FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Live Nation is very proud to present
AN EVENING WITH
HOT TUNA ELECTRIC
MESA ARTS CENTER
MAY 12, 2008
Phoenix, AZ (March 18, 2008) –Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, the founders and continuing core members of Hot Tuna along with mandolin virtuoso Barry Mitterhoff and Erik Diaz on drums will bring their electric set to the Virginia G. Piper Repertory Theater on Monday, May 12. The show will begin at 7:30pm.
From their days playing together as teenagers in Washington D.C., to their current acoustic and electric blues, probably no one has more consistently led American music for the last 50 years than Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady.
In the mid 1960s Jorma and Jack joined the San Francisco group, The Jefferson Airplane. While in The Jefferson Airplane, putting together the soundtrack of the 60s, the pair remained loyal to the blues, jazz, bluegrass, and folk influences of the small clubs and larger venues they had learned from years before. While in San Francisco and even in hotel rooms on the road, they would play together and worked up a set of songs that they would often play at clubs in the Bay Area and while on the road, often after having played a set with the Airplane. This led to a record contact, in fact, they had an album recorded before they decided to name their band Hot Tuna. With it, they launched on an odyssey which has itself continued for more than 35 years, always finding new and interesting turns in its path forward.
For the last few years, Jorma and Jack have been joined in most of their Hot Tuna performances by the mandolin virtuoso Barry Mitterhoff. A veteran of bluegrass, Celtic, folk, and rock-influenced bands including "Tony Trischka and Skyline" and "Bottle Hill," Barry has found a new voice in working with Hot Tuna, and the fit has been good -- watching them play, it's as if he's been there from the beginning and they're all having the time of their lives.
Beginning in 2004, Hot Tuna returned to some of its own roots by adding an electric set to their acoustic one. For the electric sets, they are joined by Erik Diaz, a sharp young second-generation drummer with the energy, talent, and skill to match anything that Jack and Jorma -- once famous for working drummers nearly to death -- throw at him
Jorma and Jack certainly could not have imagined, let alone predicted, where playing would take them. It's been a long and fascinating road to numerous exciting destinations. Two things have never changed: They still love to play as much as they did as kids in Washington D.C., and there are still many, many exciting miles yet to travel on their musical odyssey.
TICKETS ON-SALE MONDAY, MARCH 24 AT 10 A.M.
Tickets priced at $37.00 will go on-sale Monday, March 24 at 10am at Mesa Arts Center Box Office, www.livenation.com or www.mesaartscenter.com. To charge by phone, call 480.644.6500. All dates, acts, and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable taxes, and service and handling charges. For more show information, check out www.livenation.com
