main Street. With more attention on a national scale, we know that Columbia and the state of South Carolina can start building something more sustainable. More attention leads to more opportunities, and Columbia is ready to grow.

One of the steps we are taking to champion the musicians of South Carolina is featuring them at the Stereofly SXShowcase 2014 on March 11th and 12th in Austin, TX during SXSW at Javelina Bar. Tastemakers and music lovers from around the globe gather in Austin for one week in March to find new artists, and we have 22 bands from South Carolina (14 from Columbia) we're showing off. 

The Restoration - FatRat Da Czar - Rachel Kate - Say Brother - Carnaval - Megan Jean & The KFB - Mason Jar Menagerie - Shallow Palace - Stagbriar - Cole Connor - Grand Royal - Ran Bruce - Ned & The Dirt - Abacus - Sein zum Tode - Zonaea - Cancellieri - Signs of Iris - Slick - We Roll Like Madmen - Dear Blanca - Chadd Downing

We are hosting a Kickstarter to raise money to promote the showcase and make sure our message is heard. The more we raise, the more promotional campaigns we will be able to roll out to reach the 25,000 SXSW patrons.  We have the talent; we need to make sure they're heard.

We have split the two days and two stages into four categories of sound: Rustic, Fluid, Saturated and Aggressive. Pigeonholing artists into genres and subgenres is not what we have in mind, and these adjectives serve as an identifier in the most basic sense, leaving the listener the choice to further connect and identify with the artist.

If you're interested in checking out the complete lineup of artists performing, you can visit HTTP://KICKSTARTER.THESTEREOFLY.COM to read more about each artist and to preview music from each stage.