Stagecoach Band back on Sundays
After a tense week where it looked like the band was out of a gig, cooler heads prevailed
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — It looks like the Stagecoach Band will be back playing regularly on their usual Sunday nights after bar owners and band reps came together following a tense week of ‘negotiations.’
A week ago, news leaked that the band was told their five-decade run as what some call the “longest continually running ‘house band’ in America” was over. After playing the bar on Sunday nights since at least 1969, the band asked for more money. The bar countered with complaints the weekly ritual known as Church at the Coach hasn’t exactly paid the power bill in recent years.
A truce was called Monday in negotiations and the band is being billed for the 2021 summer season beginning Memorial Day weekend.
The Stagecoach Band started in February 1969 under the direction of local musician Ron Scott. He invited Bill Briggs to play banjo in 1971. Briggs, a local ski legend who was the first person ever to ski the Grand Teton, is the sole remaining ‘original’ member of the group.
Most urban myths are true. Yes, Bob Dylan sat in one night. So have John Denver, Texas singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, and bluegrass legend Tim O’Brien. And, to date, the band has played more than 2,600 gigs—always on Sundays, always from 6-10pm.
In all, 18 different musicians have filtered through the lineup through the years.
Trailer from the documentary “The Stagecoach: An American Crossroads” by JenTen Productions.
