From Offaly to the Grand Ole Opry: JigJam conquering the US
TOP Irish bluegrass band JigJam will play the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee on March 18 next.
JigJam lead singer, Durrow man Jamie McKeogh, says playing the venue really is a dream come true.
“We're delighted,” he said. “It's one of those bucket list type gigs. If people asked what kind of goals or what you aspire to do that would definitely have been one of them over the years.”
The Grand Ole Opry is a 4,000 capacity theatre in the home of country music and during its illustrious history it has played host to legends like Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton.
“It would have been known as country and bluegrass when it was starting out so the whole bluegrass side of things links up to us being able to play the Opry. The fact that it's Paddy's weekend, I think they're probably looking at trying to get a couple of Irish-based acts, or people that play a bit of Irish music.”
JigJam, whose other members are Daithi Melia from Kilcormac, Gavin Strappe, south Tipperary, and Glasgow fiddle player Danny Hunter (who replaced Kilcormac man Cathal Guinan about a year ago) will kick off a three-week North American tour on March 9 with three dates in Canada.
The tour begins in Vancouver, British Columbia and two appearances follow in Alberta, at Calgary and Canmore.
Then it's off to the US with a gig in Asheville, North Carolina before a concert in the Wild Horse Saloon, just off Broadway, Nashville on St Patrick's Day.
Then comes their debut show at the musical Mecca itself. The gig came about through a contact from previous JigJam tours.
“We've been to the Opry before just to watch it and see the show so we kind of knew what it's about but to actually play there ourselves is great.”
There may be up to seven acts performing on the same evening and JigJam have yet to be told details of their slot.
“But some of the country acts on the night are big names so it'll be great exposure,” said Jamie.
The band will sit down to decide on their set but playing an original number, such as 'Tullamore to Boston', their tribute to Tullamore DEW whiskey and a nod to Jamie's home town, is tempting.
Renowned for their banjo, fiddle and guitar musicianship, the band might also play an instrumental mash of bluegrass and Irish tunes.
“They are [tunes] that we can try to look at to see can we not only roll in and be a bluegrass band but have the Irish card as well, that we can maybe stand out a bit.”
Just four days after playing the Grand Ole Opry, JigJam move their show to Lincoln, Nebraska, and on to Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Colorado.
“It's always a nice part of the world to be driving around the Rocky Mountains and places like that.”
They will be back in Ireland in April for some work at home and come the summer will be away on tour again.
What began as a “kind of a hobby” back in 2012 morphed into a touring act by 2015 and has now reached another pinnacle.
Did Jamie ever think in his late teens he would one day play to a crowd from one of the world's most fabled stages?
“Never really [when I was] starting off. In the last few years definitely it crossed my mind because I knew that we would fit the bill for genre. I knew that we could slot in. I just never knew when the opportunity would actually arise.”