Asheville Native Warren Haynes Provides Christmas Jam Update

With the holiday season quickly approaching and Asheville in the early stages of recovering from Hurricane Helene, the status of the 33rd Christmas Jam was uncertain. Hometown hero Warren Haynes and the rest of the benefit concert’s team took to social media late last night to announce Christmas Jam 33 will take place in Asheville in 2025 as hosting the show this December wasn’t possible due to the effects of the storm.

Haynes and the Christmas Jam team will instead devote their efforts in the coming months to helping those affected in different ways. “We know the people of Asheville, Western Carolina and everyone effected by Hurricane Helene as well as Hurricane Milton are in need of support and we are working on several initiatives including other benefit concerts in order to raise funds quickly,” the note stated.

Read the full statement from Christmas Jam organizers below:

“The devastation from Hurricane Helene in Asheville has been heartbreaking. Despite the immense challenges to every day life and the future, the community has come together in an inspiring way, with strangers helping one another.

“Rebuilding will take time and collective effort. Unfortunately, holding a concert in Asheville this year isn’t possible, as resources are focused on emergency efforts. Christmas Jam 33 will take place in Asheville in 2025.

“That said, we know the people of Asheville, Western Carolina and everyone effected by Hurricane Helene as well as Hurricane Milton are in need of support and we are working on several initiatives including other benefit concerts in order to raise funds quickly.”

Christmas Jam returned in 2022 after a four-year hiatus. 2023’s Christmas Jam 32 featured Haynes and Gov’t Mule joined on the lineup by Slash & Myles Kennedy, Billy Gibbons, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening and Clutch, among others.

Warren Haynes hosted the first Christmas Jam in 1988 at the intimate 45 Cherry club as a way to gather musicians in Asheville for the holidays and to raise funds for local non-profits. The event developed from a small show to a big star-studded affair held in the city’s largest venues. Proceeds from Christmas Jam have been donated since 1998 by Haynes and his wife, Stefani Scamardo, to the Habitat For Humanity organization in Asheville.

Haynes recently finished a Warren Haynes Band tour. The guitarist will release a new solo album, Million Voices Whisper, next Friday, November 1. Gov’t Mule will ring in 2025 with a three-show New Year's Eve run.