electric hot tuna tour

RTD - YT - Circle

Jorma & Hot Tuna On Tour

Important Information regarding recording and photography of Jorma Kaukonen shows:

• Jorma Kaukonen does not allow audio / video recording of any of his shows by the audience or the front of house engineer. Front of house engineers are not permitted to record the show unless authorized by Jorma Kaukonen management. If authorized, then recording in whatever format is property of Jorma Kaukonen and no copy will be made or retained by the front of house engineer, the venue, the promoter, or anybody else affiliated with the Jorma Kaukonen engagement.
• Jorma Kaukonen archives and records his own performance for his own usage with no fee to the venue or promoter.
• Jorma Kaukonen does not allow flash photography at the shows. Professional cameras are not allowed in the venue unless the persons have valid press credentials or are ok’d prior to the performance by Jorma Kaukonen’s Management at least 48 hours prior to the show. Only the first three songs may be photographed.
• Promoter / venue will stop audio / videotaping, flash photographers as well as people walking up to the front of the stage and take photos with their phone.

Current Tour Dates

Last Update: August 14th, 2023

• 04/28/24 Columbus, Ohio Natalie's Granview Jorma Kaukonen Notes: Record Release Party & Performance with John Hurlbut Tickets
• 05/01/24 Cleveland, Ohio Music Box Super Club Jorma Kaukonen Notes: w/John Hurlbut - celebrating their new album release Tickets
• 05/03/24 Chicago, Illinois City Winery Jorma Kaukonen Notes: w/John Hurlbut - celebrating their new album release Tickets
• 05/04/24 Chicago, Illinois City Winery Jorma Kaukonen Notes: w/John Hurlbut - celebrating their new album release Tickets
• 05/06/24 Minneapolis, MN The Parkway Theatre Jorma Kaukonen Notes: w/John Hurlbut - celebrating their new album release Tickets
• 05/08/24 Stoughton, WI Stoughton Opera House Jorma Kaukonen Notes: w/John Hurlbut - celebrating their new album release Tickets
• 05/10/24 St Louis, MO City Winery Jorma Kaukonen Notes: w/John Hurlbut - celebrating their new album release Tickets
• 06/06/24 Martha's Vineyard The Old Whaling Church Jorma Kaukonen Notes: March 12 Presale: JORMAROCKS One Sale March 15 Tickets
• 07/13/24 Pomeroy, Ohio Fur Peace Station Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: SOLD OUT Tickets
• 07/14/24 Pomeroy, Ohio Fur Peace Station Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Special afternoon performance at 4PM Tickets
• 07/19/24 Stroudsburg, PA Sherman Theater Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Doors 7pm / Show Time 8pm/ Presale code: TUNAROCKS Tickets
• 07/20/24 Accord, NY Arrowwood Farms Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Festival with Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams and More Tickets
• 07/21/24 Huntington, NY Paramount Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Show: 8pm /Presale code: TUNAROCKS Tickets
• 08/18/24 Northampton, MA The Iron Horse Jorma Kaukonen Notes: On Sale Date March 15th Tickets
• 08/19/24 Northampton, MA The Iron Horse Jorma Kaukonen Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 08/21/24 Fall River, MA Narrows Center For The Arts Jorma Kaukonen Notes: On Same Date March 15 Tickets
• 08/23/24 Portland, Maine One Longfellow Square Jorma Kaukonen Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 08/25/24 Essex Junction, VT Double E Performance Center Jorma Kaukonen Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 09/12/24 Park City , Utah Egyptian Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Tickets
• 09/13/24 Park City , Utah Egyptian Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Tickets
• 09/14/24 Park City, Utah Egyptian Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Tickets
• 09/15/24 Park City, Utah Egyptian Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Tickets
• 09/19/24 Mount Vernon, WA Lincoln Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 09/20/24 Tacoma, WA The Rialto Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 09/21/24 Portland, OR Aladdin Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 09/23/24 Eugene, OR McDonald Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 09/24/24 Arcata, CA Van Duzer Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Tickets
• 09/26/24 Berkeley, CA Freight and Salvage Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Presale TUNAROCKS March 18 Public March 22 Tickets
• 09/27/24 Berkeley, CA Freight and Salvage Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Presale TUNAROCKS March 18 Public March 22 Tickets
• 09/28/24 Berkeley, CA Freight and Salvage Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Presale TUNAROCKS March 18 Public March 22 Tickets
• 09/30/24 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Presale March 12 - Code TUNAROCKS -Public March 15 Tickets
• 10/01/24 Solano Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: Presale March 14 Code TUNAROCKS - Public March 15 Tickets
• 10/03/24 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date April 4 Presale TUNAROCKS Tickets
• 10/04/24 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date April 4 Presale TUNAROCKS Tickets
• 10/05/24 Tuscon, AZ The Rialto Theatre Acoustic Hot Tuna Notes: On Sale Date March 15 Presale TUNAROCKS Tickets

Cracks in the Finish – Jorma's Blog

National recording registry library of congress.

April 25, 2024

Number Thirteen And The Road Home

April 22, 2024

Return To The Ram’s Head

April 21, 2024

Go to Jorma's Blog

RECENT POSTS

Chris stapleton rocks ‘i should have known it’ on ‘petty country’ all-star tribute album, listen to rocking “junior’s farm” from paul mccartney & wings’ 1974 ‘one hand clapping’ live album, johnny cash newly discovered 1993 album, ‘songwriter,’ coming, an anthology from the byrds’ gene clark: review.

• ‘The Band’s With Me’: A Former Groupie Lays It All Down
• Radio Hits of April 1970: As Easy as ‘ABC’
• Mike Pinder, Moody Blues’ Founding Member and Innovative Mellotron Player, Dies
• David Gilmour Shares First Song From New Studio Album, ‘Luck and Strange’
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 100 Crucial Omissions
• John Mayall is Subject of 35-CD Early Years Box Set
• How Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders Led to 10cc: A Groovy Kind of Story
• New Album Captures the Doors Live in Sweden: Review
• Top-Selling Albums of 1981: Rock Still Reigned
• Experience Hendrix Tour Returning in 2024 With All-Star Lineup
• Asia, Focus Announce ‘Heat of the Moment’ 2024 Tour
• A New Riders of the Purple Sage Concert Set from 1976: Review
• Huey Lewis Musical, ‘Heart of Rock & Roll,’ on Broadway: Reviews
• Doobie Brothers Add Dates to 2024 Tour With Steve Winwood
• J. Geils Band’s ‘Live—Blow Your Face Out’ Revisited
• 13 Times When Glen Campbell Rocked

LATEST REVIEWS

• Supertramp’s ‘Breakfast in America’
• Bob Seger – Final Tour
• Janis Joplin Biography Review
• CSNY’s ‘Deja Vu’
• Rolling Stones – 2019 Concert Review
• Eric Clapton Celebrates at MSG
• Roger Waters ‘Us + Them’ Tour
• Warren Zevon’s ‘Excitable Boy’
• Tom Petty 40th Anniversary Concert
• 1971: Year That Rock Exploded – Book
• Steppenwolf’s Debut: Heavy Metal Thunder
• ‘Who’s Next’ – Album Rewind
• Privacy Policy

After 50+ Years, Electric Hot Tuna Calling It Quits; Will Continue to Perform Acoustically

Electric Hot Tuna today (l. to r.: Justin Guip, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen. Photo ©Jay Blakesberg; used with permission)

More than a half century after Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady began performing side gigs under the name Hot Tuna , the two musicians have decided to hang up their electric instruments. Their final electric show will take place in Denver on Dec. 7, with other concerts scheduled on the East Coast beginning in October, as well as San Francisco (Dec. 1-2), at the ranch (which has its own performance space) itself and elsewhere.

In an announcement issued by the Fur Peace Ranch, the Ohio-based music instruction camp founded by Kaukonen and his wife Vanessa, the group wrote, “Hot Tuna Electric is coming to an end, and you definitely don’t want to miss out on this electrifying event. We’re hosting a live stream of the last Hot Tuna Electric show on October 14th at 4 p.m. at the Fur Peace Ranch that will blow your mind!” Proceeds from that show will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. (Tickets for the live stream are available here .)

Related: When Jefferson Airplane auditioned for Phil Spector

The two San Francisco shows, to be held at the Fillmore (the second a benefit for the Rex Foundation), where Kaukonen and Casady first performed in 1965, promise special guests, as yet unannounced. Tickets are available here .

Hot Tuna in 1972

Jorma Kaukonen, 82, and Casady, 79, began playing together in their teens when both lived in Washington, D.C. They became immensely popular and influential with the Airplane from 1965-72, but by the time that group played its final gig the pair had already launched Hot Tuna. Their first public gigs took place during intermissions at Airplane gigs but they later spun off the blues-oriented group as a stand-alone unit.

