In the middle of the grunge era, when everyone else was looking down at their shoes, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy did something wildly contrarian. They put on pinstripe suits, picked up their horns, and reminded the world that it was still very, very cool to swing.
More than three decades later, they are still the gold standard.
Co-founded by singer and guitarist Scotty Morris and drummer Kurt Sodergren, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy helped lead the swing revival of the 1990s, blending classic American jazz, swing, and dixieland with the energy of a modern rock show. Their breakout came with the 1996 film Swingers, which sent songs like “You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3” and “Go Daddy-O” straight into the cultural bloodstream.
What followed reads like a highlight reel. A Super Bowl halftime show. Seven appearances on The Tonight Show. Music in everything from Friends to Despicable Me. Performances with some of the country’s most distinguished symphony orchestras, and for three U.S. Presidents. More than two million albums sold and well over 3,000 live shows, at a pace of roughly 150 nights a year.
The all-original core lineup is still very much intact, anchored by Morris and Sodergren and powered by a horn section that has to be seen live to be believed.
Because here is the thing about this band: the records are great, but the live show is the whole point. The horns hit harder, the rhythm section swings looser, and somewhere around the second song, a room full of strangers becomes one very happy, very loud crowd.
Our 1928 stage was made for a night exactly like this.