Jack Casady

Last Thursday night, the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado became the setting for the world to bid farewell to the electric configuration of the legendary group Hot Tuna. Forming in 1969 and powered by the renowned chemistry of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, Hot Tuna originally came together as a side project to the duo’s full-time gig in Jefferson Airplane.

On Saturday, October 14, a loving and celebratory, 200-guest Station Hall audience at Jorma Kaukonen’s famous eastern Ohio guitar camp, Fur Peace Ranch, cheered on the guitar legend and his Hot Tuna bandmates Jack Casady and Justin Guip through a passionate, late-afternoon concert of electric blues, ballads and tougher stuff.

A palpable aura of nostalgic reverence enveloped The Parker Theater in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday night, as the venerable rock-blues trio Hot Tuna took to the stage, embarking on the Fort Lauderdale leg of their "Going Fishing 2023 Tour." Jorma Kaukonen (guitar/vocals), Jack Casady (bass), and Justin Guip (drums) didn’t just play a concert. They orchestrated a journey, intertwining over 50 years of music history into a night of emotional, electrifying performances.

Even by his usually busy standards, 2023 looks to be a pretty chunky year for the pioneering West Coast rock guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. Usually, he and his stellar faculty of musical masters are holding a full schedule of workshops by now at the music camp, Fur Peace Ranch, which he runs with his wife Vanessa out of Pomeroy, Ohio.

Mercury Studios will release on July 7 a special three-CD boxed set of Hot Tuna, in-concert from the ‘90’s. Complete with full acoustic band—no drums—at The Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California two nights in a row, and at Stove’s in Yokohama, Japan. Originally released by Relix in the ‘90s, then reissued/remastered with bonus tracks by Eagle Records in 2004, the box will house for the first time all three shows in one sterling package complete with poster.

Hot Tuna played an intimate acoustic set at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale on Monday evening, delighting the faithful crowd with their intricate brand of blues, jazz, folk and rock. Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame (class of ’96) members, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady treated the audience to two sets of classic Hot Tuna, showcasing Kaukonen’s Piedmont blues fingerstyle guitar with Casady’s lead guitar style bass runs that have entertained fans for over half a century.

Symphonic finesse and elegance was the theme on December 30 when Acoustic Hot Tuna, aka Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, concluded a three-night residency at the intimate Freight & Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley, California. The enduring duo entertained the crowd with two sets of acoustic blues, roots, and spiritual music – much of it dating to pre-World War II – that was both complex and easy on the ears.

Hot Tuna at the Capitol Theatre, December 4th, 2021, this is the second rescheduled date for a performance that was originally set to be played in July 2020. Now it's a year and a half later and that's a lot of time for anticipation. Almost like my first concert, I still get the pre-show jitters. We've seen this band dozens of times, add in the fifty plus free Quarantine Concerts live from the Fur Peace Ranch and there has been a lot of great music to enjoy.

Acoustic or Electric Hot Tuna lives in a world of inspiration whether conspiring with each other,  playing with friends or pulling it out of thin air, Hot Tuna is indeed "Psychedelic-Blues Institution” – Rolling Stone

In the coming months Hot Tuna will be joined by David Bromberg Quintet, Steve Kimock & Friends, The Midnight Ramble Band and Little Feat! Check out the schedule below!

Introduced on vinyl on Record Store Day this past July, Culture Factory will release John Hurlbut and Jorma Kaukonen: The River Flows Volume Two (CFU-01200) in all formats September 24, 2021. At the same time they are releasing a box set The River Flows Vol. 1 & 2 / The Complete Sessions, a CD package with 8 live tracks recorded one special evening at the Quarantine Concerts as a bonus disc.

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