Their self-titled debut album was recorded live at a Berkeley club in 1969 and released in May 1970. For that album (which also featured harmonica player Will Scarlett), Kaukonen played only acoustic guitar. For the 1971 follow, titled First Pull Up, Then Pull Down , they introduced Hot Tuna as an electric blues-rock unit, with the Kaukonen-Casady core augmented by violinist Papa John Creach and drummer Sammy Piazza.|

Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 5, 2019. (Photo: Erik Kabik Photography/ MediaPunch; used with permission)

Alternating between electric and acoustic music, Hot Tuna underwent numerous personnel changes through the years—with Kaukonen and Casady always involved—and took a hiatus from 1978-85 to pursue other directions. The guitarist and bassist then reunited and have remained active since then, while Kaukonen also performed live and recorded solo. With the establishment of Fur Peace Ranch in 1989, both musicians added teaching to their résumés, while continuing to tour prolifically. Drummer Justin Guip has rounded out the electric lineup since 2014.

Kaukonen already has teaching and performance gigs scheduled for 2024.

• Latest Posts

• Chris Stapleton Rocks ‘I Should Have Known It’ on ‘Petty Country’ All-Star Tribute Album - 04/26/2024
• Listen to Rocking “Junior’s Farm” From Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1974 ‘One Hand Clapping’ Live Album - 04/26/2024
• Johnny Cash Newly Discovered 1993 Album, ‘Songwriter,’ Coming - 04/26/2024

Stories We Want You to Read

3 Comments so far

All things must pass. But to not hear Jack live anymore on that epic signature Epi will be a real loss. The boys certainly deserve to dial things down. Very grateful for all of the shows and recorded output of the past and thinking Denver will need to be on the itinerary in early December.

Colorado Slim- i`m pretty sure Jack will still play that lovely Epi with acoustic Tuna. but dialed down a bit, like you said

I hadn’t realized it was their last electric show until reading this , but it was a fantastic, memorable show. Such a treat to hear Jack and Jourma again. Been a fan since the 60’s, so this show was the highlight of my musical year. Thanks for all the great music J&J!

Click here to cancel reply.

Your data will be safe! Your e-mail address will not be published. Also other data will not be shared with third person.

Comment * -->

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Loading, Please Wait!

• Moscow concerts Moscow concerts Moscow concerts See all Moscow concerts ( Change location ) Today · Next 7 days · Next 30 days
• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Popular artists

Hot Tuna tour dates 2024

Hot Tuna is currently touring across 1 country and has 11 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, after that they'll be at Arrowood Farms, Accord in Kerhonkson.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (11) See nearest concert

Sherman Theater

Larry & Teresa's July Jam

The Paramount

Rialto Theater

Freight & Salvage

Lobero Theatre

Belly Up Tavern

Rialto Theatre

Lansdowne Theater

Past concerts

Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace

Paramount Theatre

The Fillmore

View all past concerts

Recent tour reviews

What a treat to see "The Boys" in great form for New Years Eve! Venue is intimate. They are so "jelled" after playing together so many years. It's nice to see the connection they have to each other & it shows with the fun they have on stage. So awesome that they are still creating great moments for all to enjoy.

Hot Tuna still Rockin' after all these years!

Report as inappropriate

As always Hot Tuna puts on an unforgettable show. The music is just superb and the stories that go along with the music makes the audience more an integral part of the show. What a fantastic night of music it was.

They haven’t lost a beat!

Like watching old friends playing music that still makes you move.. There was some serious guitar pickin goin on last night!

“Burger King”

“Candy man”

If you haven’t had a chance to see Hot Tuna.. do it!

Wilber theater in Boston was perfect.. good crowd.

• Most popular charts
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

Essaying the pop culture that matters since 1999

Hot Tuna Electrify the Fillmore for the Final Time

Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady continue to age like fine spirits with their masterful skills as pioneering rock tone scientists.

It’s a hot ticket on a Friday night at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, and it feels like there’s a groovy time warp in effect. Hot Tuna are playing their last electric shows for the foreseeable future this week with a notable stop at the fabled concert venue here on 1st and 2nd December, where guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady helped forge the psychedelic rock sound that changed the music world forever with Jefferson Airplane and their peers in the 1960s. Amazingly, Kaukonen and Casady are still rocking nearly six decades later, with Hot Tuna becoming one of the longest-running acts in the music business. 

Hot Tuna plan to continue touring as an acoustic entity as they’ve done for many years, but this week represents the last electric shows of their Going Fishing Tour, with just one more stop in Denver following the Fillmore shows. Kaukonen explained the decision in a recent interview with Relix , saying, “I’m going to be 83 years old this year, and I’m fortunate because I’m very healthy, but an electric show just physically beats the piss out of you. At the end of the evening, I don’t want to see people. I still enjoy doing it because any time I get to play music is a great thing. But after spending two and a half hours on stage holding a heavy guitar, this old man’s ready to go to bed.”

Father Time is undefeated, as NBA superstar LeBron James has often observed, yet seminal rockers like Kaukonen and Casady continue to age like fine spirits. Their masterful skills as pioneering tone scientists transcend time and space so that Hot Tuna can still sound as vital as ever, as performances in recent years have shown. Thus, fans are packing the Fillmore to catch the band in action for what has become a truly historic occasion, with the first night lined up as an old-school full house rager, followed by a more intimate gathering on Saturday for a Rex Foundation benefit show.

Formed as a bluesy side project in 1969, Hot Tuna soon became the main band of this dynamic duo after Jefferson Airplane splintered. The fact that they’ve still got the band going all these years later is a testament to their enduring instrumental prowess and excellent catalog of songs. One attendee and longtime fan refers to Casady and Kaukonen as “national heroes of rock’ n’ roll”, and it’s a fitting description. They’ve been rocking the tour trail since the 1960s as one of the most dependable acts in the music business.

Hot Tuna’s heroic efforts to bring the music to the people even continued during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, when Kaukonen played a free weekly webcast dubbed “Curing the Quarantine Blues” from his Fur Peace Ranch facility in Ohio. Casady was a recurring visitor, driving in from his home in Los Angeles to morph the webcasts into Hot Tuna performances. At a time when live music was in short supply, Hot Tuna continued to deliver.

They receive a genuine hero’s welcome when they hit the stage and ease into the show with Kaukonen fingerpicking on the easygoing “Hesitation Blues”. Trumpeter Steve Bernstein adds some New Orleans-style flavor with some jazzy fills, enhancing the band’s standard power trio lineup. Casady starts dropping bombs on the dual riffage in “Been So Long”, as the audience takes delight. Few bassists dare to play a semi-hollow body instrument, but Casady has always made it sound so good with his warm tone and punchy riffs. He and drummer Justin Guip have developed a formidable chemistry, as few rhythm sections can deliver as these two can.

Special guest Larry Campbell joins the fun on fiddle, along with his wife Teresa Williams on vocals for “Highway Song”. The song is said to have been out of rotation for many years, making it a special treat here as Williams harmonizes with Kaukonen on the folk blues gem. “There’s a sound in this hall that I just love,” the 79-year-old Casady says, going on to note that the people who come to the Fillmore are part of the vibe, too. 

Kaukonen switches to his Gibson ES-345 for harder-edged rocking, laying down hot fuzzy riffage over a monster bass line on “I Don’t Wanna Go”. Casady is like a rock ‘n’ roll Godzilla here with his thundering bass bombs, while Kaukonen’s wah-wah leads are akin to the monster spitting atomic fire. Bernstein gets into the mix with some freaky trumpet for a stellar psychedelic excursion, as the Hot Tuna are really heating up now. Campbell returns on Telecaster as Casady lays down the monster low end on “Bow Legged Woman, Knock Kneed Man”, one of Hot Tuna’s heaviest jams. 

Watching Kaukonen and Campbell trade hot licks over the massive groove is rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy, with Bernstein adding a wah-wah trumpet solo that sounds like Miles Davis meets Marshall Allen for a cosmic jazz explosion. Campbell stays on for “Sea Child”, a melodic gem that benefits from doubling up on the harmonious lead guitar parts. Kaukonen is back on his Chet Atkins SST for the acoustic-style riffs on “Trial by Fire”, yet Casady still providing some heavy bass. Campbell and Williams return for a rousing take on the traditional “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning”, with Williams belting out the blues classic for a big finish.

It’s been a sensational first set, and this audience is fired up and ready for more. The vibes are off the charts because Hot Tuna is electrifying a packed house at the Fillmore for the final time. The second set is a series of highlights, such as Campbell on fiddle to conjure the spirit of late former band member Papa John Creach for a rousing jam on “John’s Other”. The Fillmore’s flux capacitor fluxes in a big way during “Good Shepherd”, Kaukoken’s spotlight song on Jefferson Airplane’s landmark 1969 Volunteers album. The traditional number always seems to have a transcendent effect, as Kaukonen sings of meeting up “over on the other side”. It features a magical vibe here, with Campbell and Bernstein adding to a gloriously extended jam and Williams providing the Grace Slick backing vocals.

