Art

Hometown hero

by Andrew Graham August 16, 2019August 16, 2019

With sunlight streaming through a screen behind him, hometown hero Jalan Crossland picked a guitar for an adoring crowd in Ten Sleep on the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 10. The weekend of Aug. 9-11 brought the 19th rendition of the Nowoodstock Music Festival to Ten Sleep’s Vista Park.

Named after keg parties thrown by Crossland during his childhood in the area, according to previous WyoFile reporting, Nowoodstock continues to draw a small crowd of devotees from Ten Sleep and further afield. Bands from the Midwest and the American South played for attendees who danced or sat in a wide semicircle of chairs to enjoy the music. But no act drew as loud of cheers or as dedicated a knot of fans as Crossland, the hometown boy and a figurehead for Wyoming’s musical scene.

Crossland joked with the crowd, and the face of the expressive performer never stayed still as he played through a retinue of new and old songs on both guitar and banjo. After he left the stage, Crossland was called back for one more song, and treated the crowd to a rousing rendition of “Trailer Park Fire,” a Wyoming footstompers’ favorite and a paean to an unapologetically rambunctious and lowbrow lifestyle.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Jalan Crossland’s first name. -Ed.

Andrew Graham

Andrew Graham covers criminal justice for WyoFile. More by Andrew Graham

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