The Yard kicks off summer music series

Three Wyoming-based artists will kick off the music season for The Yard Saturday night.

The WYOmericana Caravan featuring Jalan Crossland, Screen Door Porch and JShogren Shanghai’d is the first of three concerts sponsored by Chris Shannon and ‘Toga Productions.

Jalan Crossland, who was awarded the Wyoming Governor Arts Award in February, is a guitarist, banjo player and singer/songwriter from Ten Sleep, Wyo. Crossland’s style on stage is as relaxed as if he were playing on his front porch.

JShogren Shanghai’d play original music from “lives lived in loud proportions”, a press release said. Their style of WYOmericana is a modern interpretation of traditional roots music, including blues, old-time music, country/western, jazz, vaudeville, rockabilly roll, ballads and polka.

Shogren, who lives in Laramie, recently represented Wyoming at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. His new album was recently named to House of Mercy Radio’s Top 50 Albums of 2012.

Crossland and Shogren have appeared at The Yard in the past two years.

New to the lineup is the Jackson-based quartet Screen Door Porch. The group delivers a Wyoming-grown fusion of soulful Americana, Roots-Rock and Country Blues. The singer/songwriter combos of Seadar Rose and Aaron Davis thrive in a space that houses colorable harmonies, varied acoustic and electric instrumentation. The duo have been described as “a sort of Lennon/McCartney arrangement and get it right every time” by Americana UK.

The two studio albums have been internationally recognized in six “Best Albums of the Year” lists, and hover in the Top 25 of the Euro-Americana Chart and Top 30 of the Roots Music Report Roots-Rock Chart.

The WYOmericana Caravan plays 14 concerts in 26 days including Saratoga as part of their 3,000 mile tour.

The three acts will play 45- minute sets each and close with a cross-band collaboration that will develop as the tour unfolds, a press release said.

The gate opens at 5 p.m. at The Yard with music starting at 6 p.m. There is a $15 entry fee. Food by Del Rio and drinks by Duke’s are available for an extra fee.