The second set surges into rock ‘n’ roll overdrive on the triumphant “Invitation”, a deep cut busted out on this tour for the first time since the 1970s. It’s power trio rock at its finest, with Kaukonen shredding waves of scintillating molten lava over a pulsing groove from Casady and Guip. Hot Tuna has set the Fillmore on fire here, so it’s fitting to follow with the classic “Water Song” to cool things off sublimely with the song’s shimmering chords and translucent riffs. Then it’s back to hot melodic rocking on “Hit Single #1” and a big jam with Campbell on “Funky #7” as the band brings the set home in stellar fashion. Fans soon exit the Fillmore in a pleasant daze, for this has been a show for the ages.

Night 2 – Saturday, 2 December

Twenty-four hours later, it’s a similar yet different scene at the Fillmore. There are plenty of eager fans ready to rock out one more time, yet not quite as many attendees on hand with dinner tables across the dance floor for the Rex Foundation’s annual benefit show. Formed by the Grateful Dead in 1983 as the band’s non-profit charitable organization and named after former roadie and road manager Rex Jackson (who passed on in a tragic motorcycle accident in 1976), the Rex Foundation has granted $9 million to more than 1,300 recipients since 1984. High-end shows like this are a primary source for foundation funding, so it’s a great cause that draws many luminaries from the Bay Area’s rock ‘n’ roll scene.

Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams perform an opening set with their band, featuring a “Samson and Delilah” opener and Jorma Kaukonen joining them on the set closer, “Angel of Darkness”. Campbell and Williams are a dynamic duo in their own right, so it’s been great to see them in action as special guests throughout the weekend. 

Hot Tuna’s set list is similar to the night before, though with some tunes moved around and a handful of rotation in the deep cuts. Blind Blake’s “That’ll Never Happen No More” is added in the first set, a showcase for Kaukonen’s nimble fingerpicking and some guest fiddle from Campbell. At one point, Kaukonen reflects on the Fillmore in the 1960s, noting that it didn’t have the fancy chandeliers back then but that the stairway is the same. “Highway Song” and “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” benefit from Williams’ vocals again, with the latter classic providing another climactic conclusion with Kaukonen and Campbell tearing it up. Steven Bernstein also continues to add a jazzy flair with his trumpet, a great addition to Hot Tuna in 2023.

The historic vibes are in the air during the set break, and it turns out that the first time Kaukonen and Casady played the Fillmore was a historic occasion, too. Legend has it that Jefferson Airplane played a benefit show for the San Francisco Mime Troupe “for continued artistic freedom in the parks” at the Fillmore on December 10, 1965. There was also another rising local band on the bill for their first gig after changing their name from the Warlocks to the Grateful Dead . It was additionally the first rock concert that legendary promoter Bill Graham produced at the Fillmore. It launched a career that transformed the music business with Graham’s savvy yet fan-friendly approach.

An MC makes note of the 1965 show and informs the audience that there are at least three ladies in the house who were also present at that show: Eileen Law (whose daughter Cassidy was fathered by Rex Jackson and was the inspiration for the Grateful Dead song “Cassidy”); Carolyn Garcia (aka “Mountain Girl”, former wife of Jerry Garcia and a key figure in the Dead’s formative stages); and psychedelic pioneer Rhoney Stanley (who worked with and had a son with LSD chemist and Grateful Dead soundman Owsley “Bear” Stanley and authored the memoir “Owsley and Me – My LSD Family” in 2013). The complimentary champagne toast was poured for all attendees in honor of Hot Tuna’s “final performance in San Francisco as Electric Hot Tuna” and also seems to honor these three trailblazing ladies of the psychedelic rock counterculture, and rightfully so.

The second set features another stellar jam on “Good Shepherd” that makes the Fillmore seem simply timeless, with Teresa Williams again harmonizing with Kaukonen in mesmerizing fashion. The traditional “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” adds to the old-school vibe, with Kaukonen digging deep into the blues well. A hot jam on “Rock Me Baby” mixes things up as Hot Tuna rock out with a powerful mojo. Jack Casady lays it down like a titan throughout the set, conjuring a feeling of witnessing a mythical endangered species in its natural habitat.

“Funky #7” serves as the set closer again for a big rousing finish. Then there’s a special treat at the very end as Hot Tuna go down the cosmic wormhole one more time for a red pill with a “White Rabbit” encore. It’s at least the year’s second “White Rabbit” at the Fillmore. Margo Price and her band delivered a sensational performance of the classic psychedelic counterculture song in February. But it’s magical to witness two former members of the Airplane performing it here, with Williams dazzling on the lead vocal.

The Fillmore is an extraordinary place because of how it has maintained its timeless rock ‘n’ roll vibe through the ages. From serving as ground zero for the San Francisco rock revolution of the 1960s to the alternative rock scene of the 1990s when Smashing Pumpkins re-opened the venue in 1994, to the modern age where it still serves as a milestone venue for touring artists on the rise. Witnessing Hot Tuna perform their extended milestone shows here this weekend has been one of the venue’s most special occasions of the 21st century.

• Hot Tuna Smoke in Return to the Fillmore
• Hot Tuna Sizzles Back at Hallowed Ground in San Francisco
• Hot Tuna: Keep on Truckin': The Very Best of Hot Tuna

Publish with PopMatters

Call for Papers: All Things Reconsidered [MUSIC] May-August 2024

PopMatters Seeks Book Critics and Essayists

Call for Papers: All Things Reconsidered – FILM Winter 2023-24

Submit an Essay, Review, Interview, or List to PopMatters

PopMatters Seeks Music Writers

Grateful Web Interview: Jorma Kaukonen Sets Sights on Final Electric Hot Tuna Tour

Article contributed by sam a. marshall | published on wednesday, june 7, 2023.

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. (I live in Cincinnati, but even for me that is a fur peace to get there.) And he usually has both solo “Jorma tours” – as he calls them – as well as periodic Hot Tuna tours with his life-long musical soul mate, bassist Jack Casady.

But as the now-83-year-old guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee told us in a recent phone interview, this year’s going to be quite a bit different. No surprise – as the news was already announced months ago – is the booking of a fall Hot Tuna tour that will be the career-capping, final run of the Electric version of the band, with Kaukonen and Casady being joined again by longtime Tuna drummer Justin Guip. And though Kaukonen has put in-person workshops at Fur Peace on hold at the present time, he is still involved in a number of private workshops early in the summer and doing a number of solo guitar shows soon after that. After that, he gears up for that fall slate of ElectricTuna shows. So much music and musical knowledge to share – and so little time !

Kaukonen and Casady had just racked up a short spring Acoustic Tuna tour shortly before our conversation took place in the early days of June. This compact, 14-date leg brought them to several states that included Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, even a date at Kaukonen’s home base on the Ranch, plus a handful of gigs around New York State.

In mid-summer – on July 20 – Hot Tuna will be making a special appearance at the Great South Bay Music Festival, performing deep selections from both their Acoustic and Electric repertoires. This show – taking place in Patchogue, NY – will also feature supporting artists Dave Mason, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Kerry Kearney Band.

This special date falls right in the middle of Kaukonen’s own 15-date solo tour, which starts on Saturday, June 10, in Edgartown, MA. That run of shows will include a few East Coast venues, as well as brief stops in the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado and Utah, and will run virtually into Tuna’s final stretch in the fall.

So, the big Tuna Kahuna – the “Going Fishing Tour 2023” – kicks off in September, with an opening date in Rochester, NY, on Sept. 15. It will be a whirlwind, East Coast-focused tour, again with 14 dates, which hits some major sites, such as New York’s Beacon Theatre, the Keswick Theatre in Philadelphia, the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC, and Mountain Stage in Blacksburg, VA. Then, the grand finale will be a headlining festival date on October 7, at the Suwanee Roots Revival, in Live Oak, FL. As one poster for Hot Tuna says: “Witness History, Folks! All we’re saying. See them before you can’t!” Accordingly, a complete list of the Tuna and JK solo shows follows at the end of this article.

As you will soon see, our conversation with Kaukonen was wide-ranging and densely packed, as he gave us an overview of the fall tour, his approach to song selections, preferences for gear, what he does in his downtime, and what lies around the next curve in the road. And – as he told us – the road still has many curves.

GW: Great to talk with you, Jorma. I’ve got my questions fairly well sorted out – it’s kind of like songwriting: Trying to keep it simple, not too cluttered, and not too much redundancy. So I hope we’ll keep it moving for you.

