By Misty Autumn Seemans
Delaware State News
HOUSTON – June Jam is more than an outdoor concert. For some, it’s a summer
tradition and for others it’s a first step.
While some bands will walk on to one of the three stages at G & R
Campground in Houston for the first time, others could see their footsteps in
the ground from the past several years.
Nine bands will play Saturday at June Jam from noon until 10:30 p.m., to
benefit Habitat for Humanity and the Home of the Brave, a homeless shelter for
veterans in Milford.
Organizers expect to raise at least $5,000 from selling raffle tickets to
2,000 guests. Ticket sales cover event costs.
As June Jam marks its 29th anniversary, Salisbury, Md., resident Tom Larsen
is also celebrating the 29th year of his band. He and his group perform on the
second stage at 7:50p.m., for the fourth time in his career.
Mr. Larsen has used all manner of objects to generate some funky blues sounds
on his signature slide guitar. The slide guitar involves gliding an object
perpendicularly along its neck.
Diverging from the typical glass bottle technique, Mr. Larsen has used butter
knives, wooden chairs and pregnant bellies. He said a pregnant fan asked him to
play slide guitar off of her stomach last month in Pennsylvania.
“If you were to stick your finger out I could make some good slide with that,
but it wouldn’t make as good of a sound as using something metal or something
glass,” he said.
Baltimore resident George Gipe has played at the outdoor concert several
times with one of his two bands. It will be the first time that his second band,
Area 51, will jam in Houston.
“We try to recreate the sound as close as possible,” he said of the hard rock
band, which covers Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen and AC/DC.
As the band’s name implies, Area 51 will bring an otherworldly experience to
the audience. They will decorate the third stage with green, plastic, blow-up
aliens during their 6:40 p.m. performance.
“The crowd seems very laid back,” Mr. Gipe said. “It’s a ’picnic-y’
atmosphere. It still gets a little rockin’.”
Jake Banaszak, of Rehoboth Beach, said its the third time his group – lower
case blues – has played at Delaware’s version of Woodstock. Mr. Banaszak, 23,
had tried to get into June Jam since he was 15.
“They’re very supportive of local music,” he said.
“We try to get a lot of different types of music,” said June Jam president
Matt Boller, who handpicked all of the performers.
Mr. Boller said he doesn’t want to pass up another upcoming band like he did
with Blues Traveler several years ago. He chose Omnisoul to headline this year
because of the band’s recent successes.
Omnisoul’s music has appeared in the TV show “Joan of Arcadia” and the film
“Fantastic Four.” They play at 5:30 p.m. on the main stage for their Jam
debut.
“We like to give people memories to go home with,” said Newark resident Derek
Fuhrmann, lead singer of Omnisoul.
All-day passes for $30 are available at Tip Top Trim Shop in Camden and at the door.
For more information, call 697-6453; or visit
www.junejam.com.
Staff writer Misty Autumn Seemans
or mseemans@newszap.com
Originally published Friday, June 15, 2007 in Delaware State News