Jam4Dan12: Rocked ALL Around the Clock!

Jam4Dan12 was a chance to meld the groups and the solos into a showcase for all to enjoy. More than 30 acts from Topeka, Kansas City, Salina, Manhattan, and WaKeeney turned out to support Jam4Dan12. They all provided an outstanding revue of the finest acts to grace the Jam4Dan stage.

Jam4Dan Trustee Joel Edison crafted and donated another beautiful guitar for the raffle. Sky Dog, the Jam4Dan12 Custom Guitar, was ready to ROCK! ... AND went home with lucky Latasha Lake.

Friday evening kicked off with first time band Blacktop Thunder and hammered down through Sunday night and longtime J4D performer Michael Powers Group. Most prevalent was the number of next generation performers; Forrest Evans, Marc Houser, Dave Liston, and Rachel Louise Taylor just name a few.

The Jam4Dan Youth Showcase on Saturday morning returned as a favorite entry with new young talent including Joe Harris (Dan Falley's great nephew) and Kirk Kissick (an extraordinary young classical guitarist). Although the weather tried to deter our event, it failed to make a significant impact. The main casualty of the weather was Mahan. All but one of the members were stranded in Salina Friday evening due to the weather. The lone exception was Howard Mahan, who left Friday night, drove through the blizzard conditions, spent three and a half hours in the ditch between Manhattan and Topeka until he was pulled out, and finally made to Jam4Dan12. He provided a great set that embodied the spirit of the show must go on.

Mother Nature found her meds somewhere and allowed us to have a normal Sunday filled with mostly blues bands starting off with Dust Devil Choir, the Topeka Blues Society's winner of the local International Blues Challenge. Also performing Sunday was The Good Hang which was a bit of a Jam4Dan super group. At the end of the day, everyone had a great time while supporting local music education.

The Trustees thank all the musicians and volunteers who contributed to our efforts. And we cannot say THANK YOU enough to all those attended and helped generate proceeds which will allow us to award about $3,000 in scholarships.

The scholarship dates have been posted and we are excited and ready to begin the process. All applications are due by April 11, 2019, with recipients notified by April 29, and checks issued to instructors by May 6, 2019. For complete details on the application process, go to jam4dan.com/scholarship.

The Dan Falley Memorial Fund & Scholarships Trustees for 2018 are Mike Fox, Joel Edison, Katie Turner, Danl Blackwood, Bill Beasley, Mike Powell, Penny Renner, Kim Houser and Dave Houser.

Save The Dates - Jam4Dan13 - January 17-19, 2020