The Robert Cray Band played the Center for the Arts in Jackson last night in front of a near capacity crowd, except for a few Wilsonites stranded by bridge repair. Earlier in the evening at 5:00PM, local Jackson Hole Music Experience project, Thirtsy, beckoned in the thunderstorms with their own brand of fun blues covers on the Center’s lawn.

As showtime approached, guests filed in slowly, stopping to say ‘hello’ to one another and share excitement over this, the first major billing at the Center for the Arts for the summer season. Mayor Mark Barron even made an appearance having waited out the storms and arriving on his bike.
Once inside, the Robert Cray Band impressed fans by playing classic songs such as “Bad Influence” and unreleased some unreleased songs like “Love in 2009”. Opening with a ruckus piano and organ solo, it was clear that the group was there to enjoy the evening and play some great music. Cray himself seemed to wander into spells at times offering blues riffs and solos that brought patrons out of their seats and into the dimly lit aisles to dance.

Crowd involvement was not a problem as drummer Tony Braunagel and bassist Richard Cousins help maintain the beat during another organ solo from Jim Pugh followed by a guitar solo by Robert Cray.
The band was forced into an encore after rattling applause refused to cease at the close of the scheduled set. The band thanked Jackson for the warm welcome and applause, closing the evening’s events until the center’s next big performance.

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