Over 26 years of existence, Warren Haynes Presents The Christmas Jam has come to mean many things to many people. The event is most importantly a charitable home run for Habitat For Humanity. But it’s also an annual musical rite, a celebration of a longstanding southern musical community, and a tribute to Haynes’ hometown of Asheville. While the lineups garner varied reactions each year, those who know the “Xmas Jam” best know that the acts on the bill are only a loose indication of what will actually happen on stage. To make things even more uncertain this year, announced headliner Vince Gill was forced to back out due to the recent death of longtime backup singer Dawn Sears.
Oddly enough, though, the 2014 edition of the Jam followed the script for a bit. Bluegrass act Love Canon reprised their role from 2013, offering tweener sets full of crowd-pleasing covers like “Centerfold”, “She Blinded Me With Science”, and “Axel F”, along with a few bluegrass staples. Their first few songs even featured Nicky Sanders and Mike Guggino of Steep Canyon Rangers, but despite that start to the show, sit-ins would be few for the next couple of hours. Haynes and American Idol-winning Asheville native Caleb Johnson offered a quick version of “Soulshine”, and Haynes joined The Revivalists for a guitar solo on the band’s original “Soul Fight”.
Hard Working Americans got things headed in the right direction after the crowd’s somewhat chilly response to The Revivalists, but it wasn’t until Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit took the stage that the show started to gain real momentum. Isbell cherry-picked some of the more upbeat tunes from his considerable catalog, such as “Stockholm”, “Flying Over Water”, “Super 8”, and a cover of “Heart On A String” that is standard issue in his performances. The musicians and audience were properly acclimated after Isbell’s set, and the rest of the night featured plenty of the inspiring music that defines the Christmas Jam every year.
The Christmas Jam Band – Haynes, Oteil Burbridge, Gov’t Mule’s Danny Louis, do-it-all guitarist Jack Pearson, and original Marshall Tucker Band drummer Paul Riddle – made a monster set out of a trio of Marshall Tucker Band tunes. Haynes explained that their original plan was to feature Vince Gill for a few of his tunes as well as Marshall Tucker Band material, and that they were going to proceed in honor of the original vision. “Take the Highway”, “Southern Highway”, and “Can’t You See” were perfectly played and opened up into fantastic jamming spaces.
A Gov’t Mule set is usually the highlight of any Christmas Jam, and it was a landslide victory for the venerable band this year. The quartet was joined by Jackie Greene for a delectable selection of Neil Young covers, all of which played out in front of huge inflatable replica amplifiers made to honor Young’s equipment shenanigans of lore. The song selection couldn’t have been better. “For the Turnstiles” was performed by Haynes and Greene, while Greene nailed “After the Gold Rush” on his own at the keyboard. The opening “Cinnamon Girl” and closing “Down by the River” were attacked with appropriate vigor, and “Helpless” featured vocals and guitar from Jason Isbell and Neal Casal. Rollicking versions of Faces’ “Stay With Me” and Led Zeppelin’s “Trampled Underfoot” wrapped up the set and left the remaining audience members gasping for mountain air.
Bill Kreutzmann’s new project, Billy and the Kids, made its debut just one night before the Christmas Jam. Featuring Kreutzmann on drums, Aron Magner on keys, Reed Mathis on bass and Tom Hamilton on guitar, the band banged out mostly Grateful Dead tunes with little in the way of surprise. The only surprise that came with a puzzling version of Phish’s “Chalkdust Torture” was a healthy dose of sloppiness and a rickety Col. Bruce Hampton guest appearance on “Turn On Your Lovelight” and “Basically Frightened”. The vocals ranged from passable to nearly intolerable, but there were instrumental highlights. The opening “Shakedown Street” > “Tennessee Jed” included a fine transition, and “Estimated Prophet” was a wide-open jam that wound through moments funky, spacey, and intensely psychedelic.
During the grand finale, Haynes joined in to lead the band through “Dear Prudence”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. Warren loves his Beatles tunes at 3 AM during the Christmas Jam, and their inclusion signaled the end of another considerable musical and communal feat on the part of Haynes, the incredible musicians, and the crew assembled to make this yearly dream become reality.
Visit Glide’s Christmas Jam photo gallery for a full visual recap of the evening.
