For The Journal

In Ten Sleep, Wyoming, population 307, you sometimes hear is a clanky old banjo ricocheting off the storefronts and buttes like a renegade .22 rifle shell.

This clamor is Jalan Crossland, trailer park troubadour. His songs are vivid, first-hand accounts of life in the small towns and backcountry of 21st century America. Like the people they portray, the songs are tough and honest. Jalan glides along on the wheels of an American music he calls “Bottom 40 Country”. Old-time and bluegrass are present, but treated to the freedom of rock ’n’ roll.

“Gossip is better when you sing it,” he says.

Crossland plays in Cortez at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 25 at the Sunflower Theatre, 8 W. Main St. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Details: http://www.sunflowertheatre.org

Crossland is widely acclaimed by audiences, critics and his musical peers as being a premier acoustic guitarist, banjo player, singer-songwriter and showman. Along with dozens of regional contest awards, his guitar work earned him National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship honors in 1997 and the State Flatpick Championship title of his home state in 1999. In recognition for his contribution to the arts in Wyoming, he was bestowed with the Governor’s Arts Award in 2013.