Squirrel Nut Zippers
Presented by: ArtsQuest
Doors and Dinner: 6:30 p.m. | Show: 8 p.m.
$10 minimum Food and Beverage for all reserved seating.
- Genre: New Orleans Jazz, Swing Revival, Alternative
- Artist Website: snzippers.com
- Facebook: Click Here | Instagram: snzippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers began their musical journey in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in
the mid 1990’s, as a musician’s escape from the cookie cutter world of modern rock
radio at the time. Jimbo Mathus along with wife Katherine Whalen and drummer Chris
Phillips formed the band as a casual musical foray playing for friends and family around
town. It wasn’t long before the band (which had grown in size) developed a reputation
for pioneering a quirky mix of jazz chords, folk music, and punk rock leanings and
attracted a national audience.
Outside of the rollicking concerts which were rapidly growing in attendance, NPR was
the first significant national media to take notice of the band followed by an appearance
on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. With grunge, and alternative rock in full swing back
in 1995, the Squirrel Nut Zippers debut album The Inevitable sounded like nothing
happening musically at the time. After the bands sophomore release Hot became a
surprise commercial success, the group went on to sell more than 3 million albums
between 1995 and 2003.
Some highlights of this era include performing on Dick Clarks New years Eve broadcast;
playing Carnegie Hall with Tony Bennet; appearing as musical guest on Sesame Street;
performing on late night television including Letterman, Leno, Conan; having a custom
animated video made by The Simpsons; performing at Bill Clintons Inaugural
Presidential Ball; multiple sold out tours, and even getting the keys to the city of
Cambridge, MA where the bands namesake candy hails from.
Since those days the Squirrel Nut Zippers have continued to perform to a wide variety
of audiences, venues and settings, and have recently released two new studio albums.
Beasts Of Burgundy released in 2018 debuted at #4 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart
to critical acclaim: “There is, of course, jazz of various stripes (mainly pre-WWII
varieties) on this deliciously wide-ranging comeback, but there’s so much more: sounds,
identifiable and not, emanating from mysterious times and places, not the least of which
is New Orleans, their home base, a land that, forever and still, has a mind of its own.”
– Relix
Lost Songs of Doc Souchon released in 2020 is a combination of newly written Zippers
material, along with a few songs from past times like “Animule Ball” which was originally
recorded in 1938 by Jelly Roll Morton. In keeping with that time period, the band turned
to their longtime friends at Fleischer Studios (home of Betty Boop) to use some of their
historic animations for a video for the track. Watch here:
https://youtu.be/ser63u9MmYM
The Squirrel Nut Zippers continue to confound audiences with their hybrid stew of
Southern roots music, New Orleans Jazz, Vaudeville, Blues and a healthy touch
irreverence. Not traditionalists – true originals.
