Bobby Sessions, The D.O.C. and More To Perform at Inaugural JAMBALOO Festival

JAMBALOO, a week-long series of free concerts across North Texas, will take place at multiple venues Feb. 2–8, 2025. The inaugural celebration, curated by The Mullen & Mullen Music Project and Spune Productions, is set to spotlight the best in local talent and emerging touring bands during a season that is often quiet for entertainers and venues.

The current lineup will feature performances by MJ Lenderman, Wild Pink, Lomelda, Slow Joy, Twain, Pretty Boy Aaron, Mark Lettieri, Robert Ellis, The Texas Gentlemen and Quaker City Night Hawks, with additional acts being announced soon.

The “community-driven initiative” was birthed out of the necessity for more concerts and even more live, local music during “challenging” times.

“The first part of February on the music scene is just dead,” says Corey Pond, JAMBALOO co-founder and general manager of Spune. “There is nothing going on [and] there are very few shows. Every venue in DFW, including the ones we’re partnering with … it’s their worst month of the year.”

“We’re taking a bad week historically for local artists and making it a great week,” adds JAMBALOO co-founder Joe Morrison of Mullen & Mullen.

The week-long celebration will spotlight local and emerging talent at four venues around DFW, including Ferris Wheelers in Dallas' Design District, Club Dada in Deep Ellum, Tulips in Fort Worth and Andy's in Denton. According to Pond and Morrison, accessibility was key.

“The fact that these concerts are in four locations makes it a little more accessible to people, and also the fact that there are more than 20 different free shows to go to — it gives people a lot of choices,” Pond says.

Choices include acts like multi-instrumentalist and singer MJ Lenderman, who recently played The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and is on the wave of national hype.

“Most of the free weeks that you see are not touring bands, they are mostly local bands — and we love local bands, too … but a lot of these headliners are touring bands, and every show that we will have, is basically a show that ordinarily would be a ticketed show for Spune,” Pond says. “MJ Lenderman has been selling out 1,500-person venues on the East Coast in advance, so that show is going to be crazy. It would likely sell out the day we put it on sale, if we were ticketing the show.”

Our Own Little South By

In addition to live performances, the festival will have an SXSW-inspired music symposium as the ultimate draw. The JAMBALOO Symposium will be recorded and livestreamed to kick off the week-long extravaganza including engaging discussions on current music trends, challenges facing the industry and strategies for advancing the DFW music scene.

Weighing in with dialogue will be Death Row Records co-founder and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Tracy Lynn Curry (better known as The D.O.C.); Grammy Award-winning artist Bobby Sessions; Grammy Award-winning producer Tre Nagella, and many others.
“The Symposium is a unique opportunity for music enthusiasts and industry professionals to connect, share insights and influence the future of our local music landscape,” says Shane Mullen, managing attorney at Mullen & Mullen Law Firm. “We’re excited to launch this initiative with conversations that celebrate the achievements of local venues and emphasize ongoing efforts to create more opportunities for our talented artists.”

Morrison adds, “At the end of the day, we just want this to be a really fun week for North Texas music lovers.”

Beginning at noon on Friday Oct. 25, concertgoers can RSVP for free for their preferred JAMBALOO shows by visiting the official website and registering. More artists announcements are coming soon and can be found at the JAMBALOO website.