June 30, 2024 - 4PM

If you come on out to Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine expecting to hear some Texas swing - you won’t be disappointed. But if you haven’t experienced the precision pandemonium that is Hot Club of Cowtown, you just might be blown away.

It all started with a 1994 ad in New York’s Village Voice: singer and sizzlin’ fiddler Elana James seeks band to play with. Whit Smith answered, and the two have been cookin’ with gas ever since. In the early 2000s, after moving to Austin, they solidified their sound and now with the addition of slap-bass virtuoso Zack Sapunor they’ve earned two
fistfuls of awards and accolades over the years.

They’ve toured around the globe, including with a wide swath of fellow musical icons: Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Avett Brothers, Dan Hicks, to name a few, You get the idea.

Here’s what others have had to say:

“At that crossroads where country meets jazz and chases the blues away.” (The Independent)

They remain “conscious always that above all else, the music is for dancing and an old-fashioned good time” (New York Times)

“Showed from the beginning that jazz and country music could exist together on the same page.” (Wall Street Journal)

“When they plunge into Orange Blossom Special your thoughts turn not so much to runaway trains as to a B-52 tearing up a runway.” (The Times of London)

But don’t take their words for it. Come hear for yourself and you’ll be making up your own quotes before you leave.

Pack a picnic or enjoy vendors on site.
$20 tix at the gate.
Wee ones free if under wing.
Please no pups on busy concert days.

Gates at 3PM.
Show at 4PM.