A yearly,live entertainment event for all, the Jam Room Music Festival took place from noon to 10 p.m. on October 26 on Main Street. With 10 performing acts on two different stages, the festival welcomed friends and families with concessions and other interactive activities to go along with the main entertainment. The musical lineup consisted of Real Estate, of Montreal, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Today Is the Day, Truth Club, Daddy's Beemer, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, PATx, and Moses Andrews III. Adults even brought their young children to enjoy the kid acts that they also present.
It all dates back to when the founder of the festival, Jay Matheson, decided he wanted to open his own recording studio. After being in the sound and audio business for years and even in a band, he decided he wanted to take his talents a step up.
“One of the first bands I’d ever recorded was around '86," Matheson said, prior to even having a space. He later revealed that the studio technically got started in 1988 after recording his own band, Bachelors of Art, during a tragedy that managed to turn itself around.
“All of our equipment was burned up in a fire, and they had this benefit show at Rockefeller for all these bands that were in this big warehouse," Matheson said.
With only $400 to their names, Matheson and his band decided to put out a cassette release. The plan was to record themselves, then release the record with the money that they had.
“So then I started transitioning ever since then from doing live sound into recording, then at a certain point, just went full time with recording and quit my day job working for sound companies,” said Matheson.
He later shared that the festival was never supposed to be a tradition.
“The first was just going to be a one-off thing,” Matheson said. Matheson and his partners found out how to receive hospitality tax money to fund an event, as they ended up getting $25,000—more than they thought they would secure. Him and his partners quickly realized they could use this tax money to fund the festival as a whole.
“It turned into a lot bigger deal than we thought it might. At the end everybody was so excited about it that we decided to do more,” said Matheson.
Matheson expressed great gratitude towards the people that made the festival happen: "We got a lot of good board directors, so it’s kind of like providing an opportunity for other like-minded people to join together to work on such a thing.”
Another key component in the success of the festival is the diversity it brings to the community. Through the live music and activities, Jam Room is always bringing in different genres of acts every year that blow the attendees away.
In the early years of the festival’s existence, Main Street District became partners with Jam Room. President and CEO of Main Street District Matt Kennell believes organizations like this nonprofit one is what completes the city of Columbia.
“It’s really the community working together that makes this a better place and Jam Room is a great example of that," Kennell said.
As an attendee himself, Kennell also explained that the variety of people and the diversity of the festival is what people probably look forward to the most when going into the event. “You know, they always bring in some interesting headliners to attract crowds and then somehow integrate the local fledgling musicians with a more well-known act. It brings down a really diverse group," said Kennell.
Over the course of the years, it is safe to say the yearly October event is a place to seek excellent musical entertainment and come together with the community. This festival is truly one of a kind.
Photos of festival and BTS
