Summer Meltdown way more than a jam band’s backyard party

STS9 will perform as part of a stacked lineup at the Summer Meltdown in Darrington, Snohomish County.Summer Meltdown — which gets under way Thursday, Aug. 6, at Darrington’s Whitehorse Mountain Amphitheater — began 15 years ago on San Juan Island as a backyard party for a tight-knit group of friends, creator Josh Clauson recalls.

Flowmotion, Clauson’s long-running jam band, provided the entertainment, as well as refreshments.

Today, Summer Meltdown is one of the Northwest’s major summer festivals. This year, Clauson and his wife, Genevieve, are hosting more than 40 artists — including some of the biggest names in the festival’s history (STS9, Iration, Galactic) — performing reggae, jam, funk,…