Kaukonen: Well, then – heh-heh – redundancy can be like a chorus for you, so don’t worry about it!

GW: Heh – thanks! Well, it’s going to be big year for you. So how’s the summer going so far?

Kaukonen: So, my daughter just graduated from high school. That’s been a pretty big one here at our house. And [next on the schedule] I’m leaving for Martha’s Vineyard for some teaching stuff. Then I’m doing a short (solo) tour [over the summer], and then back here. I’ve got a bunch of Tuna stuff coming up [later in the year]. Lots of touring, which I’m pretty excited about. Y’know – guys who are in the music business at my age – we’re pretty excited when people still want to hear us play!

GW: What kind of teaching are you doing in New England?

Kaukonen: It’s a series of private workshops at Martha’s Vineyard. There’s a guy named David Wolff who has been a partner of mine in an online teaching thing called Breakdownway.com that we’ve been doing for years. And he’s helped me out with teaching at Fur Peace, so this is gonna be a “Fur Peace on the Road” thing. We’ve got two weekends, two different classes. One session is a songwriting class. And the other one – it’s a bunch of really good players, actually – I’m gonna have to throw a bunch of stuff at them that’s complicated - heh-heh!

GW: So the name of your Hot Tuna tour this year is “Going Fishing”, but you plan to keep working beyond that but in different ways.

Kaukonen:  Of course. So – heh – it’s “ Going Fishing”, not “ Gone Fishing”! We’re drawing a close to the Electric Tuna thing. This will be our last tour of this iteration [of the band]. It’s a bittersweet moment in a lot of ways, but, y’know, we think it’s time. But, that being said, we’re not idiots, either. We’ve learned from the best – heh-heh – like The Eagles . You can never say “Never.” Right now, Jack and I are not stopping from [acoustic tours], and I’m not stopping from solo touring or any projects that might pop up. But we’re just gonna put the electric band to bed – after this run.

GW: So Justin Guip has been your steady drummer in the latest version of the band and he’ll be joining you again?

Kaukonen:  Oh, absolutely! Justin’s been our buddy for a long time, but, yeah, he’s our drummer. He’s The Guy. He’ll definitely be there.

GW: Great. So could talk more about any other members or special guests who might drop in for selected shows?

Kaukonen: The answer is: We’re working on some stuff, but it’s still uncommitted. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I think we’re going to have a couple of exciting people pop up who will make for a great show.

GW: I imagine your setlist will ebb and flow according to who’s on board for a given show.

Kaukonen: Exactly. Y’know, at this point in our lives, we know so many really stellar musicians. It’s not like the old days when you had to work stuff out ahead of time, do a lot of rehearsals. There are a lot of really cool people we can cut in at a moment’s notice, and they won’t let us down.

GW: Well, for example, I know that G.E. Smith has been on your [Fur Peace Ranch] faculty for a pretty long time, so it seems he would be a likely guest, when he’s available.

Kaukonen: Undoubtedly!

GW: I’m curious whether you’d plan to record and release a live album or offer any streaming.

Kaukonen: Y’know, that’s a really good question, and I think maybe we need to consider that. We just haven’t given it a lot of thought. As you know, there’s a bunch of logistics stuff that has to happen. Streaming has gotten a lot easier. A live album takes a little more forethought. We s hould consider [documenting the tour], though.

GW: I know Bobby [Weir] has been doing regular streaming of the Wolf Bros shows, and also with Dead & Co., since this year is their big finale, too. But they put up shows temporarily, so it’s only for a few days. And you get the chance to hear it or to relive the show if you happened to go to a certain one.

Kaukonen: I love Bobby, and I appreciate the huge undertaking he’s going through [for the fans].

GW: Well, I’d like to know more about your format with the Electric Tuna. Is it strictly electric, or more electro-acoustic, with Jack playing a jacked-in hollow-body bass? And do you still open up on lead and throw in harmonic feedback, or are you ‘beyond that’ now?

Kaukonen: No-no – of course not! Listen – as a guy who loves electric guitar, let me tell you that you’re never beyond that ! The Hot Tuna repertoire is a really interesting animal because we’ve been able to do a lot of stuff that started out as acoustic pieces. But [over time] they’ve become really effective electric pieces. But we [have a lot of songs to choose from] and we just [dig in] and just have a good time.

GW: Are there ever times in the Acoustic Tuna where Jack might play guitar, since he had originally been a guitarist himself, or does he just play acoustic bass for that?

Kaukonen: No, he just plays the acoustic bass for that. But, y’know, Jack is such an interesting cat, [because of starting] out as a guitar player. And in the Airplane, he’d play [rhythm] guitar whenever Paul [Kantner] sang “Fat Angel”, and Marty [Balin] played bass for that. (As on the live recording of that song on the Jefferson Airplane album, Bless Its Pointed Little Head .) Think about that one for a minute!

GW: Very interesting – wasn’t aware of that. As I recall from that album, there was a moment in the show that it was announced some members were going to take a break and a few of you carried on, kind of blowing off some energy. Right?

Kaukonen: Yes, correct.

GW: Could you talk a bit about the primary guitars you’ll be using? I know that Jack – at one point – had used some Alembic basses (which were custom-made). Do you use any custom-made or modified guitars?

Kaukonen: Well, in the electric shows, Jack will be playing the “Jack Casady Signature Model” Epiphone bass. Back in 1998, Jack worked with [guitar designer] J.T. Riboloff of Epiphone, who designed new pick-ups for this bass that had been called the Les Paul Gold-Top Bass. (A semi-hollow-bodied bass that Jack had used before but wanted to have modified to improve presence in the mix with other instruments.) This became a line of basses has been in production since the late-1990s, and they’ve sold a lot of them. It’s a very affordable, fantastic bass. And Jack’s been playing [one of these basses] off-the-shelf, unmodified, for well over 20 years now. Unbelievable!

So that’s what he’ll use for our electric thing. And for the acoustic gigs, he uses a hand-made bass from a [luthier] in northern California. On my end, for the finger-style Tuna songs, for the most part, I [mostly] play a 1993 Gibson SST. It’s an electric, Chet Atkins-type [semi-hollow-body] model that’s supposed to sound like an acoustic. It doesn’t, really. But it allows you to play with heavy-gauge strings, for finger-picking stuff, and it tends not to distort in the same way that an electric guitar does. So it’s very effective for that.

For the electric-guitar things, I’ve been using my Airplane-style Gibson ES 345 (a semi-hollow body guitar) for the last couple of tours. But I’ve gotta say it’s not an original one. When the Airplane got their Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, the Gibson Guitars’ custom shop replicated my 1964 ES 345, which I played for that gig. And I still use it occasionally. So I might have that and one of my [Gibson] Les Pauls with me, but I think I’m going to use my Firebird guitars for the rock ’n’ roll stuff. Again, they’re not original models, but, actually, from the early ‘90s. And I’ve changed out the electronics on them, different ‘pots’, etc. But the guitars themselves are pretty much stock-looking.

GW: And then, how about amps and effects?

Kaukonen: For the finger-picking stuff, I’ll be using a 1962 Fender Pro, with a single 15-inch speaker, that Jack gave me for a present last year. He had bought it new. And I’ll be using a Louis Electric Deltone for the mind-bending , wall-distorting, rock ’n’ roll guitar. The company is from New Jersey, and it’s like a souped-up [Fender] Deluxe. But that ‘62 Fender Pro, that’s a real rarity, really cool for all the finger-picking tunes.

I’ll also be using [an assortment] of overdrive pedals, and I’ve got an original 1965 Thomas Organ Co. wah-wah pedal – same one I used in the Airplane. And I’ll probably have a gaggle of interesting delay [pedals]. The kids who use these pedals today, they write [whole songs based around the effects]. But that’s not me . I like to turn these pedals loose and have them do eccentric, unpredictable things. So, y’know, I wouldn’t use any of these for a whole song, but I might kick into one of them in the middle of a solo.

GW: What’s your preference in terms of production values? Sounds like you’re using stage amplification, whereas some folks just DI ( direct injection – running straight into the PA board) their instruments and add some signal processing.

Kaukonen: Yeah, that’s a good question for the geeks who love that stuff. That’s never really done it for me. Whatever works for you , that’s the way to go. But I like dealing with stage volume and to be able to ‘work’ the amp. And different amps get different sounds. And I like the actual sound on stage – I don’t like in-ear monitors. I sorta barely tried ‘em once, and I said, “Naaahh, that’s not for me.” To me, it was kinda like washing your feet with your socks on, or – heh – having safe sex . It’s just not as much fun!

GW: So – heh-heh – you’re not an in-ear monitor guy –  good – got it!

