George Dunham, the co-host of the popular morning radio show Dunham and Miller on 1310 The Ticket, had one such experience. For him, a particular concert at the so-called “World’s Largest Honky Tonk” in December 2007 didn’t hit him like a lightning bolt as much as it wrapped him in a friendly hug.
“The first time I saw the Randy Rogers Band at Billy Bob’s, it was just a really moving experience,” Dunham says. “It really spoke to me, whatever that sound was, it just felt really familiar. They have some rock in their country sound, and it reminded me of the very first music I ever listened to growing up. I listened to country and Americana, Buck Owens and John Prine, before adding in the Beatles, Rolling Stones and U2 in my college years.”
By 2007, the Randy Rogers Band had long since become one of the top headliners on the Texas country scene. There’s no doubt that many of the thousands who attended the same show as Dunham had seen the group several times, but this maiden voyage for Dunham spurred something more than just plans to catch future Randy Rogers Band concerts.
“Something just went off in my head that night,” Dunham, a University of North Texas graduate, says. “I thought back to high school and even a little bit in college when I had been in some bands. I asked myself, ‘Why can’t you still do that?’”
In pretty quick fashion, Dunham, who often goes by the nickname “Jub” when he’s on the air, reached out to his friend and former Ticket co-worker Steve Porcari about starting a country band in 2008. Not only did Porcari, who co-founded Four Corners Brewing in Dallas, want to be in the band, he was able to round up some musician friends to fill out the roster. Dunham called his group the Bird Dogs.
In the early days of the Bird Dogs, small club gigs at local spots such as the Barley House and the occasional, early-day festival slot kept the band as busy as Dunham wanted his side project to be. In 2010 the group released its first LP, Our Hope. And in 2012, Dunham organized the first Jub Jam, an annual charity event packed with Texas country talent that benefits the Senior Source in Dallas. This year’s edition, Jub Jam XII, takes place on June 29, at Gilley's Dallas with headliners Jonathan Tyler and John Baumann. Tickets start at $25.
Dedicated to assisting the elderly population of North Texas with a variety of services, the Senior Source’s mission hit Dunham in the heart after he watched his parents’ health decline before their deaths. Making Jub Jam an annual event and the focal point of the band’s existence made too much sense to the radio host to not make it happen.
“When we started the band, the first question was ‘Why not do this?’” Dunham says. “But the second question I eventually asked myself was, ‘Now, why are you still doing this? What’s the purpose?’ I thought that I could use my platform and the relationships in music I had made for something good.”
The results of the Bird Dogs’ efforts have been plentiful. Dunham says that the annual Jub Jam events have raised around $850,000 for the Senior Source, and if this year’s event hits its goal, the overall total will sit at $1 million soon. There’s no arguing that Jub Jam has been successful in its charitable efforts, but even Dunham admits that his annual shindig is also a prime opportunity to do something that many Texas country fans will never get the chance to do themselves.
Dunham has enlisted musical friends like North Texas artists Bobby Duncan, Steve Helms and Michael Padgett to perform pretty much every year. On top of getting to watch his buddies play at his show, Dunham has hosted some up-and-coming bands he didn't know personally but was simply excited to see play, such as Thieving Birds, Buffalo Ruckus, the Damn Quails and Flatland Cavalry.
"I asked myself, ‘Why can’t you still do that?’” – George Dunham, 1310 The Ticket
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Over the years, Jub Jam has grown in popularity, and that, combined with Dunham’s own high profile, has helped him land some legitimate marquee headliners at his event. Household country names Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Wade Bowen and Cody Jinks have each lent their considerable star power to Dunham’s event.
But wait, there’s been more country fandom fun for Dunham and Jub Jam. Brady Black, the show-stealing fiddle player in the Randy Rogers Band, has become a temporary Bird Dog for a few charity shows, bringing things full circle.
Jub Jam is certainly a big deal for the Bird Dogs, but it’s just one of several charity events the group anchors annually. Playing music with friends and getting to share the stage with stars are unquestionable benefits of Dunham’s efforts, but he knows now that his purpose in music has become something more over the years.
He’s come to appreciate the community and friendships he’s found on the Texas music scene, and he's still amazed that he’s gotten to perform at events such as Troy Aikman’s Highway to Henrietta in 2022, a festival that had Blake Shelton as the headliner. Dunham thinks he would’ve found some way to contribute to the Senior Source, but he’s not shy in saying that without that magical concert experience in 2008, he’s pretty sure Jub Jam, and all the good it has done would never have happened.
“Looking back now, it all makes sense,” he says. “Even when I look back as far as 2004, after my dad passed, I started picking up the guitar for some sort of therapy, and by the time I went to that Randy Rogers concert in 2007, I was ready to start writing songs, which is when I started the band, and then we started Jub Jam. What made no sense to me 15 years ago, makes all the sense in the world to me now.”
