Jorma Kaukonen
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025
Presale: Tuesday October 22nd 2024 at 9am – Friday October 25th 2024 at 8am
“A pioneer of San Francisco psychedelia, Jorma Kaukonen is a bona fide graybeard folk swami. He mostly lays back, a master in situ, unfurling melodies and savoring every note. – Rolling Stone Magazine
In a career that has already spanned a half-century, Jorma Kaukonen has
been one of the most highly respected interpreters of American roots
music, blues, and rock. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a
Grammy recipient, Jorma was at the forefront of popular rock and roll, one
of the founders of the San Francisco sound and a progenitor of Psychedelic
Rock. He is a founding member of two legendary bands, Jefferson
Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. Jorma Kaukonen is a music legend
and one of the finest singer-songwriters in his field. He continues to tour
the world bringing his unique styling to old blues tunes while presenting
new songs of weight and dimension. His secret is in playing spontaneous
and unfiltered music, with an individual expression of personality. In 2016,
Jorma, Jack Casady and the other members of Jefferson Airplane were
awarded The GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award for their contributions
to American music.
“A mesmerizing storyteller, Kaukonen delivers a memoir as intricate
and dazzling as his music.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
In 2019 St. Martin’s Press published Jorma‘s autobiography, Been So
Long: My Life and Music, written to express his life both in and out of the
music world. As Kaukonen describes, “My story is my story. Having told bits
and pieces of it over my lifetime to a treasured few, it was time to tell all to a
bigger audience…From rehearsals and jams in small apartments and tiny
back rooms to Monterey, Woodstock, Altamont, the Rock And Roll Hall Of
Fame, the world of the Grammys and beyond… this is part of the road I live
on. This is my embryonic journey and much, much more!”
“At a time when many rock stars are releasing memoirs, Jorma
Kaukonen’s Been So Long: My Life and Music stands apart…. an
incredibly insightful look inside the life of a musician who was not
only influenced by some of America’s greatest music but who also left
an indelible mark on that very same musical landscape.” —AXS
The son of a State Department official, Jorma Kaukonen, Jr. was born and
raised in the Washington D.C. area, with occasional extended trips outside
the United States. He was a devotee of rock and roll in the Buddy Holly era
but soon developed a love for the blues and bluegrass that were profuse in
the clubs and concerts in the nation’s capital. It inspired him to take up
guitar and play that kind of music himself. Soon he met Jack Casady, the
younger brother of a friend and a wonderful guitar player in his own right.
Though they could not have known it, they were beginning a musical
partnership that has continued for more than 50 years.
Jorma graduated from high school and headed off for Antioch College in
Ohio, where he met Ian Buchanan, who introduced him to the elaborate
fingerstyle fretwork of the Rev. Gary Davis. A work-study program in New
York introduced Jorma, the increasingly skilled guitarist, to that city’s
burgeoning folk-blues-bluegrass scene and many of its players. After a
break from college and travel overseas, Jorma moved to California, where
he returned to classes at Santa Clara University and earned money by
teaching guitar. It was at this time, in 1965, that he met Paul Kantner and
was invited to join a new not-yet-named rock band Kantner was forming
with Marty Balin. As a self-described blues purist, Kaukonen was initially
reluctant, but found his imagination excited by the arsenal of effects
available to electric guitar, later remarking that he was “sucked in by
technology.” With the group still looking for a name, Kaukonen suggested
Jefferson Airplane, inspired by an eccentric friend who had given his dog
the name “Blind Lemon Jefferson Airplane.” Jorma invited his old musical
partner Jack Casady to come out to San Francisco and play electric bass
for the new band, and together they created much of Jefferson Airplane’s
signature sound.
A pioneer of counterculture-era psychedelic rock, the group was the first
band from the San Francisco scene to achieve international mainstream
success. Their 1967 record Surrealistic Pillow is regarded as one of the key
recordings of the “Summer of Love.”
“Jorma Kaukonen is a force in American music, equally adept at
fingerpicked acoustic folk and blues as he is at wailing on an
electric.” – Acoustic Guitar
Jorma and Jack would jam whenever they could and would sometimes
perform sets within sets at Airplane concerts. The two would often play
clubs following Airplane performances. Making a name for themselves as a
duo, they struck a record deal, and Hot Tuna was born. Jorma left Jefferson
Airplane after the band’s most productive five years, pursuing his full-time
job with Hot Tuna. Over the past five decades Hot Tuna has performed
thousands of concerts and released more than two-dozen records. The
musicians who have performed with them are many and widely varied, as
are their styles — from acoustic to long and loud electric jams, but never
straying far from their musical roots. What is remarkable is that they have
never coasted. Hot Tuna today sounds better than ever.
“It is Kaukonen’s original material that best tells the story.” – Forbes
Jorma’s originals from his poignant instrumentals, “Embryonic
Journey” (Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow) and “The Water
Song” (Hot Tuna – Burgers), to his insightful lyrics, “Genesis” (Jorma
Kaukonen – Quah), have stood the test of time. Having an undeniable
feeling of significance, they have been included in films and covered by
many artists who have been inspired by his depth and continuity of spirit.
“[His] dexterity runs circles around most players … His material
stands the test of time in a way that most others will not.” – Billboard
In addition to his work with Hot Tuna, Jorma has recorded more than a
dozen solo albums on major labels beginning with 1974’s Quah and
continuing with his recent acoustic releases on Red House Records —
Stars in My Crown (2007) produced by Byron House, River of Time (2009)
produced by Larry Campbell and featuring Levon Helm and Jorma’s latest
solo album, Ain’t in No Hurry (2015) also produced by Larry Campbell and
featuring Jack Casady.
“Clearly not content on resting on any of his legendary laurels, Jorma
Kaukonen continues to find ways to wed his muse to the right
material and create a colorful tableau.” – Relix
But performance and recording are only part of the story.
As the leading practitioner and teacher of fingerstyle guitar, Jorma and his
wife Vanessa Lillian operate one of the world’s most unique centers for the
study of guitar and other instruments. Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch
Guitar Camp is located on 125 acres of fields, woods, hills, and streams in
the Appalachian foothills of Southeastern Ohio. Since it opened in 1998,
thousands of musicians whose skills range from basic to highly
accomplished gather for weekends of master instruction offered by Jorma
and other instructors who are leaders in their musical fields. A multitude of
renowned performers make the trek to Ohio to teach at Fur Peace Ranch
and play at the performance hall, Fur Peace Station. It has become an
important stop on the touring circuit for artists who do not normally play
intimate 200-seat venues, bringing such artists as David Bromberg, Roger
McGuinn, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Alvin, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Warren Haynes,
Lee Roy Parnell, Chris Hillman and more. Students, instructors, and visiting
artists alike welcome the peace and tranquility — as well as the great music
and great instruction — that Fur Peace Ranch offers.
At Fur Peace Ranch the Kaukonens have created the Psylodelic Gallery,
a museum in a silo, celebrating the music, art, culture, and literature of
the 1960’s, tracing important events and movements of the psychedelic
era. They produce concerts at the Fur Peace Station which are
streamed internationally on YouTube as well as broadcast on WOUB 91.3
FM. The Kaukonens there support their local community through art
festivals and a restaurant on site.
Jorma Kaukonen is constantly looking to take his musical horizons further
still, always moving forward and he is quick to say that teaching is among
the most rewarding aspects of his career. “You just can’t go backward. The
arrow of time only goes in one direction.”