The Red Jacket Jamboree featuring the Copper Cats!

We are putting our exceptional stage band, the Copper Cats, front and center for our 61st and 62nd episodes of The Red Jacket Jamboree!  The RJJ is an old style radio show recorded in front of a studio audience at the RPM studio inside the Keweenaw Storytelling Center in downtown Calumet, Michigan. (The village formerly known as Red Jacket). The show share's songs, stories, history and music from Michigan's Copper Country and beyond.  The RJJ cast consists of professional performers and musicians who share these stories with the help of guest singer-songwriters, poets, authors, and other storytellers.   Two themed hourlong episodes are recorded per show. Expect a family friendly show featuring comedy, music and a whole lot of stories!

Comprised of the top Jazz artists in the Midwest, the Copper Cats features Jerry Younce on guitar, Bill Carrothers on piano, Devin Drobka on drums and Clay Schaub on bass.   

Jerry Younce- Guitar/Music Director
As a professional guitarist, Jerry has performed Jazz, Rock, Top 40, and Country music in show bands and various musical groups during his 40+ year career as a musician.  

​In the early 1970's, while still a teenager, Jerry Younce had already become an active player in Detroit’s burgeoning jazz scene. Since 2009 Jerry has been performing with his son Ryan as Younce Guitar Duo.  The duo has been entertaining audiences with their signature style.  In 2017, Jerry took on the role of music director and sound engineer for the RJJ.  

Bill Carrothers - Piano
Bill has been a professional pianist for more than 40 years. He has played many venues throughout the U.S. and Europe including the The Village Vanguard, Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning (Paris), the Monterey Jazz Festival, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Audi Jazz Festival, the Nevers Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, AngraJazz, and the Marciac Festival in France. In October of 2000, Mr. Carrothers headlined the prestigious Rising Star Tour throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Bill has been a leader on over thirty recordings, all of which have received critical acclaim and Top Ten Of The Year accolades in major publications around the globe. He has been awarded a German Schallplattenpreis, the coveted Charles Cros Award in France, and has been nominated for two French Victoires du Jazz. His sideman performing, touring, and recording credits include some of the greatest names in jazz, including Jerry Bergonzi, Seamus Blake, Scott Colley, Buddy DeFranco, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Drew Gress, Tim Hagans, Billy Hart, Billy Higgins, Ari Hoenig, Freddie Hubbard, Dave King, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Gary Peacock, Prince, Dewey Redman, Charlie Rouse, James Spaulding, Bill Stewart, Ira Sullivan, Toots Thielemans, and Benny Wallace. Carrothers has taken part in countless masterclasses and teaching residencies around the world, and has also been an adjunct professor of jazz studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin since 2011. He makes his home near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Devin Drobka - Drums
Devin  is one of the most in-demand and creative musicians in the midwest for the past 15 years. Audiences around the world have been enthralled with his wide sonic palette and limitless rhythmic possibilities on the drums. A deep love of jazz, metal, folk, hip-hop, ambient, idm, and classical music has helped shaped Devin’s unique voice and vision on the drums both as a leader and as a sideman. His highly personal and creative drumming can be heard within the realm of jazz having performed with Greg Osby, Jerry Bergonzi, Dayna Stephens, and Joe Lovano as well as indie- folk bands like Field Report and indie rappers R.A.P. Ferreira and Serengeti. Devin can be heard on over 50 albums of genre bending, original music for which he is an advocate for. Devin currently composes music for his newest group, The Devin Drobka Trio, which draws upon his love of contemporary classical music and minimalism and his multi horn group, Bell Dance Songs, which is a response to his love of Albert Ayler, Paul Motian, and Ornette Coleman. Devin’s music has been described as “sounding like nothing else in midwestern jazz” and “gorgerous, innovative.”

Clay Schaub - Bass
Clay is an in-demand bassist and educator in the Midwest. Performing more than 300 concerts each year, Clay is a featured artist for Origin Records, faculty at the Milwaukee Jazz Institute, and author of “How To Build Walking Bass Lines in 14 Days” - a method book for beginning jazz bassists. Clay worked for years in the New York City jazz scene and has performed regularly with Russ Johnson, Geof Bradfield, Michael Kanan, Steve Ash, Greg Ruggiero, Gregory Tardy, David Bixler, Pamela York, Eric Jacobson, and Bruce Barth among others. He currently lives in Milwaukee with his wife and children.