{"id":15719,"date":"2018-12-21T05:30:58","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T10:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=15719"},"modified":"2018-12-21T10:10:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T15:10:40","slug":"warren-haynes-christmas-jam-at-30-supporting-the-habitat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/21\/warren-haynes-christmas-jam-at-30-supporting-the-habitat\/","title":{"rendered":"Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam at 30: Supporting the Habit(at)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Near the end of the 1980s, local Asheville guitarist Warren Haynes organized an informal musical get-together. Conceived as an opportunity for touring and journeyman musicians to congregate during the holidays \u2013 the one time each year when many of them would return home \u2013 the Christmas Jam would eventually evolve into something much grander. An event benefiting Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, Warren Haynes\u2019 Christmas Jam celebrated its 30th<\/sup> anniversary this year on Friday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 8 at the U.S. Cellular Center.<\/p>\n

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Patrick Simmons (Doobie Bros.) and Warren Haynes at 2015 Christmas Jam \u00a9 Audrey Kopp<\/p><\/div>\n

The earliest Christmas Jams took place at long-gone bar 45 Cherry, now the site of a parking lot for AT&T employees. Haynes makes clear that the original goals for the event were quite modest. \u201cIt was never thought of like, \u2018Oh, we\u2019ll do it the next year or the year after,\u2019\u201d he says. A bit of money was raised for various nonprofits at the earliest Jams, but all aspects of the event were decidedly informal.<\/p>\n

The Christmas Jam soon grew in scope and popularity, eventually moving to a slightly larger downtown venue, Be Here Now. But soon even that club was insufficient. \u201cThe dressing room was so tiny that there wasn\u2019t even enough room for the musicians performing, much less anyone else,\u201d Haynes recalls with a laugh. \u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d Haynes\u2019 wife Stefani Scarmado told him. \u201cWe\u2019re going to change this and make it more of a national event. Let\u2019s move it to a bigger place and rethink what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 1994 the local Habitat nonprofit was selected as beneficiary of the event\u2019s proceeds. For Haynes, it was an easy decision. \u201cOne of the many things that I love about [Habitat] is that you see what\u2019s being done,\u201d he says. \u201cYou see where your money\u2019s going, and you see the progress that\u2019s being made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Held at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium for a few years, the Jam next moved to the larger Civic Center \u2013 a venue no more than 500 feet southeast of where 45 Cherry once stood \u2013 in 2001. Drawing upon Haynes\u2019 ever-growing roster of musical friends and associates, the Christmas Jam team assembles a bill of top-quality performers for each year\u2019s event. Lining up the artists is an ongoing effort. \u201cI start making phone calls as early as April or May,\u201d Haynes says.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s two-night lineup included Haynes\u2019 band Govt Mule performing a Pink Floyd space-rock tribute called \u201cDark Side of the Mule,\u201d Dave Grohl and friends playing the multi-instrumentalist’s progressive rock epic \u201cPlay,\u201d and more than a dozen other acts including Grace Potter, Mike Gordon (Phish), blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa, saxophonist Ron Holloway and Jim James of My Morning Jacket. As in previous years, a satellite event, Christmas Jam by Day featured a roster of local and regional acts.<\/p>\n

The money raised is put to good use locally. Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity Communications Director Ariane Kjellquist says that the Jam is the nonprofit\u2019s largest annual contributor, raising over $2.3 million to date. \u201cIf you look at that figure over all these years divided by the $55,000 sponsorship cost of a home, it comes out to over 40 houses a year that are attributed to the Christmas Jam,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Haynes takes an active role beyond organizing the Jam; he\u2019s met with many of the people who have benefited from Habitat\u2019s programs aimed at making a dent in the disparity between local wages and housing costs. \u201cI was always very aware of how important Habitat\u2019s mission is, but when I started meeting the families, it made it more personal,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s very humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to funding homebuilding, Christmas Jam funds go toward infrastructure and development costs for entire neighborhoods. The Hudson Hills neighborhood \u2013 named after Haynes\u2019 and Scarmado\u2019s son \u2013 is the most recent Habitat development completed with help from the annual festival. \u201cThe Christmas Jam doesn\u2019t just build houses,\u201d Kjellquist emphasizes. \u201cIt also helps us build entire neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

And since 2007, another event centered around the Jam has provided a means for volunteers to help support Habitat\u2019s work. \u201cBefore the Jam, Lend a Hand\u201d takes place at Habitat\u2019s construction and home repair sites in Arden, and at the organization\u2019s ReStore in Biltmore Village. Kjellquist estimates that the volunteer initiative will draw 120 participants this year. Those taking part \u201cshare a common interest in music, and they\u2019ve integrated volunteerism into their overall Christmas Jam experience,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But the centerpiece of the entire fundraising initiative was the annual concert. To commemorate the Jam\u2019s 30th<\/sup> anniversary, this year\u2019s festival was spread across two nights at the Civic Center. \u201cThis will only be the third time we\u2019ve done that,\u201d Haynes says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year, we try to figure out ways of making it more special, more fun, more of a destination event,\u201d says Warren Haynes. \u201cWe also get better at keeping expenses down and raising more money for Habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Near the end of the 1980s, local Asheville guitarist Warren Haynes organized an informal musical get-together. Conceived as an opportunity for touring and journeyman musicians to congregate during the holidays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,44],"tags":[237,2851,2347,3647],"class_list":["post-15719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-live-shows","tag-asheville","tag-christmas-jam","tag-warren-haynes","tag-xmas-jam","cat-41-id","cat-44-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15719"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15801,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15719\/revisions\/15801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}