I’ve been a fan of Joshua James since the Fields and Floods album in 2007 where he mixed folk music with a unique dystopic sound and lyrics. When I saw he was playing at Jammin Java I knew it would be a professional show and experience. The bands performance did not disappoint a crowd who was likely most familiar with James for his recent exposure on Sons of Anarchy.
As always I am amazed that Jammin Java, in the sleepy hollow of Vienna can continue to pull in great performances that many times parallels or exceeds the music scene in the more publicized District of Columbia. Unlike the DC music scene Jammin Java is a small couple hundred (maximum) person venue where the bands often intermingle with the crowd, creating intimate performances, and costing 1/5th the price of a show at 9:30 club or DAR Constitution Hall.
The odd thing was that many of the people who came out to the show last night were from Arlington and DC. It seems like many Fairfax residents might not understand the level of quality performances that come out of Jammin Java, for instance a show featuring Fun. in 2009, three years before becoming grammy award winning stars who get more radio play than Beyonce. If you live in this area and want to continue to draw cutting edge shows you gotta help cultivate the scene that exists.