Band performing with big country stars this summer will play at RiversEdge

HAMILTON — The headlining band at Jared’s Jam in September has announced its summer tour schedule, and it will be playing with some heavy hitters in the country music genre.

The Red Clay Strays and four other acts make up the list of performers at this year’s Jared’s Jam. In addition to that event, the band’s tour lineup includes June 8 at CMA Fest in Nashville, June 18 at Bonnaroo Music and Art Festival in Tennessee, and other concerts where Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, The Steel Woods, Paul Cauthen and Kip Moore will also be on stage.

See the Red Clay Strays Summer ‘23 Tour schedule here.

Jared’s Jam, a music festival slated for September at RiversEdge amphitheater, is in memory of Hamilton resident Jared Whalen.

“There will be five bands that day, and the other cool part about this is the music starts right after Hamilton Flea ends. So, Hamilton Flea will be going on in the morning in Marcum Park and then as soon they are done, we’re going to start up live music at RiversEdge right next door,” said Adam Helms, director of resident services, City of Hamilton.

Whalen, 44, passed away from heart failure in August of 2018. At the time of his passing, he was an executive chef at Coach House Tavern & Grille. Whalen was a 1993 graduate of Hamilton High School.

“Jared’s Jam is about Jared Whalen. It’s a memorial event. This is something the Whalen family wanted to do every year to support RiversEdge and Jared, and we’ve been working with them on the line-up and the artwork. The artwork is really cool this year. Logan Walden created it and he put together a room that Jared might have liked to live in. There are paintings on the wall. Jared was a painter, he liked to play music and he loved food. So, some of the paintings on the walls in that artwork are pictures that Jared had painted,” Helms said.

Helms said Whalen was an avid music fan, he enjoyed all kinds of music and Jared’s Jam was started, because his family wanted to put on a memorial concert for him. If there was live music happening in Hamilton, Jared always tried to support it.

“Jared’s Jam has built it’s own brand. We’ve done some really cool shows at Jared’s Jam over the years like Chris Robinson Brotherhood, North Mississippi Allstars, and we had Spafford last year. We also have a great line-up this year,” Helms said.

Jared’s Jam will be 4-11 p.m. Sept. 9. Historically, there have been two bands on the line-up, but the concert event has been expanded this year to include five acts. The event is free to attend and open to the public.

Jared’s Jam will open with Bedford at 4 p.m. followed by Bee Taylor at 5:15 p.m., J & The Causeways will perform at 6:30 p.m., and Cole Chaney will go on stage at 8 p.m. Red Clay Strays will headline the concert at 9:30 p.m.

“This is the first time that we’ve done an all-day event, and we’ve partnered with the Hamilton Flea. We thought that would be a great day for Hamilton,” Helms said.

Writer Ginny McCabe contributed to this report.


How to go

What: Jared’s Jam

When: 4-11 p.m. Sept. 9

Where: RiversEdge Amphitheater at Marcum Park, 116 Dayton St. downtown Hamilton

Admission: Free

More info: riversedgelive.com

About the Author