Jeff Sings & Hot Springs, Round 1

When Josh and I went to all 3 days of the outdoor music festival Braun Brothers Reunion (BBR) in Challis last summer, we discovered a new band that we'd never heard of before: the Jeff Crosby Band. Jeff is an Idaho native, and his band members are also from Idaho. We both loved the sound of their music, and became instant fans. A couple weeks later, Jeff's band performed at Sweetwater Hollow, an outdoor venue in Salmon. It was an incredible concert, and it furthered our fandom. We got pictures with Jeff afterwards, and bought several of the group's CD's. We listened to those discs nonstop, memorizing his lyrics and the band's tunes. This past summer, we went to several of the band's concerts around the state, and each time we did, we soaked in different hot springs that were near the venue, to help achieve my goal of going to 30 hot springs in Idaho this year. Listening to Jeff's band and soaking in new hot springs were some of my favorite memories of the year. Because we coordinated our trips to include attending live concerts and adventuring to new hot springs, they are tied together in my mind, even though the concerts never took place at a hot springs. 

The first of these excursions was in June. The Jeff Crosby Band was performing in Riggins at the Rattle the Canyon music festival at the city park along the Salmon River on Saturday, June 25th. There were multiple performers, and the line-up started early that afternoon and extended late into the night. Riggins is about 6 hours from Salmon. Josh and I left that morning, and checked into our hot spring campground on the way. We stayed at Zim's, near New Meadows, which is about 40 minutes from Riggins. We set up our tent, soaked in the warm pools for a bit, then got dressed and drove to Riggins. We missed part of the first group, but we arrived early enough to set our lawn chairs in the shade of a tree and be fairly close to the stage for the upcoming headliners, which included Jeff's band. 

We nearly had the pool to ourselves--can you spot Josh?!

It was the first time Josh and I have been to this music festival. The Riggins venue has a great set-up: it's below the main road, right next to the river, and has a large, covered stage. The group "American Bonfire" was the first on the line-up. They did a lot of cover songs, but sounded good. Muzzy Braun was next. We'd first heard him perform at BBR. He performed a solo act, singing original songs serenaded by his acoustic guitar. Josh's grandparents used to listen to Muzzy Braun's music back in the day, and it's so cool that we also like his songs and his sound today. Jeff Crosby's band was next. We danced to his songs the whole time they performed, along with lots of others. He had guest performers for a few songs, like Cody Braun for the song "Idaho" (Josh's favorite) and Darci Carlson (Jeff's girlfriend) who also has a band. They put on a great show, like always! We walked down the street to eat dinner after that, and ordered a custom pizza. The restaurant was so busy and it took so long to get our food, that we missed Tyler & the Train Robbers entire performance, which was a bummer. When we walked back, the small park was even busier than before! We made our way through the crowd back to our seats. Micky & the Motorcars and Reckless Kelly were the final two acts: both include members of the Braun family, so we'd also heard them at BBR. We left halfway through Reckless Kelly's concert, because it was packed by then and we had a hard time moving around or seeing the performers, and after a fight broke out in the front area from some drunk people, we decided to call it a night. We drove back to our campsite, where it was nice and quiet. It had been a fun-filled, but tiring, day! 

Muzzy Braun

There were a few ladies and kids who danced at every song,
all afternoon long!

Jeff Crosby Band: Jeff Crosby, Matt Fabbi, & Michael the drummer

Jeff and guest Cody Braun singing "Idaho"

Darci Carlson joining the band onstage

The next morning, we packed up our campsite, and had planned to visit another hot springs between McCall and Cascade. However, we discovered that the area where the hot springs was located had been purchased by a logging company, and the road was completely blocked off, and we couldn't get there. I was disappointed about it; the informative book I have about Idaho Springs is 20 years old, and some of the information on the springs is unreliable now, as public land changes and alters over the years from wildfires, or private land changes hands and sites are no longer accessible. We stopped on the drive home and had a picnic at a campground between Stanley and Clayton instead. We watched the Salmon River below us as we talked and ate. I love being able to take short, yet adventurous, trips across Idaho with this man! He is my adventure partner, and my favorite person to travel with!