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Squirrel Nut Zippers: Jazz from the Back O’ Town
Low Ticket Alert!
Presented by KBCO
Door time: 6:30
Show time: 7:30
Iconic New Orleans based Jazz Rockers Squirrel Nut Zippers will be taking fans on a magical, musical voyage to the birthplace of Jazz as they present Jazz from the Back O’ Town – a four-show love letter to the prodigious New Orleans neighborhood known simply as the Back O’ Town. The show will explore the New Orleans jazz scene of the late 19th century through the Roaring Twenties as the Zippers provide a delightful view into this mystical era with reverent, yet exciting, renditions of such seminal classics as Jelly Roll Morton’s “Animule Ball,” Louis Armstrong’s “Back O’ Town Blues,” and many others.
During the Jazz from the Back O’ Town shows, the Platinum band will also perform favorites from their own catalog, adapted and arranged to echo the sounds of 1920s New Orleans more closely. Additionally, Squirrel Nut Zippers’ founder Jimbo Mathus will lend his humorous, insightful musings on both the musical history of one of America’s most fascinating cities and the stories and inspirations behind many of the Zippers’ most beloved songs.
Jazz From The Back O’ Town will provide a uniquely historic look at the origins and evolutions of the Squirrel Nut Zippers over the course of their career and the role the music of 1920s New Orleans has played in forming and shaping their sound. Not so much a period piece as a living “peek-behind-the-curtain” of inspiration and celebration. And it makes for a very entertaining evening!
“There is of course jazz of various stripes (mainly pre-WWII varieties) on this deliciously wide-ranging comeback, but there’s so much more: Sounds, identifiable and not, emanating from mysterious times and places, not the least of which is New Orleans, their home base, a land that, forever and still, has a mind of its own.” – Relix
Tommy Emmanuel, CGP
Low Ticket Alert!
Presented by KBCO
Door time: 6:30
Show time: 7:30
The real-time exuberance Tommy Emmanuel brings to every note of every song he plays is palpable and infectious. His fans are in love with his unbound talent as a guitarist of multitudes, his ability to play three parts at once, always with pure heart and real soul. He is a true virtuoso. But he seems as delighted always with the magic of the music as the audience, if not more, and his joy illuminates everything.
It’s one thing to play these multi-dimensional arrangements flawlessly on an acoustic guitar. But to do it with that smile of the ages, that evidence of authentic, unbridled delight, is an irresistibly infectious invitation to feel his music as deeply as he does. “The joy, ” he says, “is there always because I’m chasing it through music. Seeing the surprise in peoples’ eyes is worth living and working for… I can’t help but play to the people with all my heart, which is overflowing with joy of being in that moment that I’ve worked all my life for. And here it is!”
That authentic exuberance Tommy brings to every show and every record is especially powerful, given the profound deficit of real joy in so many lives. Tommy’s happiness, like his music, is pure and expressed in real-time. Nothing is phony. It’s a quality that does reach far beyond any one language, and it’s instantly understood by all his fellow humans. It’s the reason he smiles so much while playing, and why his audience does as well. As many have said, it’s hard not to be happy at his shows. Because his joy, and the timeless river of inspiration, which is the source, is universally recognized. And it feels good.
In 2018, Tommy made the great album, Accomplice One, a series of duets with musicians great and varied, and all at his level. It’s a concept that worked, as the range of artists reflected Tommy’s expansive love of all kinds of music, including Rodney Crowell, Mark Knopfler, Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Jerry Douglas, Jake Shimabukuro and more. Each of his accomplices seemed as inspired by his energy and passion as much as Tommy was by theirs, and he played with effortless grace.
Now comes the long-awaited sequel, Accomplice Two. It shares the same exuberance, diversity, and sense of adventure as the first album, with a great range of artists. This album features rock legends Michael McDonald, Jorma Kaukonen, and Little Feat; bluegrass superstars such as Billy Strings, The Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Sierra Hull, and David Grisman; country icons such as Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jamey Johnson, and Raul Malo; and guitar heavyweights like Yasmin Williams, Larry Campbell, and Richard Smith. The first single “White Freight Liner Blues” is out now and features the Grammy award winner and claw hammer guitarist, Molly Tuttle.
