JigJam’s ‘special’ standing ovation at Grand Ole Opry in Nashville

JigJam band member Jamie McKeogh has described performing in the Grand Ole Opry as “a bit of a dream” after appearing there last March and having the opportunity to meet country music star Garth Brooks.

The local bluegrass band made their debut at the famous country music venue in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, March 18.

The Durrow native said that it was “a bucket list gig” for the Offaly band. “The whole day was just amazing from when we got to the Grand Ole Opry till the time we left.

“Between the soundcheck and going backstage and getting our dressing room and getting to meet the other artists that were playing, it was all fairly mesmerising.”

Jamie said they got a great response from the crowd and performed their original song 'Tullamore to Boston' which they wrote about Tullamore Dew Whiskey. They also performed an old bluegrass song called, 'June Apple.'

“We ended up getting a standing ovation for that which was very special,” stated Jamie. “To top off an amazing night we came off the stage and the Opry had a surpise which no one knew about. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood just landed in and they finished off the show with a little slot of their own.”

Jamie explained that the band had the opportunity to briefly chat to Garth and to watch him perform. “It was just great. I had my family over as well for a couple of days so they got backstage passes.

The Offaly man added that the band has gotten a great response to doing the gig and received many calls and messages. “It's one of those things that people mightn't know much about country or bluegrass, they still might have heard of the Grand Ole Opry. I was lucky enough to have my parents and my sister and her boyfriend there. It was just a great experience for everyone really.”

"Steve Earle was the original headliner on the night and we had a good chat with him. We asked him about Galway Girl and how that came about. He's very down to earth. It was a great experience to meet fellas like that who have been at it for years.”

The band is currently touring across the US where they have a base in St Louis, Missouri. It's quite tough living out of a suitcase for a couple of weeks at a time but we do enjoy it. Everytime we go back the gigs get better and you keep building your profile and your fan base.

“The crowds are good. They'll buy into what you're doing. They'll be listening to your music, they'll buy your CDs or the t-shirts. People drive hours and hours to gigs over here. They love Irish music and they love bluegrass music so the fact we do both we cover a decent amount of people over here.”

The band has performed at a number of high-profile music festivals in the states such as a bluegrass festival in Telluride, Colorado, ROMP Bluegrass festival in Kentucky and Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. “They're just massive festivals and the crowds that you'd see you just wouldn't expect it from bluegrass music,” Jamie said. “I think when you realise the population of America and you see how popular bluegrass is over here it kind of makes sense.”

The former Coláiste Choilm, Tullamore student said that Nashville is one of the band's favourite cities in the US. “Nashville would always be a spot that we like to go to. Obviously, this year was special with the Grand Ole Opry but we've always liked Nashville. Everytime we get there we end up going to meet different musicians."

He added that they performed recently at a “cool gig” in Grand Junction, Colorado. “We were playing with a fellow called Easton Corbin who's a country star over here. The venue decided to team it up and let us open for him. It was a new experience for us to play something like that but it was brilliant.”

Speaking about the Offaly band's goals, Jamie said that their goal is to keep growing their following in the US and write as much new music as they can. “There's definitely certain festivals that we've seen that we'd like to play. I think it's just about really keep writing your music, keep playing night after night and hopefully that will stick and people will enjoy it and they'll keep coming back to the gigs.”

During his youth, Jamie enjoyed listening to Irish tenor banjo player, Gerry O'Connor and rock band Thin Lizzy. He also cited The Punch Brothers and Tony Rice as music influences.

“Definitely, the Irish musicians are the ones that would pave the way. Irish music just holds such a weight around the world when you look back to the Dubliners and people like that. Everyone knows the Dubliners and Clancys over here.”

Speaking about the importance of performing closer to home, Jamie said: “The Irish gigs are great for us because we spend so much time here in America that when we do come home, the couple of gigs that we do play are always well attended. It's always great to go back and play in Ireland.”

Jamie first started playing music when he was just five years old and grew up playing trad and going to Fleadhs and different festivals. The band naturally progressed from trad to a fusion of Irish and bluegrass music over time. “We ended up transitioning to the bluegrass music from the close relationship with Irish and bluegrass so it was kind of a stepping stone, we transitioned over time.”

It was only when the band tracked the history of bluegrass music that they realised it all started in Ireland. “Bluegrass music isn't actually that old but a lot of the tunes and songs all stemmed from Irish music. There's a massive crossover. Bluegrass and Irish seems like an obvious choice to go for the fusion between those two,” he said.

JigJam will be recording new music in the coming weeks and hope to have a new release in the summer. The bluegrass band will also be performing in Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri as part of The Bluegrass lineup on Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14.