Small Town, Big Names

Elvis Costello. Grace Potter. Zac Brown Band. Lyle Lovett. You wouldn’t be off-track assuming such a roster belongs to a big city venue. Not so: The winter concert lineup in Jackson Hole belies the size of the valley. Now more than ever, top-tier acts are stopping in the Tetons as part of western tours – a testament to the production capacity of valley venues. From the reimagined playhouse stage of the Pink Garter Theatre and the cabin-cozy vibe of the Mangy Moose Saloon to the velvet-seat intimacy of the Center for the Arts, JH stages have become favorites among touring talents.

The local appetite for music is ravenous: It took only 12 minutes to sell out Grace Potter, the bombshell rocker bound for the Center for the Arts on February 8. And other Center Presents shows are poised to sell out too: only a handful of seats remain for the season’s capstone show, Elvis Costello on April 13. The Center’s star-studded winter season represents a high-water mark for music in Jackson Hole. “It is hands down the best season lineup I’ve ever booked,” said the Center’s Programming Director Shannon McCormick in a Jackson Hole News&Guide interview.

Decidedly diverse, the Center season began this Wednesday with a rising star, singer-songwriter Brett Dennen, whose pop-folk style has earned praise from Rolling Stone and NPR. Upping the ante in the new year, the Center hosts a parade of legends: The dueling banjos of husband-and-wife Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn on February 5 followed by Texas country legends Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen on March 16 before closing out with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello.

McCormick credited the allure of Jackson Hole, paired with the attraction of a world-class venue, for drawing such premier musicians. May this be the new norm for the Center, he said. And beyond: Like the Center, other valley venues are looking ahead to banner winters. The Pink Garter is welcoming Rob Garza of the Thievery Corporation for a DJ set on January 23, The Infamous Stringdusters on February 11 and 12, and Yonder Mountain String Band on March 15. As further proof of Jackson’s musical magnetism, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has booked the Zac Brown Band for its closing weekend extravaganza in late March, the Jackson Hole Rendezvous Festival. Last week, the resort released 5,000 free tickets for Teton locals, all of which were quickly claimed. The resort estimates 20,000 people will attend the outdoor concert on March 20, making it “the largest act, the largest concert that Jackson Hole has ever put on,” according to Adam Sutner, the resort’s chief marketing officer, in a News&Guide article.

If Zac Brown, Grace Potter and Elvis Costello are any indication, big names bring big crowds to Jackson. As frequent valley visitor Robert Earl Keen would say, may “the party never end.”