Kaukonen: Well, this band doesn’t do anything with vocal harmonies, and I recognize the importance of in-ear monitors for people who [have a lot of harmonies]. We’re very simple, and we just don’t need that kind of thing. If we had [multiple vocalists], then we’d probably use them, but we don’t.

GW: As you and Jack moved more into Hot Tuna and harmonic feedback wasn’t used as much in a psychedelic way, did the psychedelic DNA still come through in your shows and does it now?

Kaukonen: Oh, absolutely. Back in the early ‘70s, the stage volume was as much part of the show as the PA. Our stage set-up – and I’m looking at a photo of it right now – was not as [complex] as the Dead’s Wall of Sound (GD’s legendary mid-‘70s amp and PA speaker array). Not quite that dramatic, but a very similar thing. But these days, the PAs are incredibly good, and stage volume is not the same. It’s just different . I’ve got this one friend who remembers the old sound, and he says, “Yeahhh, man. . .I just loved it when you guys used to drop those big ‘bombs’ on stage.” And I tell him: “ Look – you’re never going to hear it like that again, because we had all these huge amps making that happen.”

Back then, we had dual-quad cabinets (two-cabinet stacks, with four speakers in each cabinet), like a Marshall or Hi-Watt, the effect was very different. We can still do some of that, but we’re depending on the PA to do a lot more of the [volume] work for us. So, yeah, it’s going to be a little bit different now, but don’t worry:  I can guarantee – there’s going to be plenty of harmonic feedback!

GW: Maybe somewhat in the distant past, Hot Tuna did a fair amount of covers. And I know that for your The River Flows project with John Hurlbut you did a Roger McGuinn cover [‘The Ballad of Easy Rider”, and source of the album’s name]. So are you still doing a mix with some covers thrown in, perhaps some that might not be as familiar to people?

Kaukonen: Not in that same kind of way. Not to spoil anything – and nobody’s heard this song – but I’ve got a songwriter friend named Frank Goodman. He wrote this song – it’s not a psychedelic song, it’s just a “song” song – called “Where Have My Old Friends Gone?” That’s something that’s going to be heard for the first time with Hot Tuna this summer. And then Johnny [Hurlbut] and I, by the way, are just getting ready to do another album. Johnny likes [to do] songs he loves, and I’ll play them with him. But, y’know, that’s not really what Tuna does. It’s not that I don’t like other people’s songs. I listen to so much music. I just have difficulty really walking in somebody else’s shoe in a productive way – most of the time. But we’ve still got a little time to think about things between now and then. You never know!

GW: Thanks. Not really trying to be a ‘spoiler’ and give away your whole plot. I just like to give readers - especially folks who might plan to come to more than one show –  some idea of what they can look forward to. It maybe creates slightly more anticipation.

Kaukonen: Well, I’ve got some good news about that. We tend to be moderately repetitive with our electric stuff because our repertoire for that is smaller than our acoustic repertoire. But, as I mentioned, we’ve still got time to unearth some things, so I’m not going to close the door on that. So my goal when I do shows is to have enough songs that we don’t duplicate set lists on consecutive nights. We still know a lot of songs, so we can do that .

GW: As far as your personal songwriting, I know that you’ve written autobiographical songs in the past, sometimes about transitions. And now, you’re on the verge of a fairly big one. Do you have any new songs that you’ve been working on that maybe speak to the situation?

Kaukonen: Probably not in time for this tour, but you’re absolutely right. Y’know, transitions are a great time to write songs. And I am sort of been delving into [a few ideas]. So if I get lucky and get something finished, then you’re gonna hear it. Otherwise, it’s probably going to be early next year.

GW: We touched on [the possibility of] documenting and streaming shows before. But with digital recording being a lot easier now than good ole analog, other artists – such as Bob Weir and Phish – have done a lot to make shows available. And I know you and the Ranch team film performances at FPR and put selected cuts up on YouTube. So maybe you’ll be doing some of that?

Kaukonen: That’s a really good idea. But it’s not something I get real involved in. Y’know, Bobby is such a hands-on guy with all of that, and I’m sure Trey [Anastasio] is, too. I’d need to talk about that with my wife Vanessa [and others] and see what we could do. It’s definitely easier to do these days. So why not ?

GW: Would you say you have a big budget for this tour? And do you have all of your dates booked, or is there the possibility that you could still add any other cities and venues?

Kaukonen: Y’know, as of right now, all of the dates are booked. But, as with everything else, you never know. We’ll just have to see how things evolve.

GW: I saw on the Fur Peace website that your workshop schedule is blank, and you mentioned the online training on Breakdownway.com before. So will anyone, such as G.E. [Smith], be taking up the slack on the teaching while you’re away on the road?

Kaukonen: The thing is, when Covid happened, that changed everything. And I know we’re not alone. I’m just making an observation, not complaining about it. As a result of the Covid period, we’re not doing in-person workshops anymore. That could change in a year. Who knows? All instruction is online now [on Breakdownway.com ], and we have a video studio at the Ranch, so we use it for that purpose. We’re sort of a work-in-progress on deciding what to do with the in-person stuff. But we are still doing shows out here. We’re just going to see what happens.

GW: Just wondering, with everything you have going on, what do you do for fun? And are you ever able to get out and see other acts, or see some of your friends playing on the West Coast when you’re out there?

Kaukonen: Well, that’s a funny thing, kind of the curse of the job. Usually, when we’re out on the road, it’s exceedingly rare when we have a chance to see anyone else. Of course, I’d love to! But when we’re gigging, we try to schedule as few days off in between – without killing ourselves, of course, because every day you’re not working costs you money. Food, lodging, etc. for the whole tour crew. So the answer is: Not as much as I’d like to!

GW: Well, since you said you listen to a lot of music, what kinds of things are you listening to?

Kaukonen: Heh – Funny you should mention that. I’m a huge Mary Chapin Carpenter fan, and I’ve been listening to a double album of hers from a couple of years ago, called Between the Dirt and Stars . I just love her writing and her performances, so that’s been in heavy rotation. And I’ve been down the Nancy Griffith rabbit hole lately, too. Haven’t been listening that much to pure guitar music lately, more [balladry like this], but it’s always changing.

GW: I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that life can only be understood in reverse, but you have to live it forward. And I know you’ve written a biography called Been So Long . So are you at all nostalgic for other eras, or did you manage to pretty much get all of that out of your system?

Kaukonen: Yes! I’m definitely one of those “living life forward” kind of guys. In the normal world, I’d be a great-grandfather by now. But – in this one – I’ve got a 25-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter. So they’re not interested in that looking-backward BS. I’m not saying that having kids keeps you young, but it does keep you involved in a positive way.

GW: OK – so if you don’t mind one last bit of flashback, I have more question. And then we’re done!

Kaukonen: Cool!

GW: I recently saw a DVD of an old San Francisco concert broadcast recorded for public television by KQED-TV in 1970, filmed at the Family Dog Ballroom. It had Santana, the Dead, and of course the Airplane. Each band got a couple of songs, and then, at the end, a bunch of you came out and had a big jam. I was really struck by the camaraderie of the scene at the time. I was just wondering how much of that was an illusion, or if there really was a lot of cross-pollination that went on in the SF scene. And did that break down and become more competitive over time?

Kaukonen: Yeah, I know that film you’re talking about. That’s some really cool stuff. I think, in a lot of ways, it was a zeitgeist (spirit of the age) for us. Everybody was recording at Wally Heider’s studio, we all knew each other and everything was exciting and new. So there wasn’t a lot of egotistical [posturing]. Everyone just had a good time hanging out with their buddies and playing. As simple as that.

GW: I’ve always been a fan of John Cippolina (of the San Francisco-based band Quicksilver Messenger Service). Y’know, his use of vibrato and the tremolo bar...

Kaukonen: Awesome guitar player! No one else like him. He was certainly the King of the Biggsby thing.

GW: Well, it’s really getting back to my cross-pollination question. At times, it sounded as if he had influenced the Airplane’s sound. And Jerry [Garcia] had some of that flavor at times, too. I think a lot of was down to everyone was using Gibson guitars with Fender Reverb amps, and a similar sound emerged. But then, there was also the individual expression of each player, their own personality that came through. Were you conscious of the influences from the others, or were you influencing them just as much?

Kaukonen: That’s a great question. Some people used the tremolo bar just for ‘shading’ their playing here and there, but with John, it became [his main expression]. I think, for me, because I wasn’t a very technically advanced player at the time, it was just a way to add some color to my playing. Plus, it was just FUN!

GW: So I guess, in closing, you could say that’s the whole theme of the Electric Tuna tour is just to go out and have fun.

Kaukonen: Absolutely! Now, that’s not to say that Jack and I won’t push each other, but that’s not a competitive thing. He’s an amazing guy, and we’ve been playing together since ‘before rocks and water’. But I can tell you there’s not a night that goes by where he doesn’t throw something at me that makes me think.

