The String Cheese Incident made their first full-band appearance at one of Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jams this past Saturday night in Asheville. SCI’s set marked their first live performance since their summer tour ended in July. In keeping with Christmas Jam tradition, the Colorado-based band welcomed plenty of guests throughout their performance. For the finale, a cover of Bob Dylan’s Quinn The Eskimo (Mighty Quinn), Cheese brought out host Warren Haynes, keyboardist Nigel Hall, guitarist Mike Barnes, sax wiz Karl Denson and percussionist Count M’butu.

Here’s a look at the guest-filled Quinn The Eskimo from Saturday night…

String Cheese Incident w/ Guests – Quinn The Eskimo

Head HERE for more videos from this year’s Warren Haynes Christmas Jam.

The 24th annual Christmas Jam took place last night in Asheville, where host Warren Haynes welcomed The Avett Brothers, String Cheese Incident, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Anders Osborne, Sheryl Crow and many more of his musical friends to his hometown to raise money for Habitat For Humanity.

Haynes kicked off the show along with the Blind Boys leading to Trombone Shorty’s set with Orleans Ave. The Avett’s took a 45-minute slot before Sheryl Crow offered a guest-laden, nine-song set. String Cheese Incident received the penultimate slot and welcomed Anders Osborne for Joyful Sound, Count M’butu for Can’t Wait Another Day, Karl Denson for Rosie, Warren for Outside Inside and a slew of guests including Haynes, M’butu, Denson and Nigel Hall for a cover of Quinn The Eskimo. The Warren Haynes Band’s headlining set saw guest appearances from M’butu, Denson and a horn section before Haynes welcomed many of the night’s performers for a cover of John Lennon’s Imagine in honor of the Connecticut school shooting to close out the show.

Crow’s name was the biggest WTF?! when the Xmas Jam lineup was announced, but she impressed. Particularly good was this cover of Blind Faith’s Can’t Find My Way Home which also features Warren Haynes, Trombone Shorty and Terence Higgins. Take a look…

Sheryl Crow w/ Guests – Can’t Find My Way Home

Here’s a few more videos from last night’s Christmas Jam…

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A few days ago Warren Haynes told the Asheville Scene that he had one more addition to the lineup for tomorrow’s Christmas Jam that he was trying to confirm…

“There just might be one more big act added to the jam lineup Saturday, but Haynes is keeping the details under wraps since it isn’t confirmed . “There’s a good chance, a better than 50-50 chance, but I don’t want to spread rumors,” he said.

Apparently Haynes was successful as The Avett Brothers have been added to the lineup for tomorrow’s show as first reported by Mountain Xpress. The Avetts are from Concord, North Carolina and could likely sell out Asheville’s Civic Center themselves, so great work by Haynes getting them aboard. They appear at the top of the bill in the concert’s official poster…

As we’ve been saying, you can watch live via AXS TV starting at 6:30PM tomorrow. Also, you can stream tonight’s Pre-Jam live from Asheville via WNCW beginning at 6PM ET.

Each December for the past 24 years Warren Haynes has assembled impressive lineups featuring his talented friends to perform in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina in an effort to raise money for charity. For this year’s Christmas Jam, Haynes has enlisted the Blind Boys of Alabama, String Cheese Incident, Sheryl Crow, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue as well as his own Warren Haynes Band as the main acts with Anders Osborne, Karl Denson, Kevn Kinney and Mike Barnes aboard as guests.

Unlike the 23 prior Christmas Jams, the 2012 edition of the event will be broadcast live on cable network AXS TV. Tune in to AXS TV on Saturday, December 15th at 6:30PM ET to watch…

Post-production proceeds from the Christmas Jam benefit Habitat for Humanity.

A yearly tradition will continue for the 24th time this December when Warren Haynes hosts another Christmas Jam in Asheville, North Carolina on December 15th. The multi-band event will take place at The U.S. Cellular Center Asheville (formerly The Asheville Civic Center) with all net proceeds from the concert and all Xmas Jam weekend event set to benefit Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. The initial lineup has been announced and features a few Xmas Jam newcomers as well as some vets.

Recently reunited jam act The String Cheese Incident will make their first Xmas Jam appearance nine years after SCI mandolin player Michael Kang made his Xmas Jam debut in 2003. Superstar singer Sheryl Crow will also make her Xmas Jam debut. Haynes will appear with his Warren Haynes Band outfit and with Blind Boys of Alabama. Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue will bring the funk to the event, while Mike Barnes, Kevn Kinney and Anders Osborne are aboard as the first special guests to be announced.