Tommy also has a new television special called Accomplice LIVE! which begins airing on PBS in March of 2023. This special features some of Tommy’s best-known songs and duets with his accomplices such as Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Sierra Hull, Yasmin Williams, and many others.
Tommy was born in 1955 in Muswellbrook, New South Wales Australia, and started playing the guitar at age four. In his twenties, he was the most sought-after performer and session musician in Sydney. By age 30, he was burning on electric guitar with several rock bands in stadiums across Europe. He could have gone on to live the rock star life. Yet, he yearned for something purer and closer to his heart. Casting off the reliable rock band engine of monstrous sonics blasting, Tommy went acoustic.
The inspiration for Tommy’s transformation was his hero, Chet Atkins, who represented the purity of one man, one guitar, and unlimited passionate for serving the song. Eventually Tommy met his hero and started a lifelong friendship which shaped Tommy’s music forever. Chet welcomed Tommy into guitarist knighthood by bestowing upon him the coveted title of CGP (Certified Guitar Player), an honor awarded only to four other humans ever, and they recorded an album together, The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World. Receiving the love and esteem of Chet lifted Tommy into a different realm. Because, as Chet recognized instantly and told the world, musicians like this don’t come along that often; pay attention to this man. And people have paid attention from sold out shows all over the world to multiple Grammy nominations, ARIA Awards, IBMA Awards, and countless “Best Acoustic Guitarist” wins in numerous music magazine readers polls…. the world is taking notice.
The Magic of Adam Trent
Door time: 6:30
Show time: 7:30
Adam Trent presents a Magic show unlike any other in the world, fusing modern illusions, music and comedy in an extremely interactive way. Not only will volunteers come onstage to experience magic throughout the show, but certain tricks even happen in the each audience member’s hands across the theatre at the same time.
Adam looks to change people’s perception of magic- he doesn’t want audiences to remember just the “tricks” as much as the laughs and memories made with the performance.
He has been seen by literally billions of people around the globe- in person, and with his own TV series’ on NETFLIX and Disney Plus, and multiple appearances on America’s Got Talent, Ellen, The Today Show, and Disney Channel among countless other TV appearances. He is also one of the most viral content creators on the internet, racking up a staggering 7 Billion views in the last year alone.
Adam began performing local birthday party shows at age 9.
At age 14, he started busking as a street performer, which he says “was the most amazing and brutal training a performer could ever have”, because it taught me an audience’s true attention span- “The audience would just walk away if it got boring!”
At age 18, he moved to Los Angeles, where he got a crash course in LA’s music and comedy scene. “I realized that the most important element in any show is the performer’s connection to the audience. Without that, even amazing skill can fall as flat as a bad boy band.”
After breakout TV appearances launched his career, he began touring 250 shows per year in the biggest and most prestigious venues in the world, including Radio City Music Hall, Broadway, The Sydney Opera House, London’s West End, and The Dolby and the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles.
He became the star of the hit Broadway show ‘The Illusionists’, which broke Broadway box office records made him the only magicians in history to have starred on Broadway 3 separate times.
“Adam Trent is unlike any magician working today, a funny, witty and accomplished entertainer — the next David Copperfield meets Justin Timberlake,” says creative producer Simon Painter, producer of Broadway’s ‘The Illusionists’ and top creative producer at Cirque du Soleil. “He has a knack for electrifying giant television and theatre audiences with his unique brand of magic.”
Straight No Chaser – Summer: The 90’s
Low Ticket Alert!
Presented by KBCO
Door time: 6:30
Show time: 7:30
If the phrase “male a cappella group” conjures up an image of students in blue blazers, ties, and khakis singing traditional college songs on ivied campuses… think again. Straight No Chaser (SNC) are neither strait-laced nor straight-faced, but neither are they vaudeville-style kitsch. They have emerged as a phenomenon with a massive fanbase and a long list of accomplishments including 2 RIAA Gold Certified albums, over 1.5 million concert tickets sold, over 1 billion streams on Pandora, and over 2 million albums sold worldwide. Straight No Chaser is the real deal, the captivating sound of nine unadulterated human voices coming together to make extraordinary music that is moving people in a fundamental sense… and with a sense of humor.