Jackson Free Press

The month of September has started out as a barnburner for Jackson musicheads like me. With CelticFest bringing in a great crowd, former JFP designer (and my old neighbor) Jakob Clark coming from Austin, Texas, to play with his brother, Joshua, and Misha Hercules in their band Boy at Martin's Saturday night, and Texas-based Old Warhorse playing at Ole Tavern this past weekend, I can safely say it was a great way to say hello to fall. And while I love my "Mississicians" (Mississippi musicians), I am thankful that Jackson is starting to get a bleep on the music-scene radar for national acts.

Sept. 15 is a big night for Jackson. Martin's hosts the New Orleans band Rotary Downs, who return from a cross-country tour to promote the full-length album "Cracked Maps and Blue Reports," which took home the prize of Best Rock Album at the 2011 Offbeat Awards. The band's own label, Rookery Records, produced the album.

The band is recognized inside and outside the Big Easy. It has two hits featured in the popular video game "Rock Band Three." Gambit Weekly, New Orleans' alternative weekly, nominated Rotary Downs as Best Rock Band in 2011. This summer saw the band performing for the first time at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn., to a first-ever sold-out crowd. If you can't check their show out here in Jackson check out the band's fifth appearance at the annual Voodoo Music Experience, Oct. 28-30. Visit http://www.rotarydowns.com and get the 411 on all that is awesome about this band.

Also on Sept. 15, Ardenland Productions will present Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors at the Duling Hall Auditorium in Fondren. Holcomb, a Memphis native, is swiftly making his name known as a performer in the Southeast. He has opened for such acts as Susan Tedeschi, Ryan Adams, The Avett Brothers and Robert Earl Keen. He and his wife, Ellie, who is also his singing and songwriting partner, formed The Neighbors and in 2008, released the band's first album, "Passenger Seat" on Magnolia Records.

Holcomb saw much success when his first album, "Washed in Blue," got heavy rotation on such shows as Lifetime's "Army Wives," Showtime's "The United States of Tara," and A&E's "The Cleaner." This year, Holcomb released "Chasing Somebody," debuting on the Billboard Top 200 in February and at No. 7 on iTunes. The song has had major airplay on cable shows such as "The Deadliest Catch," "Brothers and Sisters," and "Justified." Visit the band's website at http://www.drewholcomb.com.

Southern rocker (and local favorite) Dax Riggs brings his punkmanship to Hal and Mal's Sept. 17. Riggs, formerly from Louisiana and now residing in Austin, has been a fixture in the southern-punk scene, performing with bands like Agents of Oblivion and Deadboy and the Elephantmen, but his real rise to notoriety came when he fronted southern-sludge band Acid Bath in the ´90s. While the band released two studio albums and received heavy acclaim in the underground music scene, Acid Bath never reached mainstream success. This setback didn't stop Riggs from performing, and he started releasing his own work in 2007.

Check out both of Riggs' albums released by Mississippi's Fat Possum Records: "We Sing of Only Blood and Love" and "Say Goodnight to the World," then head over to Riggs' show. Feel free to listen to his music at http://www.myspace.com/daxriggs.

For any music-related news, please shoot me an email at {encode="[email protected]" title="[email protected]"}. I hope to see you out and about this weekend, and if you see me, please say hello!