A few different VIP packages are available and expected to sell out. A pre-sale will be available through Christmas Jam Ticketing starting on Thursday, October 11th at Noon ET and will run until Friday, October 12th at 5PM ET or until the allotment sells out if that happens before that time. A public on-sale will start at Noon ET on Friday, October 19th via Ticketmaster & The Civic Center Box Office.

The 23rd annual Christmas Jam took place last night at the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Host Warren Haynes kicked off the marathon evening of music with an acoustic performance of And It Stoned Me about seven hours before Gov’t Mule wrapped things up with a cover of The Doors’ When The Music’s Over. Along the way attendees saw a cover-heavy set from Kevn Kinney & The Christmas Family Band, a jazz-laden performance by Jeff Sipe and Bela Fleck’s band, the host sit in with Los Lobos on Bertha, Jimmy Herring guest with Phil and Friends and a show-closing set from Gov’t Mule that featured cameos from Jimmy Herring, Phil Lesh and Bill Evans.

Phil and Friends – Shakedown Street

Phil Lesh and the five-piece he put together for the event got the most stage time last night. The group tore through a set that included Grateful Dead classics and a cover of The Beatles’ She Said, She Said. Towards the end of Phil and Friends’ performance, Jimmy Herring, the guitarist from Lesh’s famed “Q” ensemble, came out to play lead on The Other One and Sugaree. Herring also was a guest of Gov’t Mule later in the night when he joined the quartet on Dear Prudence. The Mule set also featured a version of Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys featuring Lesh and sax star Bill Evans.

Here’s a look at everything that was played last night…

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Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam got off to a rousing start last night at the Pre-Jam, which was held at Asheville’s Orange Peel. The evening featured short sets from many of the acts scheduled to perform at the Civic Center tonight. Phil Lesh’s latest Phil and Friends outfit closed out the show marking the first P&F performance since 2008.

[Photo of Bela Set from @TourTweet]

Haynes kicked off the Pre-Jam with a few, choice solo acoustic tunes (River’s Gonna Rise, A Friend to You) before welcoming up his Gov’t Mule band mate Matt Abts and Planet of the Abts. Another of Warren’s Mule cohorts, Danny Louis, added trombone to a few songs at the end of PoA’s set. Xmas Jam regular Kevn Kinney graced the stage next with his “friends” and played Here Come The Regulars and A Good Country Mile. Next up was Jackie Greene and Friends, a band put together especially for the occasion which featured Joe Russo on drums and ended with a scorching take on Don’t Let Me Down featuring Warren Haynes on guitar. Following Greene was a jazz-laden set by Bela Fleck, Jeff Sipe, Casey Driessan, Taylor Lee and Bill Evans. Then, Los Lobos delivered a seven-song set that included a sit-in from Haynes on Killing Floor as a tribute to the late Hubert Sumlin. Warren also guested on 300 Pounds of Joy and Mas Y Mas.

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Warren Haynes’ 23rd annual Christmas Jam is sure to be a memorable event as always. The truly unique and one of a kind night of music will find Warren and a slew of guests performing at a marathon concert in Haynes’ hometown of Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday at the Civic Center.

Featured guests include Gov’t Mule, Phil Lesh & Friends, Los Lobos and Bela Fleck. Special guests include Jeff Sipe, Joe Russo, Jeff Chimenti, Jimmy Herring and a dozen others.

“Christmas Jam started 23 years ago as an opportunity for local musicians to jam at the one time of year they were all in town at the same time. Back then, we gave the money to whatever charity we felt like. As the event grew and we became aware of Habitat For Humanity, we settled on them because we believe in the organization and know the money goes where its supposed to.” – Warren Haynes

Often, the annual Pre-Jam draws as much excitement and anticipation as the Christmas Jam itself. Likely performers include Los Lobos, Jimmy Herring, Bela Fleck and of course Gov’t Mule and Warren himself. Those not lucky enough to be in attendance at the Orange Peel for this show tonight, that will no doubt include many other guest surprises, will be able to listen to a Live Stream from radio station WNCW.

