By Mary Richardson

JigJam, an Irish group self-described as “what happens when virtuoso Irish playing jumps the pond and runs through the wide-open fields of bluegrass and Americana” will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, April 25, in the historic F.G. Bulber Auditorium for the McNeese Banners Series.

Banners Director Brook Hanemann said the people of Lake Charles are in for “some foot stompin’, high-energy badassery!”

Hanemann said that Lake Charles people will recognize the Irish roots of JigJam. “Once you’ve stood in the wild wind of Ireland, you recognize it instantly in JigJam’s music,” she said.

“It’s joyful, untethered, and full of the kind of jubilant rhythm that feels like it’s leaping straight off the Irish hillside.”

She said their music will speak to Southwest Louisiana: “There’s something about the Irish spirit — generous, funny, fierce — that speaks to the South. It feels like home and a celebration all at once.”

Band members, all Offaly- and Tipperary-born, debuted at the Grand Ole Opry in 2023 and received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd on country music’s most renowned stage. The group was joined that night by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Steve Earle, Lauren Alaina, and many more. In their words, they started “the first wave of attack in the new Irish invasion of Americana” on that night.

Founding members of the “iGrass” (Irish Bluegrass) quartet are Offaly-born Jamie McKeogh (lead singer and guitar) and Daithi Melia (five-string banjo and dobro). In 2016, they were joined by Tipperary-born Gavin Strappe (mandolin and enor banjo), and this year they were joined by Kevin Buckley (fiddle).

Reviews for the group have been positive. One reviewer described them as “the best Irish band in bluegrass” and “sparkling, infectious,” adding that “these lads have been hailed as Ireland’s answer to New Grass Revival.” Another said that “iGrass and JigJam is what happens when the Irish find their prodigal son.”

a TICKETS: $20 each. Included in all Banners memberships and sold at the door. Advance tickets are available at www.banners.org. All events are free to McNeese and Sowela Technical Community College students and children 12 and younger.