Jack Casady

Iconic architects of San Francisco’s celebrated psychedelic sound, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, brought their enduring roots-infused mélange, Hot Tuna, to Eugene’s (Ore.) McDonald Theater on Sept. 1st and suitably verified their vaunted rock-and-roll credentials. Though not as widely known as their seminal 60’s group Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna have been playing searing, head-spinning shows for nearly five decades.

Exemplifying more stateliness and grace than ever while still demonstrating the raucousness and instrumental power to bust open a barn door, Hot Tuna with Steve Kimock in tow wonderfully raged for three hours in Sacramento on September 4. The show, presented along with the rest of the current tour as “Electric Hot Tuna,” personified their status as one of the all-time best full-throttle power-blues/rock trios to have ever plugged in.

Grateful Web recently had the privilege of catching up with classic rock bassist Jack Casady. The seventy-four-year-old Rock’n’Roll Hall of Famer was inducted with Jefferson Airplane, but his musician partnership with Jorma Kaukonen as the celebrated revival blues group Hot Tuna goes back even farther. Many of our readers know the history surrounding the beginnings of Tuna.

Electric Hot Tuna's music is unique, an expression of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady's individual personalities who forge their improvisational sounds with a feeling of significance into a dynamic event. Their electric sound is complete with the addition of drummer Justin Guip,* whose "emphatic yet fluid timekeeping is a true complement." Starting August 25, Steve Kimock, the blazing psychedelic guitarist versatile enough to touch almost all aspects of American music, will join Hot Tuna on tour.

On Sunday, May 6th, the much-anticipated documentary, Olompali: A Hippie Odyssey, will premiere as part of DocLands Film Festival at CineArts Sequoia Theater in Mill Valley, California.

The doc explores a fascinating thread of the 1960s San Francisco counterculture.

Ask you mothers and wives along to roam the forest, walk the labyrinth, explore the Psylodelic Museum or simply relax in the warm spring air in Southeast Ohio. It’s a beautiful time of year at the Fur Peace Ranch! Or…. send them to a spa and come to the Fur Peace Ranch May 11-14. It’s a musical adventure that includes the whole family or not!

Always in the groove from their years of experience and mutual inspiration. Hot Tuna will be on tour and teaching at the Fur Peace Ranch this Winter and Spring.

Started as a side project during Jefferson Airplane days, the constant, the very definition of Hot Tuna, has always been Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. From the ‘Sixties Evolution to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the two boyhood pals have never wavered in one of the most enduring friendships in Rock history.

Jack Casady is one of the most influential bassists of his generation.  He ranks among the Top 25 Bassists of all time says Bass Player Magazine and today his signature bass can be heard on tour with Paul McCartney, Jack White, the Stone Roses, and of course, Hot Tuna.
 

Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, aka Hot Tuna and founding members of Jefferson Airplane, will perform two of their Jefferson Airplane hits on the GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®, a special being filmed for the landmark “Great Performances” series on PBS on Saturday, April 23. The following day the GRAMMY Museum welcomes Jorma and Jack to the Clive Davis Theater for an intimate conversation on their esteemed career.

Boca Raton hosted the Sunshine Music and Blues Festival on Saturday, Jan. 18, pulling people of all different ages together to enjoy a beautiful Saturday filled with sunshine and soul. In the middle of a shopping plaza filled with vacationers, retirees and homegrown Floridians lies Mizner Park Amphitheater, a small venue perfect for a casual winter day with some beautiful souls.

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