GW: That really covers all of my questions, Jorma. Really enjoyed talking with you. Thank you very much!

Kaukonen: Well, hey – since you’re here in Ohio, if you ever manage to get up here to Pomeroy, just make sure I’m going to be home and stop in. It’d be great to see you.

Hot Tuna's "Going Fishing Tour 2023" begins in September and includes stops in Rochester NY, Burlington VT, New Haven CT, Washington D.C., Fort Lauderdale FL, and more. A special date will be Sept. 23, at the Beacon Theatre, in New York City. There will also be a mid-summer festival appearance, on July 20, at the Great South Bay Music Festival, in Patchogue, NY. Acoustic Hot Tuna will continue to tour in 2024. So look for Acoustic Tuna 2024 dates coming soon.

Hot Tuna – “Going FishingTour 2023” Dates

07/20/23 – Great South Bay Music Festival – Patchogue, NY

09/15/23 – Kodak Center – Rochester, NY

09/16/23 – Flynn Theatre –Burlington, VT

09/18/23 – State Theatre – Ithaca, NY

09/20/23 – The Egg – Albany, NY

09/21/23 – Upstate Performing Arts Centers –Kingston, NY

09/23/23 – The Beacon Theatre –New York, NY

09/25/23 – Portsmouth Music Hall – Portsmouth, NH

09/27/23 – College Street Music Hall – New Haven, CT

09/28/23 – Keswick Theatre – Philadelphia, PA

09/30/23 – Warner Theatre – Washington DC

10/01/23 – Mountain Stage – Blacksburg, VA

10/04/23 – Capitol Theatre – Clearwater, FL

10/05/23 – Parker Playhouse PAC – Fort Lauderdale, FL

10/07/23 – Suwannee Roots Revival – Live Oak, FL

Jorma Kaukonen – Summer Solo 2023 Dates

06/10/23 – Old Whaling Church, Edgartown, MA

06/16/23 – The Loft, Oak Bluffs, MA

06/22/23 – Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River, MA

06/23/23 – City Winery, Boston, MA

06/24/23 – One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME

07/13/23 – Southern Theatre, Columbus, OH  **Jorma opens for Tommy Emmanue l

07/28 & 29/23 – Triple Door, Seattle, WA

07/30/23 – Aladdin Theatre, Portland, OR

08/02/23 – State Room, Salt Lake City, UT

08/03/23 – Avalon Theatre, Grand Junction, CO

08/05/23 – The Amory, Fort Collins, CO

08/06/23 – Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO

08/25/23 – Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL  **Jorma Kaukonen at Fretboard Summit. Also Jack Broadbent

09/09/23 – Fur Peace Station, Pomeroy, OH  **Jorma plays with the G.E. Smith Band – SOLD OUT

• Jorma Kaukonen
• Jack Casady
• Jefferson Airplane

LATEST ARTICLES

Be A Part Of The Grateful Web

Check us out on facebook.

Grateful Web

Progressive jam giants Umphrey's McGee‘s return to Las Vegas for the seventh installment of the massively popular UMBowl production was marked once again by a stand-out tour closing dual evening extravaganza where all stops were pulled out and the power given directly to the fans, for better or for worse.

On June 24, Round Records & ATO Records will release GarciaLive Volume Six: July 5, 1973 – Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders, the latest installment of the celebrated GarciaLive archival series. The three-CD set was recorded at the 200 capacity Lion’s Share club formerly located in the small town of San Anselmo, CA, just 20 miles north of San Francisco. The performance features Jerry Garcia performing with friend, mentor and legendary keyboardist/vocalist Merl Saunders. The duo is joined by drummer Bill Vitt and bassist John Kahn, who soon became a lifelong Garcia collaborator.

COPYRIGHT © 1995 - 2024 GRATEFUL WEB, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

"I’m not as emotionally invested in guitars as I used to be…” Hot Tuna’s electric days will soon be a thing of the past…

When Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady bring 2023 to a close, Hot Tuna’s plugged-in performances will also end…

When Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady wrap this fall’s tour, Hot Tuna’s plugged-in performances will be a thing of the past.

Few groups that formed in 1969 are still going strong with their founding members intact. Hot Tuna are an exception. Aside from a hiatus from 1978 to 1985, the band has been an ongoing collaboration between guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady. Through all that time, they’ve been a hybrid act of sorts, performing in both electric and unplugged formats for their devoted fan base.

But this fall’s 14-date tour will be the group’s last time on the road playing electric. Beginning next year, the band’s shows will be acoustic only. While no one is coming right out and saying it, those quieter, seated unplugged appearances are likely more to Kaukonen and Casady’s liking, now that they are, respectively, 82 and 79. For that matter, Hot Tuna’s electric days are already nearly a thing of the past, as is Kaukonen’s regular use of electric guitars. 

“Hot Tuna doesn’t do that many electric shows, so I’m not as emotionally invested in guitars as I used to be,” he tells Guitar Player when we catch up with him before a July 20 performance at Great South Bay Festival in Patchogue, New York, in the heart of Long Island. “And I’m not being dismissive of the electric guitars that will be used, because I love them dearly. But I don’t handle them every day, as I do acoustic guitars.” 

It’s been a long haul for the group, which Kaukonen and Casady formed while still members of Jefferson Airplane, during that band’s heyday. As the story goes, Airplane singer Grace Slick was recuperating from vocal cord surgery, and her bandmates — Kaukonen, Casady, guitarist Paul Kantner and drummer Joey Covington — were feeling restless. While Hot Tuna has had a fluid lineup over its history, Kaukonen and Casady have been its steady center, playing blues rock and Americana. In doing so, they’ve helped keep alive the music of country and blues artists such as Reverend Gary Davis, Jelly Roll Morton, Bo Carter and Blind Blake, introducing their timeless music to new generations of fans. 

Affectionally known as the Captain, Kaukonen has been performing for over 58 years, during which time he’s been a prolific collaborator and solo artist. A Grammy-winning American guitar player and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, he has a celebrated fingerstyle method rooted in blues, folk and Americana, and his career as an American rock legend has made him an influential figure and in-demand instructor. He operates his own guitar camp called Fur Peace Ranch, a 119-acre music and guitar camp in the hills of southeast Ohio, north of Pomeroy, complete with a 32-track studio. 

Kaukonen was at the center of the new music scene that was starting to develop in San Francisco in the early 1960s, playing backup for Janis Joplin in local clubs before forming Jefferson Airplane in 1965. Amid the gradual breakup of Jefferson Airplane from 1971 to 1973, he and Casady went heavy electric with Hot Tuna, with ex-Airplane member Papa John Creach on violin joining them for a pair of celebrated albums: 1971’s First Pull Up , Then Pull Down , and 1972’s Burgers , which featured the FM radio hit Ja Da (Keep on Truckin’) . 

Following Hot Tuna’s breakup in 1978, Casady formed the new-wave band SVT, while Kaukonen went solo. Since reforming in 1986, Hot Tuna have toured continually with electric and acoustic performances, playing more than 100 shows annually for the past 20 years. 

Kaukonen is known for using a number of electric guitars over the years, including a Gibson ES-345 with Jefferson Airplane, an Epiphone Riviera (the company issued his signature model Riviera in 2002), a Gibson Firebird V and a Chet Atkins SST acoustic-electric. He presently endorses Martin Guitars, which released the Martin M-30 Jorma Kaukonen Custom Artist Edition in 2010, and he plays Flammang Acoustic Guitars, built in Iowa by David Flammang. In addition, he uses and endorses the Fishman Loudbox acoustic amplifier.  

What guitars will you be taking out for this tour?

As this will be our last electric Hot Tuna tour, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the gear, and my guitar choices will change depending on what setlist we’re doing. When Hot Tuna did our reprisal of the Burgers album at Carnegie Hall last year [the band commemorated the album’s 50th anniversary at the venue on April 22, 2022], I used my favorite Gibson 345 most of the time, because that’s what I used as an electric guitar back in those days. It’s not a guitar I would use all the time today, because it’s stereo and I don’t need all that stuff like I did in the Airplane. So on tour I’ll be using a Gibson Firebird from the early ’90s. It’s got Lindy pickups and custom caps and pots. That’s the only thing I changed. Other than that, it’s stock. 

That’s probably going be my main guitar, but I also have a special Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul called Beano. Susan Tedeschi has one. [Tedeschi’s belongs to her husband and bandmate, Derek Trucks , and was gifted to him by Eric Clapton , who also owns one.] She let me play it, and I liked the guitar so much that I got one myself — and it wasn’t cheap! That’s going be waiting in the wings for when I need something special. 

