Jalan Crossland to perform Saturday

BASIN — The Basin City Arts Center presents Jalan Crossland in concert at 7 p.m. this Saturday.

Born in San Francisco, Crossland grew up in Ten Sleep and considers himself a hybrid of the two cultures. Crossland’s music is as culturally diverse as he is, drawing on traditional folk and bluegrass as well as relatively contemporary genres of rock and jazz fueled by his driving western twang.

While Crossland’s primary tool of musical expression is the guitar, he’s equally comfortable playing the five-string and six-string banjo. 

“I like to keep one foot rooted in the old mountain music while the other stumbles wildly forward for some new ground,” Crossland said in a press release. He adds dazzling guitar and banjo fingerpicking to his kanky tales of hobos, tires, mobile homes, motorcycles, trucks, cars, and vice presidents.

Along with dozens of regional contest awards, his extraordinary guitar work has earned National Fingerstyle Championship honors in 1997 and the State Championship Flatpick Title in his home state of Wyoming in 1999. Recently Crossland was honored at the 2012 Wyoming Governor’s Arts Awards annual gala and ceremony held in the Grand Ballroom of Little America Resort in Cheyenne. Governor Matt Mead presented the award which recognizes artists, arts organizations and patrons who have displayed excellence in the arts as well as outstanding service and dedication to the arts in Wyoming.

His solo performance in the truest sense is just Crossland and his guitar or banjo performing each song in a simple no frills setting. Some songs are lighthearted and clever revealing his prowess on the featured instrument, according to a press release. As a storyteller, musician and entertainer, Crossland leads the listener through the set of original compositions and traditional songs and delivers on all counts.

Crossland’s concerts are energetic, upbeat and fun.

Tickets, available at the door starting at 6:30 p.m., are adults $15 and children 12 and under $5.

The Basin City Arts Center in on U.S. 20/Fourth Street through Basin, across from the IGA. It is a nonprofit organization developing and supporting the arts in the Big Horn Basin.