Anthology

HOT TUNA is a blues/rock band that was formed as a spin-off of Jefferson Airplane by bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. While the pair was still in Jefferson Airplane, they would play together and often play at clubs following Airplane sets. Their first record was a live album that was released in 1970 titled “Hot Tuna”. This album is affectionately known as the “breaking glass album” by the band’s beloved Tunaphiles because of the sound of breaking beer bottles in the background.

Hot Tuna began performing as an opening act for Jefferson Airplane, and things took off from there.

The band became an independent group following the end of Jefferson Airplane consisting of Jorma, Jack, new drummer Sammy Piazza, and Papa John. This was when the band moved from their acoustic format to their electric band.

The band went on to record several albums over the next few years. July 1974 marked a clear departure from their primarily bluesy, acoustic style. In that year, Hot Tuna completely dropped their acoustic sets and turned into a heavy rock band. Their next three albums, “American’s Choice”, “Yellow Fever”, and “Hoppkorv” are known as the band’s “rampage years”. Kaukonen attributes the change to one simple fact- “it was just fun to be loud.”

In 1977, Hot Tuna stopped touring, and Kaukonen and Casady went their separate ways. In 1983, the band reunited for a set of shows that focused on a hard rock/heavy metal style.

In 1986, the band again reunited and performed classic material. They continued to tour into 1989, and joined Jefferson Airplane on their reunion tour.

After two decades of acoustic and electric concerts and albums, the 1990s brought a new focus on acoustic music to Hot Tuna. More intimate venues with a more individual connection to the audience became increasingly frequent stops. Soon, the loud electric sound (and the semi trailer load of equipment) disappeared entirely from Hot Tuna tours. Maturity brought the desire to do things not instead of but in addition to being a touring band. Both had become interested in teaching, passing along what they had learned and what they had uniquely developed to a new generation of players.

For the last few years, Jorma and Jack have been joined in most of their Hot Tuna performances by the mandolin virtuoso Barry Mitterhoff. Skoota Warner has been with the band on drums since 2009. In April 2011, Hot Tuna released their first studio album in 20 years, “Steady As She Goes”.