We previously told you about TuneIn Radio and that will be a perfect way to stream the show which begins at 6:00 pm EST tonight. App users with iPhone, Android, Sonos, Squeezebox or any other platform can simply search for WNCW to access the stream while anyone  with an internet connection can listen to this sold-out show here.  Regardless of how long the event lasts, WNCW plans on airing it in its entirety.

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Earlier this year we came across a news story and Amazon.com listing for Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert Volume 4, which was set to feature highlights from the 2002 Christmas Jam from the likes of moe., John Hiatt and the Goners and Bob Weir. We did a little poking around at the time and found out that the release had been delayed. Today, we finally have a release date for this album as Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert Volume 4 is set to come out on Dec. 6.

Tracks include an acoustic version of James Taylor’s Carolina In My Mind from Warren, Dave Schools and Jerry Joseph teaming up with Matt Abts and Robert Randolph for Climb to Safety, moe. performing a Dark Star jam into Mexico, Bob Weir and Friends’ take on Shakedown Street and nearly all of the event’s performers joining Gov’t Mule for Simple Man.

Here’s a sample of Mule tackling Worried Down With The Blues:

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Warren Haynes returns to Asheville, North Carolina for the 23rd Annual Christmas Jam on December 10 at the Asheville Civic Center. Haynes’ Gov’t Mule unit will headline the show along with Los Lobos, Bela Fleck and more artists who will be announced soon.

Of particular interest is that Phil Lesh will also perform at this year’s XMas Jam with a new version of his Phil and Friends project. Joining Lesh will be Furthur band mates Joe Russo and Jeff Chimenti, guitarist Jackie Greene and Warren. We can’t wait to hear how this ensemble sounds. VIP packages go on sale this Thursday, followed by a presale on October 18 and a public on-sale on October 21. We’ll keep you posted on further details.

We came across a fairly terrible blow-by-blow of last weekend’s Christmas Jam at Mountain Xpress, but there was one redeeming quality – a batch of kickass videos shot by someone who knew what they were doing.

[Photo by Rob Chapman]

Freelance videographer Jesse Hamm has posted five great clips from Saturday’s show that are the jamband equivalent of NBC’s must-see TV.

Let’s start with John Bell tackling Silent Night…

John Bell – Silent Night

• Christmas Jam 2010 Recap: Audio, Videos & More

READ ON for incredible Xmas Jam videos featuring Umphrey’s McGee, the Steve Miller Band, Gregg Allman and the Warren Haynes Band…

For the 22nd year in a row, the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam returned to the guitarist’s hometown of Asheville, NC last night with this year’s event taking place at the Asheville Civic Center. Yesterday’s event saw the debut of the Warren Haynes Band and sets from Missing Cats featuring JoJo Hermann and Sherman Ewing, prog-jammers Umphrey’s McGee, classic rockers the Steve Miller Band, Widespread Panic frontman John Bell, the Gregg Allman Band and a late-night thrown down from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

[All photos by Rob Chapman]

Haynes offered tracks from his upcoming soul album backed by Ron Johnson on bass, Ivan Neville on keys and vocals, Ron Holloway on sax, Terrance Higgins on drums and Ruthie Foster on vocals. Bassist George Porter Jr., keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Raymond Weber were featured on the album according to the Relix article announcing the band but did not perform with Warren last night. Warren’s set included a cover of Sneakin’ Sally, which you can check out right here…

Warren Haynes Band – Sneakin’ Sally

[via Jambands.com]

There were plenty of guest spots throughout the evening including John Bell adding vocals to Umphrey’s version of Ain’t No Sunshine, Andy Farag and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band Horns sitting in at points with the Warren Haynes Band, Haynes returning the favor by joining the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Steve Miller Band. Also, South American harpist Carlos Reyes sat in with the Steve Miller Band, Ron Holloway and the DDBB Horns added brass to Gregg Allman’s Just Another Rider, while John Bell joined the horn section for Allman’s take on Guilded Splinters before Steve Miller sat in on Lost Highway.

READ ON for the complete Christmas Jam setlist, a slew of videos from nearly all of the acts and more photos from last night’s show…

You can always count on Warren Haynes’ benefit concert to be a highlight of December and from the looks of this year’s lineup, the 22nd Annual Christmas Jam should be no exception. We already knew that this year’s event would take place at the Asheville Civic Center on December 11, but we didn’t know who would join Warren on the lineup…until now.

