The signature live music series of Grand Magnolia Music, “Jazz Fest Unplugged,” returns to The Grand Magnolia Ballroom in Pascagoula on Saturday, April 9.
For the first time in its decade long run, the event will feature Tony Haselden of Louisiana’s LeRoux swapping songs with Tommy Malone of The Subdudes along with special guest George McConnell of Widespread Panic. The show is set at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at grandmagmusic.com as well as at Scranton’s Restaurant in Pascagoula.
“Jazz Fest unplugged” has a history of bringing artists that have played some of the largest outdoor music festivals across the country with their bands and placing them in an intimate, up-close and personal setting.
Haselden, a founding member of Leroux, has had an incredible career as a Nashville songwriter in addition to his time spent in one of the most memorable Southern Rock bands of all time. He has penned chart-topping songs performed by George Strait (“You know me better than that”), Shania Twain (“What made you say that), Reba McEntire (“Love needs a holiday”), Colin Raye (“That’s my story”), Shenandoah (“Mama Knows”) Michelle Wright (“Take it like a man”). Martina McBride (“That’s me”), Keith Whitley (“It ain’t nothing”) and quite a few others as well.
He also helped craft the body of work by LeRoux over the years that included such hits as “New Orleans Lady”, “Take a Ride on a Riverboat” and “Nobody said it was easy” among many others.
He has played The Grand Magnolia twice previously with LeRoux, but this will be his first time in Pascagoula as a solo performer.
Tommy Malone, the heart and center of the legendary Americana group, The Subdudes, performs with the soulful flair of American roots rock. Originally from South Louisiana and honing his musical talent in New Orleans, his vocals and songwriting craft the surreal and the everyday experiences into instantly memorable tunes. He has carved his way as a gifted singer, player and songwriter with a distinctive musical voice.
Malone has been featured on The David Letterman Show, Austin City Limits and has appeared at Jazz Fest almost 20 times.
His musical roots run deep, beginning with several formative ‘70s bands in the Crescent City including the Continental Drifters, from which spawned a stripped-down band known as the Subdudes. With a single tambourine for percussion and a keyboardist who favored accordion, the Subdudes almost single-handedly bucked the ‘80s trend of mile-high production, proving that memorable songs, soulful delivery and true chemistry were all you really needed.
It will be Malone’s debut performance in Jackson County.
McConnell, a Vicksburg native who now resides in Oxford, spent six years with one of the biggest jam bands in the world. He toured all over the world during his time as the lead guitarist with Widespread Panic, and he has continued to play shows as a solo act along with time spent in The Kudzu Kings, a band of which he was a founding member two decades ago. He also spent time touring with the band Drive By Truckers.
McConnell, who will be making his second-ever appearance in Pascagoula, also was a founding member of the band Beanland in Oxford in the 1980s, a group that also featured longtime Panic keyboardist Jo Jo Herman.
A portion of the proceeds from every Grand Magnolia Music show benefits the Dixie Adoptables Animal Rescue transport project.
Valued sponsors for Grand Magnolia Music are Roy’s Bar in Pascagoula, Burnham Drugs and Riverside Dental in Moss Point, Horn Island Grill in Gautier as well as Liquors Unlimited of Pascagoula, Judge Calvin Taylor, and Linda Walsh of Coldwell Banker Realty as well as The Grand Magnolia Ballroom and Suites, Scranton’s Restaurant and Catering, Southern District Public Service Commissioner of the State of Mississippi Dane Maxwell, Northern District Public Service Commissioner of The State of Mississippi Brandon Presley, The Hilton Garden Inn in Pascagoula, Cathead Vodka, The Beau Rivage and Lagniappe Weekly of Mobile.
