Williamsburg-based swing band Good Shot Judy will recreate the nightclub feel of Las Vegas on Saturday, February 8.
LANCASTER — The On Stage performance, hosted by the Rappahannock Foundation for the Arts (RFA), will begin at 7:30 p.m. Doors will open at 7 p.m.
The eight-member band will showcase the music of the swing and big band era that included crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole, as well as songs by contemporaries like Michael Bublé and Harry Connick Jr. and swing interpretations of songs by Queen, Tom Jones and Frankie Valli.
“Good Shot Judy is a great example of why swing music continues to find new fans today,” said Jamie Tucker, RFA board president. “The musical form may have peaked with the big bands in the 1930s and 40s, but it has been rediscovered many times since. Good Shot Judy puts on a highly entertaining show. They will have you looking for your dance shoes.”
The most notable revival of swing came in the late 1980s and 90s, when the success of the Royal Oak Revue led to the birth of the neo-swing movement. Combining traditional swing style with rock-and-roll influences, artists such as the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Brian Setzer Orchestra electrified popular music and led to a renewed interest in big bands and swing dancing.
Swing, after all, was built to move Lindy hoppers and other young dancers, driving them with rhythm sections composed of piano, bass and drums, and, for good measure, lots of horn players. Some big bands played with 25 musicians.
Among those influenced by the new sound was Brett Cahoon, who had taught himself to play guitar when he was 15 and had spent 10 years writing original music and playing with his younger brother, Jeff, in the punk band Ten Years From Now.
Inspired by Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me,” Brett began studying jazz singers and to accompany himself on piano. The transition felt natural for Brett.
“For 20 years I was a jazz singer in my car,” he said.
The concept for a new band came in 2013. While working full time in the restaurant industry, Brett, with his brother Jeff on bass and Brandon Musko on saxophone, clarinet and flute, played jazz standards every Wednesday in his den. “There was something special going on,” Brett said. “We practiced for a year and a half before we went public and people responded immediately.”
For a name, the brothers turned to family lore. Judy, their mother, had a supportive friend who rewarded her every golf swing with a resounding “Good shot, Judy,” a phrase that took on a life of its own.
To complete their new sound, the brothers brought in a full complement of professional musicians—on piano, drums, vocals, saxophone, clarinet, flute, trumpet and trombone. The result is pure entertainment, music you grew up with and know most of the words to, but also full-throated, bass-spinning, all-in execution.
“Good Shot Judy was a product of loving jazz music, but never seeing it performed in a way that was really lively and engaging,” Brett said. “I wanted it to be like it was 1959 in Las Vegas again. If it looks like it’s a lot of fun on stage, that’s because it is.”
Admission is by On Stage season subscription or single tickets, $45 in advance or $50 at the door. For advance tickets, call 438-5555.
