WARREN HAYNES 17TH ANNUAL XMAS JAM

Warren Haynes has done it again. Each year for the past 17 years, Warren Haynes has put on his Annual Xmas Jam featuring many of his friends donating their time during the holiday season for not only unbelievable music, but for a great cause as well. In what has grown from a small club to the Ashville Civic Center in Ashville North Carolina, the Annual Xmas Jam has benefited many charities in the past but this year once again, proceeds from the sold out show went directly to Habitat for Humanity in helping victims of Hurricane Katrina who have been relocated to North Carolina.

his year’s star studded lineup which was held on December 17th, featured Gov’t Mule, Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon and Bill Kruetzmann, Hot Tuna Electric, John Scoefield, Ray Lamontagne with special guests Mike Barnes, Audley Freed, Ron Holloway, Paterson Hood, Jason Isbell, John Medeski, Stanton Moore, Kevin Kinney, Dave Schools, Ivan Neville, Marty Stuart and Brad Morgan to name just a few. We caught up with Warren to talk about getting together so many great musicians around the holiday season.

“Because it’s such a sensitive time of year it’s hard to get people to commit to being away from their families during the Christmas holidays. Some people want to do it and think they’re available earlier in the year and then as the year goes on they realize they are not available. And then some people think they’re not available early in the year and then become available. So, it’s one of those things that take until September, October and November every year for it to fall into place. We’ve been so fortunate we have so many friends who are wonderful artists and musicians that it’s just turned into an amazing event. Yeah, I do a lot of the phone calls myself just trying to get people on board and of course it’s such a great cause and it’s turned into such a great event that hopefully people will want to be part of it.”

In what has become an a festival like atmosphere, with music starting around 7pm and going to well past 4am, the Xmas jam is becoming one of the must see holiday music shows, if you’re in the North Carolina area. With tickets selling out fast this year fans were able to bid on a few selected tickets directly off the Gov’t Mule website. In the 17 years since it’s inception, we asked Warren to discuss his many highlights from Xmas Jam pasts.

“I’ve got so many memories and highlights. The Allman Brothers doing it, Phil Lesh and Friends doing it, Bob Weir and Friends doing it. John Hiatt was amazing, last year with The Neville Brothers and Little Feat, Living Color, Galactic, Jorma, it’s really turned into a cool thing. You know, being on stage with The Neville Brothers when Aaron sang ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ just a beautiful, beautiful feeling.”

With so many memories and exceptional Xmas Jams in the past and with tickets generating so many donated funds for Habitat for Humanity, look for Haynes and his friends to continue the tremendous success of the Xmas Jam.