Cheyenne’s Fridays at the Hynds is a bootstrap affair to bring more folks Downtown after work and to provide a friendly venue somewhere between the solo stage and the larger clubs. I say bring folks downtown, rather than keep them downtown, because outside of state & local government, Cheyenne tends to be a suburban affair, sprawling into the Wyoming countryside. In “real life” I help out with Cheyenne’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and we’ve got a lot of people with heart and soul working to help bring new life to the center of of the city.
I ventured out on a winter’s eve to see Wyoming songwriter Jalan Crossland, and so did a standing room crowd of my closest friends and neighbors. They were turning ’em away at the door. Crossland is a multi-instrumentalist, switching between acoustic & electric guitars, but he shines on the banjo. Jalan is a master of the absurd and silly, with crowd favorites like “Trailer Park Fire” and ” Methamphetamine Saturday Night”. Still, he can take old standards and almost forgotten folk gems and bring them alive in a way to suit windy Wyoming.
This night his son, Dylan Crossland, opened the show—his first show. A high school science teacher by day, agronomist by summer, Dylan seems ready to shine through his father’s shadow with a fingerpicking skill all his own. Dad has recognized it, beaming on stage with a birthday gift young Dylan can call a banjo of his own.
Jalan plays in Billings Saturday 3/22, Cody 3/29, and New Orleans 4/12. Watch for him at Bean Blossom in May, and even good old Southwest Minnesota at Worthington in June.
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Fridays in the Hynds 2014 schedule:
February 7th: J Shogren Shanghai’d
February 14th: Grant Sabin
February 21st: Greyweather w/special guest Melanie Devaney
February 28th: Calling The Restless w/special guest John Warburton
March 7th: Jalan Crossland w/special guest Dylan Crossland
March 14th: Brand 307
March 21st: Sean Curtis Band
March 28th: Wagonhound
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