I also use an Atkins SST for the fingerpicking Hot Tuna stuff. I’ve got a couple of them, but my favorite is a 1993 from the Custom Shop. It’s just a really, really good guitar. And for the electric sets, I use a ’67 Marshall “Plexi” that I’ve been using for a while. For the Firebird , I’ve been using a Louis Electric custom amp. He’s a builder from Northern New Jersey. I love all this stuff. Also, for the fingerpicking stuff, I’ll be using a blackface Fender Pro that Jack gave me, with a single 15-inch speaker. It’s an awesome old amp and completely stock. 

For pedals, I have an original Zendrive overdrive on the Atkins SST and the Gibson Firebird. I’ve also got a 1965 Thomas Organ Company [wah] pedal, the one I used with the Airplane. 

I always put the overdrive before the wah-wah pedal . That’s important to me. Most of the time I don’t really need any pedals, but sometimes it’s just fun to make noises. I also have an Eventide Blackhole . It’s a really neat reverb pedal. It’s very complex, but it’s got a lot of depth. Sometimes I’ll throw that in the chain, just for texture, because most of the time I don’t need anything at all.

Original Zendrive overdrive pedals are going for over $1,000. 

Robben Ford turned me on to those back in the mid 2000s, and I was very fortunate that I was able to get four or five of them direct from [Zendrive designer] Alfonso Hermida back in the days. They weren’t cheap back then, but they were nothing like they are today. They’re not vintage for me. They’re just old because I bought them new. 

Have you ever played with some of the newer digital modelers, like the Kemper or Fractal? 

No, I have not. I find that stuff interesting, but I really don’t have any interest in modeling. And if I need to read a manual for something, that’s going to turn me off to a piece of gear immediately. I’m very fortunate because I’ve got a couple of really good amps, and I’m not a collector. If I had to fly by myself and sound like me at different venues without carrying a bunch of gear around, I would definitely be into it. But, lately, for Hot Tuna, we drive everywhere, so it’s easier to carry our original gear to gigs.

Has the Fur Peace Ranch gone virtual since the pandemic? 

Yeah. I’m not calling the blues here, but the pandemic changed everything for us, and we stopped doing in-person things. The cost of everything is going up, too, so we’re doing some in-person things at the Ranch and some on the road. We did a couple weeks in Martha’s Vineyard. We’re going do it next year as well. You can check out our website at furpeaceranch.com .

Looking back over such an awesome distance, what would you say has been the highlight of your career so far? 

I guess the real highlight of my career has been to turn a lot of people on to the music that the masters performed — you know, like Reverend Gary Davis and all that kind of stuff. Thanks to the internet, people can find that stuff without me holding their hand. But in the beginning, I was able to do that. And people went, “Oh, wow! Yeah, I love that song. You wrote Hesitation Blues ?” “No, I didn’t write that song. Reverend Davis did, and you need to check him out.” So being able to turn people on to the music that I love is part of it. 

I’ve got a 17-year-old daughter and a 25-year-old son, and I’ve been able to open a lot of doors for them, and they’ve had a lot of options to listen to stuff that they may or may not have had without me. And the flip side is they turned me on to a lot of music too.

Aside from this final electric tour, do you have anything else coming up with Hot Tuna or other projects?

My buddy John [Hurlbut] and I have a project called Another Lifetime on Culture Factory, and it’ll be out in the fall. I’m just performing on it as a lead guitarist. It takes such a burden off me, and it brings me back to what I was able to do with the Airplane, which is just serve the song. So I’m pretty excited about that project. 

Who inspires you personally and musically? 

Wow! I guess there’s so many people that continue to inspire me over the years, and I could talk about my buddy Jack [Casady] or Reverend Davis forever. But I guess if I’m just thinking about today, you know, just because of all the stuff that’s been going on, I guess one of my great inspirations today is [multi-instrumentalist] Larry Campbell. Outside of the fact that he’s a dear friend, it’s his ability — I mean, he’s such a multi-talented guy, and he has a three-dimensional vision of music that most people, including myself, don’t have. But he has this ability to always honestly serve the song and to work well with other people, and to just basically be a good human being. So I’ll put Larry right up at the top of the list. 

And I’m always excited about going out with Jack. You know, I just talked to him this morning. We’re bringing back some old electric stuff we haven’t played in a long time… Oh, I don’t know, half  a lifetime! And I don’t want to spoil the surprise by letting the cat out of the bag now. 

Hot Tuna play three more electric dates in December. For venues, see their website

Get The Pick Newsletter

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!

“If we were recording at Olympic Studios, we would often hear Led Zeppelin. I’d see Jimmy Page sitting there, overdubbing in darkness”: Peter Frampton reveals the stories behind five of his classic tracks

“Noel’s process is purely guitar. He’s so in love with the chords, and he was cycling through and through... He wouldn’t stop until he was satisfied”: How Noel Gallagher and Beck helped bring the Black Keys' latest funky full-length, Ohio Players, to life

“We all grew up with their music, looking at the album covers, and learning these classic guitar riffs and parts”: Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Mavis Staples honored by Bruce Springsteen at second annual American Music Honors show

Most Popular

• 2 “If we were recording at Olympic Studios, we would often hear Led Zeppelin. I’d see Jimmy Page sitting there, overdubbing in darkness”: Peter Frampton reveals the stories behind five of his classic tracks
• 3 Three guitars that exemplify the PRS SE line in 2024 – reasonably priced, impeccably put-together, and versatile in terms of both tone and playability: PRS SE CE24, SE Custom 24 Quilt and SE Swamp Ash Special review
• 4 “I bought my ’59 sunburst Les Paul from my first wife’s brother... he’d gotten sick – he called me and said, ‘I’m probably not gonna make it. Will you buy my Les Paul?’ Now it gets to live on and still make music”: Vince Gill on his beloved 'Burst
• 5 “Noel’s process is purely guitar. He’s so in love with the chords, and he was cycling through and through... He wouldn’t stop until he was satisfied”: How Noel Gallagher and Beck helped bring the Black Keys' latest funky full-length, Ohio Players, to life

Hot Tuna goes electric one more time, including Saturday concert in Burlington

The two core members of Hot Tuna – who’ve been playing music together for nearly seven decades – are billing the tour that brings them Saturday to Burlington as their last run of electric shows.

Bass player Jack Casady said the move toward unplugged-only performances has a lot to do with his growing fascination for playing acoustic bass guitar. The sound that instrument provides, he said, is the perfect complement to Jorma Kaukonen’s world-class fingerpicking guitar style.

Since forming Hot Tuna as a side project from the duo’s original band, San Francisco psychedelic-rockers Jefferson Airplane, Casady and Kaukonen have explored their hybrid of blues, rock and Americana in both electric and acoustic forms. They would even do so in the same night, as Hot Tuna demonstrated in two sets for the first-ever show at Higher Ground in South Burlington after the music venue moved there from Winooski in December 2004. (Higher Ground is presenting Saturday’s concert at the Flynn.)

Casady acknowledges that part of the reason for declaring their current tour as their final electric run has to do with concerns about their hearing. Casady is 79, Kaukonen is 83, and the duo that’s been playing together for 68 years wants to preserve the ears that are so key to the improvisational music they offer.

“That can sonically beat you up after a certain number of shows on the road,” Casady said of the electric concerts. “We didn’t want to find ourselves out there where it’s painful.”

Bound by more than music

Casady spoke Monday with the Burlington Free Press from Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio, a music-instruction camp founded by Kaukonen and his wife, Vanessa. Casady arrived last week so the two could rehearse for the tour that starts Sept. 15 in Rochester, New York, and lands the next night in Burlington.

“Jorma and I rehearse more than we ever have in our lives right now,” according to Casady, who said they’ve been practicing six hours a day before percussionist Justin Guip joins the rehearsals. “Work and preparation and exercise, all of that helps you so you can do what you choose to do in life, no matter what.”

Casady’s exercise regimen includes plenty of bike riding, which helps with the stamina he needs for touring and playing. The long rehearsals help Casady and Kaukonen reacquaint themselves with each other’s styles after several months apart. That familiarity is key for a group that uses songs as a base from which to explore new avenues.

“There’s room to move around in there,” Casady said, “and you want to be alert and able to take advantage of that particular night’s feeling, that night’s audience.”

Casady and Kaukonen have been speaking the same musical language since boyhood in Washington, D.C. That gives them a leg-up that few musicians have, one honed by exploring music together in their formative years.

“As any kid knows during your junior-high, high-school years, the world is just beginning, developing and opening up for you, and quite often it’s a world of misunderstanding and strangeness. But there was a binding element there and a purpose,” Casady said. “It’s part of your foundation.”

That binding involves more than just the songs they play, according to Casady.

“Our identity points in our relationship aren’t just tied to the music business,” he said. “It’s not just strangers coming together and forming a band, so to speak, and not having any other basis for a relationship.

