Jackson, Wyo. — From The Bighorns to the Sierra Madres to the Winds and the Snowy Range, Wyoming songwriters of The WyoFolk Project will travel to Jackson from around the state to form a first-ever stage collective. The live jamboree will feature ten acts and eighteen musicians that were a part of a yearlong recording endeavor, ultimately becoming a critically acclaimed compilation album, The WyoFolk Project, released in April of this year. The variety show will take stage at the Center Theater this Tuesday.
The WyoFolk show will feature songs from the compilation album and more, performed by artists Jalan Crossland, Aaron Davis, Patrick Chadwick of Inland Isle, Isaac Hayden, Shawn Hess, Alysia Kraft, Low Water String Band, J Shogren, Jordan Smith, and Christian Wallowing Bull. Experience the triumphs and tribulations of some of Wyoming’s most cherished troubadours, with stories behind the songs and a historical snapshot of contemporary, Wyoming-grown music.
“Wyoming has never sounded this good. WyoFolk delivers more than an assortment of high-quality folk songs—it’s also a catalog of Wyoming’s musical footprint, one that’s intended to stand the test of time.” —Wyoming Tribune Eagle/Yahoo News
The Center Presents The WyoFolk Project concert, 7 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 19 at the Center Theater. $18-$28. JHCenterForTheArts.org.
WyoFolk tour will continue through the week, taking stage at the WYO Theatre in Sheridan on Sept. 21, and Gryphon Theater in Laramie on Sept. 22.
More about The WyoFolk Project
The WyoFolk Project is a recording endeavor that was engineered from July to September 2022 at Three Hearted Recording Studio in Hoback, Wyoming. Recorded, produced and mixed by songwriter-studio engineer-session player Aaron Davis of bands Screen Door Porch and Aaron Davis & The Mystery Machine, the project was made possible by grant funding from the Wyoming Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature. The compilation was mastered by Jim Wilson (Dan Auerbach, Widespread Panic).
Each WyoFolk songwriter and/or band spent a separate day at Three Hearted Recording’s remote cabin studio in Snake River Canyon to capture a single song. Thirty-four musicians contributed to over 200 hours of sessions that were whittled down to 55 minutes of music. The recordings range from complete takes of live-in-studio performances to layered, multi-track textures built one performance at a time. Each song on The WyoFolk Project exemplifies an honest, heartfelt lyrical story.
“Songwriting is so personal and recording is even more vulnerable, so it was a true privilege for me to access that emotional space with the caliber of these artists,” said Davis, who had initially made a list of over 70 Wyoming songwriters for the project. “This album has been the project of a lifetime, and hopefully a Volume 1.”