Legendary rockers The Steve Miller Band are atop the bill along with The Warren Haynes Band and Gregg Allman. John Bell and JoJo Hermann from Widespread Panic will also perform at the event as well as HT faves Umphrey’s McGee, the Drive-By Truckers and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

This show will mark the debut of The Warren Haynes Band, who presumably will play material from Haynes’ forthcoming “soul album.” No word yet on the members of this band, though Haynes has mentioned that Ivan Neville, George Porter Jr., Raymond Weber, Ian McLagan, Ruthie Foster and Ron Holloway performed on the album in interviews. We figure most, if not all, of these musicians will join Warren at the Christmas Jam. Regardless, it’s very weird not to see the words “Gov’t Mule” on a Xmas Jam announcement.

WARREN HAYNES PRESENTS:
THE 22ND ANNUAL CHRISTMAS JAM
ASHEVILLE CIVIC CENTER
ASHEVILLE, NC
SATURDAY DECEMBER 11TH
THE INITIAL LINE-UP:
THE STEVE MILLER BAND
The Debut of THE WARREN HAYNES BAND
GREGG ALLMAN
JOHN BELL of Widespread Panic
JOHN “JOJO” HERMANN of Widespread Panic
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
UMPHREY’S MCGEE
THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND

Tickets will be available through a special, two-day presale at Xmas Jam Ticketing starting on Thursday, October 14th at Noon (EDT) and running until Friday, October 15 at 8PM (EDT) unless they sell out. VIP & Hotel Packages also go on sale Thursday through CID Entertainment. The public On-Sale Will Be Saturday, October 23rd through Ticketmaster.

We’re quickly approaching the end of the year which means it’s time to start thinking about Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, this year’s event will again be one day and will be held at the Asheville Civic Center on December 11. We’re still a few weeks away from the initial artist announcement.

In other news, Danny Clinch posted a note on Ryan Adams’ Facebook Page discussing a feature length documentary the noted photographer/filmmaker is preparing on the year he spent with Ryan Adams and the Cardinals…

“For those of you who, like myself, are fans of Ryan Adams and music in general you may be interested to know that I am currently well into a rough cut of a feature length documentary on the roughly one year of time I spent w/ Ryan and the Cardinals. Ryan can pack alot into a year (or a day, or a minute) and he did just that. Making three great albums , 29 , Cold Roses , and Jacksonville City Nights , oh and producing a Willie Nelson record (Song Bird) , meeting and touring w/ Phil Lesh , ( I can’t believe I missed the metal record he made one night – I think I needed the sleep) , not to mention his paintings. To be honest , Ryan is pretty interesting and to get a good look into his creativity and madness is gonna be a treat, trust me. We are looking for for any video you might have of Ryans fall in liverpool or any live performance of “29″. Please message me on our facebook page or email 3tree@earthlink.net. thanks in advance for you support.”  [via The Steam Engine]

Finally, Billboard reports that Primus is working on their first new studio album in 11 years. The new album would be the first featuring current and original drummer Jay Lane, who left the band before they recorded Frizzle Fry. Claypool tells Billboard that the band is “recording musical ideas from sound checks and whatnot, even live shows” for possible inclusion on the LP.

We’ve got two new Phish-related iPhone apps to tell you about and they both look pretty damn cool. First up is Phanatic which offers setlists and statistics from every concert Phish has played over the past 26 years and will be updated on the fly with future setlists as the shows happen. Also available is the iDIDN’TKNOW pack featuring five fun games about the band including Professor Mulchahey’s Phinal Exam, Phanagrams and Fuzzy Math.

Both apps are currently available through the iTunes store with a portion of sales from each going to The Mockingbird Foundation.

There’s plenty of links to share, so let’s get down to business…

• William Bell, Counting Crows among Christmas Jam highlights
• Jim James tells BBC6 that MMJ is working on their 6th album
• A look at where the digital music business is heading in 2010
• Reports surface that John Frusciante has quit the Chili Peppers
• MySpace’s deal to buy Imeem leaves 100,000 artists unpaid
• David Byrne unveils a project with Fatboy Slim – Here Lies Love

Finally, The McLovins have just released a new EP entitled Virtual Circle that features the title track and Hell Yeah, both of which will be on the boys’ sophomore release come next summer. You can download both tracks for a mere $1.98 through the trio’s website.

READ ON for three more news stories of interest…