“It’s really fascinating and I’m so grateful. You live longer and you appreciate how precious friendship is, and you’ve got to work at it,” Casady said. “We’re different people and we have different lives and whatnot. But when we share the time together, it’s easy.”

They expect to share the time together for years to come. As people age, according to Casady, they need to keep their bodies and minds healthy and engaged, and music is the best thing for accomplishing that.

“When you’re in the process of playing, you’re using your physical elements, all your sensibilities are tuned up and right at hand,” he said. “You’ve got to do things. There’s no such thing as retirement.”

WHAT : Hot Tuna’s final electric tour

WHEN : 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16

WHERE : The Flynn, Burlington

INFORMATION : $49.50-$73.50. www.highergroundmusic.com or www.flynnvt.org

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected].

• EUR (€)
• GBP (£)
•   Contact us

• Currency : 
• US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Russian Ruble Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Danish Krone Japanese Yen Norwegian Krone Swedish Krona
• Toll Free 0800 011 2023
• US and Canada United Kingdom Australia Brazil Netherlands Russia Sweden
• Tours by Region Moscow Saint Petersburg Golden Ring Lake Baikal Murmansk Siberia & Far East Sochi & Southern Russia Amsterdam Berlin Copenhagen Gdansk Georgia Helsinki Kaliningrad Kamchatka Karelia Kazan Klaipeda Nizhny Novgorod Northern Europe Oslo Perm Riga Ryazan Stockholm Tallinn Ulan-Ude Veliky Novgorod Vilnius Vladivostok Volgograd Yakutia Yekaterinburg
• Why Choose our Day Tours
• One Day Tours Two Days Tours Three Day Tours
• About Russian tours Private vs Group Tours
• Tours by Region Moscow & St.Peterburg Moscow Saint Petersburg Golden Ring Lake Baikal Trans-Siberian Siberia & Far East Altai Kaliningrad Kamchatka Karelia Kazan Perm Veliky Novgorod Yakutia Yekaterinburg
• Tour Types Small Group Tours Private Tour Theme Tour
• Moscow events St. Petersburg events Events archive
• Events by type Ballet Opera Concert Show All types
• Top theaters Bolshoi theatre - Historic Stage Bolshoi theatre - Small Stage Mariinsky Theater Mariinsky Theatre - Mariinsky II Mikhailovsky Theater
• Direction Moscow - St.Petersburg St. Petersburg - Moscow
• Ships MS Rostropovich MS Volga Dream MS Anton Chekhov MS General Lavrinenkov MS Georgy Chicherin MS Ivan Bunin MS Konstantin Fedin MS Konstantin Korotkov MS Kronshtadt MS Maxim Gorky MS Nikolay Chernyshevsky MS Nizhny Novgorod MS Rachmaninoff MS River Victoria MS Scenic Tsar MS Tikhy Don (MS Alexander Borodin) MS Vasiliy Kandinsky MS Zosima Shashkov Mustai Karim
• Russian Visa Invitation
• Moscow The Kremlin Red Square Golden Ring Tverskaya Street Grand Kremlin Palace (The Kremlin) Christ the Savior Novodevichiy Convent Moscow Subway The Bolshoi Theater Armoury Chamber (The Kremlin) St. Basil's Cathedral The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts Yury Gagarin Cosmonauts training center
• Saint Petersburg Hermitage Museum Peterhof Catherine's Palace (Tsarskoe Selo) Pavlovsk St. Isaac Cathedral Peter and Paul Fortress Nevsky Prospect Yusupov Palace Savior on Blood Amber room Bronze Horseman (Senate square) Hermitage Theatre Kazansky Cathedral Kronstadt Palace Square Spit of the Vasilievsky Island
• 1/7th of the World Volga River Siberia Baikal Kazan Sochi Smolensk Nizhny Novgorod Kaliningrad Ulyanovsk Verkhoturova Island
• uVisitRussia Why travel with UVisitRussia Customers' Testimonials Contact details Cancellations & Changes
• Russian Travel News
• Russian travel advice Advices while packing Advices while travelling

• Shore excursions
• The Best of Two Capitals Private
• The Best of Two Capitals Small Group
• The Best of Two Capitals Gold
• Russia's Ancient Kingdoms
• Cradle of Russia
• Explore Moscow
• Explore St. Petersburg
• Read Customer Testimonials
• Advantages of Traveling with Us

US office 3422 Old Capitol Trail Suite 1252 , Wilmington DE, 19808 USA. US toll-free: 1-888-845-8877 Russian office Ligovsky pr. 57, Office 19, 191040, St. Petersburg, Russia

tel: +7-812-309-5339

© 2001 – 2024 by Northern Crown, Ltd. uVisitRussia  and uVisitRussia.com are registered trademarks .   Terms & Conditions   Privacy Policy

Sign in with your social account

Sign in to our website using your Facebook or Google+ account.

Why Do You Need Our Travel Expert

Contact our experts, and they will help you to plan your best trip to Russia, with attention to every detail!

Our Experts have been in the travel industry for many years, guarantee to offer first class customer service, excellent value for money and unbiased advice. They are standing by to find and build your dream holiday to one of the world's most fascinating destinations - Russia. Your personal Travel Expert will guide you through each stage of the travel process, from choosing a program that fits you best to support during your trip.

Just tell us your e-mail, and we'll take care of everything!

Ask a Travel Expert

Leave your phone number.

Your tour request has been received. Thank you ! We have sent you the confirmation message to  [email]

Please make sure that you receive this message (sometimes e-mail messages may go to the spam/junk mail). If you did not get this message, it means you will not get message with the tours' selection as well. If you use a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Hotmail, we recommend to add  [email protected]   to your address book.

We recommend to leave your phone number. If we will not heard back that you received the e-mail with the tours' selection, we will contact you by phone. And you will not miss the best tour for you.

Thank you ! Your request for Travel Expert assistance has been sent. We will e-mail you within 1 hour.

Sorry, some changes needed

There was a problem with your request.

RTD - YT - Circle

News & Press

Electric hot tuna.

Review: Hot Tuna’s Hot DNA Flows at Fur Peace Ranch | 10/14/23

October 24, 2023 | No Comments

By Sam A. Marshall for Grateful Web

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.

One excitable guest in the audience at this special weekend show – which came one week past the last date of the original end-date ... Read More

The Catalyst interview: Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna

October 3, 2023 | No Comments

By Bill DeYoung for The Catalyst

Since 1969, when they were still active members of Jefferson Airplane – then one of the hottest rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world – Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady have performed together as Hot Tuna, sometimes with a rotating cast of players, sometimes as just a duo.

The Airplane is long gone. Three members of the classic San Francisco lineup are dead – singer Grace Slick, retired more than a decade ago. The band ... Read More

Pulling the Plug: Jack Casady talks about Hot Tuna’s ‘Final Electric Run’

September 23, 2023 | No Comments

By Ryan Yarmel for WRUR

On Sept. 18, Hot Tuna returns to Ithaca as part of its “Final Electric Run,” as founding members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady will soon be laying to rest their long-running plugged-in project.

On the band’s website, Kaukonen writes: “It has been said that the music Jack and I play was transformative and that we injected an energy into our sound full of constant improvisation taking the compass on a joyride. It is still our plan ... Read More

One Final (Electric) Run: Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen talks about playing for 65 years

September 15, 2023 | No Comments

By Bryan VanCampen for Ithaca.com

Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady played onstage for the first time in 1958, and many hundreds of gigs and years later, Kaukonen and Casady will bring Hot Tuna’s “Final Electric Run” to the State Theatre on September 18.

Jorma Kaukonen spoke to the Ithaca Times about the tour, Hot Tuna’s song catalog and guitars.

Grateful Web Interview: Jorma Kaukonen Sets Sights on Final Electric Hot Tuna Tour

June 7, 2023 | No Comments

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. (I live in Cincinnati, but even for me that is a fur peace to ... Read More

Electric Hot Tuna’s Last Waltz! Fall 2023

May 3, 2023 | No Comments

Jack and Jorma are ready to share the news that the Fall 2023 tour will be the last Electric Hot Tuna tour. For a lot of reasons, they are putting the electric tour to rest. The guys are both healthy and doing great, and everyone wants to keep it that way.

Acoustic Hot Tuna will continue to tour in 2024. Look for Acoustic Hot Tuna 2024 dates coming soon.

Check out the dates below. Get your tickets now!

09/15/23 Kodak Center Rochester, NY Electric Hot Tuna

09/16/23 Read More

October 24, 2023

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 ... Read More

Latest News

2018 Primetime Emmy & James Beard Award Winner

R&K Insider

Join our newsletter to get exclusives on where our correspondents travel, what they eat, where they stay. Free to sign up.

A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

Featured city guides.