LUSELAND — Luseland’s 2025 Jam Night was hosted in the gymnasium on May 22, with the Jam Club covering a full history of music from as early as 1954 all the way to 2008, showcasing as many musical genres as possible at this year’s concert.
A great range of songs was performed, but for Chris Williamson, Jam Club’s leader, said his favourite performance was a folk song called Stuff That Works by Guy Clark. It was a quieter song than they typically play but the club was able to add lots of their own charm to it. With additional elements like the mandolin, slide guitar and even some finger picking from the kids, Williamson said, “It was a good acoustic song and the dynamics were great and it just turned out awesome.”
Williamson said he really loved the enthusiasm of the club members and loved performing with them on stage. Some of the older members tried more difficult songs and did an amazing job at performing them.
This year’s concert made a couple of tributes to artists including Kris Kristofferson, who had passed away in September of 2024. As one of Williamson’s favourite country artists, a medley of three of his more well-known hits had been put together. Another tribute was made to The Band with a performance of The Weight, as the last of the original five members had recently passed as well. A final tribute was made honouring Elvis Presley’s first single, which was released over 70 years ago and changed the genre of rock and roll forever. For this tribute, Jam Club mashed together That’s All Right and Blue Moon of Kentucky.
Aside from big-time artists, special attention was paid to some of the senior jammers, as a handful of them would be graduating this year and this was their last Jam Night they would get to participate in. The graduating jammers include drummers, guitarists and singers, with all of them playing with the Jam Club over the years to develop their skills.
“I am very proud of the kids, they practiced hard, knew their parts, had fun and put on a good show for the crowd!” said Williamson. The students loved performing, had fun on stage, making it a fantastic night and a wonderful finale for the Jam Club.
