It started quietly as a little idea β add an entertainment element to the hugely popular and well-attended Tucson Gem and Mineral Show β that has grown into one of the stateβs largest music festivals.
That was 17 years ago and with the exception of a couple pauses including in 2019, the multigenre Gem & Jam Festival has continued to grow.
This yearβs 14th annual event at Pima County Fairgrounds will feature more than 50 artists over three days Feb. 4-6, from electronica to pop and rock.
Founder Toby White launched Gem & Jam as an unofficial after-party in 2005. Over the next handful of years, the event grew, with bigger lineups and bigger venues.
STS9
The recession prompted White to hit pause in in 2011 and β12. The festival returned in 2013 to the Slaughterhouse and added vendors and live art. By 2017, Gem & Jam, graduated to the sprawling Pima County Fairgrounds with more than 40 market vendors, camping options and an art gallery.
Jesse Miller of the jam band Lotus remembers driving through Tucson for his Philadelphia/Colorado bandβs first Gem & Jam show in 2017.
βI had no idea of the scope of the weekend of how many people are participating in the (Tucson Gem & Mineral Show),β he said. βIt seemed to be more of a hippy New Age thing, but that scene definitely crosses over into the music scene that likes Lotus.β
Miller, who plays bass and synthesizers, and his twin Luke, who plays guitar, founded Lotus in the late 1990s.
βI kind of think of Lotus as a rock band first even though we have electronic influences,β he explained during a phone call last week from Philadelphia.
Leah and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia
Lotus is among a dozen headliners that also includes the post-rock instrumental rock/electronica dance band STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9), the American Appalachian sister act Rising Appalachia, Swedish-born DJ Liquid Stranger, deep house producer Claude VonStroke and progressive bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum.
Claude VonStroke
For the complete lineup and more information, visit gemandjamfestival.com
Photos of the Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase through the years
Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase
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The 1967 show at the Tucson Rodeo and Fairgrounds drew a modest crowd. After its 1955 beginnings in a school auditorium, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society moved its annual show to the Quonset hut at the Tucson Rodeo and Fairgrounds on South Sixth Ave., at Irvington Road.
Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase
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Exterior of Quonset on South Sixth Ave site ofΒ Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase, 1956-1971.
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Louise Feller of Seattle looks for some gems at the Tucson Convention Center in 1991.
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Dealers preparing their displays near I-10 and Congress in 1991.Β
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Mike Donovan of Texas looks at a 20-foot Pleisiosaur at the Tucson Convention Center in 1991.
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Tucson Convention Center full of exhibitors and buyers in 1993.
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Nickolai B. Kuznetsov and Alexander O. Agafonoff from Russia prepare their exhibit in a room at the Best Western Executive Inn in Tucson in 1993.Β
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Dilip Shah of New York City conducts business while laying on his bed at the Discovery Inn in 1994.
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David Velk checks out some of the various Trilobites which were only one of many fossil exhibits at the gem and mineral showcase Fossil Exhibit at the Executive Inn in 1995.
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The first public day of the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society Show was a busy affair at the Tucson Convention Center in 1997.
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Gem show vendor Albert Volker, sits with his sizable collection of smokey quartz in 1998, mined by himself on his ranch in Montana. Vollker was one of the last participants doing business as most others packed up to leave.
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Tom Moore. Editor of the Mineralogical Record magazine, shows this drawer which has Apatite, Pyromorphite, Mimetite, and Vanadinite in 2005.
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Colored glass jewels glimmer with at least some of the sparkle of their rarer counterparts at the Globe-X Gem & Mineral show at the Days Inn Downtown in 2007.
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Yurie Ishizaka of Tokyo looks in display cases during the first day of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center on February 10, 2011.
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Rocks, shells, and minerals for sale at the Miner K booth at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center in 2011.
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Naoki Ninomiya examines a piece of Smithsonite from Mexico by putting it up to the light during the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show as part of the 58th AnnualΒ Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase at the Hotel Tucson City Center in 2012.
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Mike Anglin from Mission Viejo, Calif looks at agate from Argentina at the STPGM booth during the opening day of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center in 2012.
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A variety of Rose Quartz, Crystals, Tourmaline and Red Jasper glisten in the sunlight at Jay Gems and Minerals as they are on display at the Riverpark Inn at 350 South Freeway for the upcoming Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase on Jan. 23, 2017.
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Robert Tapia, left, and Jason Fox, warehouse manager at Superb Minerals, set up for the annual Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase which begins on January 26 and ends February 11. The store located at 1243 N. Main Ave sells zeolites from India. January 02, 2018.
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Matthew Schmalz browses through polished agate geodes as he's framed by a slice of amethyst quartz in the Western Woods tent at the Pueblo Gem and Mineral Show at the Riverpark Inn, 777 W. Cushing Street, on Jan. 24, 2018, in Tucson.
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Scott Sprencz, right, and Ed Kloehn, haul in an onyx luminary for the "Art of Decor Onyx" booth at the Tucson 22nd Street Mineral and Fossil Show, located on the northeast corner of 22nd Street and Interstate 10, on Jan. 24, 2018, in Tucson.
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Mike Pendle, from the United Kingdom, scrutinizes a quart point at the Tucson 22nd Street Mineral and Fossil Show, located on the northeast corner of 22nd Street and Interstate 10, on Jan. 24, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.
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Tsiriry Anjarihva sorts hand-carved decorative heart pieces for display while workers at the Madagascar Minerals Gem Show, 201 W. Lester St., prepare for the 2019 Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase, Jan. 23, 2019, in Tucson, Ariz. Eighty percent of the minerals on display at Madagascar Minerals are direct from the company's mines and factories in Madagascar.
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Zoey Petitt selects a bag of green opals to buy at the Madagascar Minerals Gem Show, 201 W. Lester St., Jan. 23, 2019, in Tucson, Ariz. Eighty percent of the minerals on display at Madagascar Minerals are direct from the company's mines and factories in Madagascar.
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Celia Tessier, left, and Emma Martinez, 16, huddle together and stay warm as they examine a crystal they are weighing for a customer in the Cristais Maia booth at the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase iin 2016. Martinez helps out at the Brazilian business annually during the show.
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Wade Leschyn, center, is dwarfed by the fossils of "Bob" the triceratops, left, and a wooly mammoth fossil from Russia at the GeoDecor booth at the Mineral and Fossil Co-op show, 1635 N. Oracle Road, Feb. 7, 2019, in Tucson, Ariz. The co-op's show, part of the the larger Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase.
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Kate Mull, right, and her daughter Grace, both visiting from West Virginia, sport their t-shirts Kate bought especially for the gem show as they browse the displays at Rosman Gems at the Mineral and Fossil Co-op show, 1635 N. Oracle Road, Feb. 7, 2019, in Tucson, Ariz.
