Carson Valley arts council hosts western swing trio

The Carson Valley Arts Council is having their final concert of the season featuring Hot Club of Cowtown Friday at the Genoa Town Hall, 2287 Main Street in Genoa.

There will be a wine reception hosted by Tahoe Ridge Winery at 6 p.m. followed by the concert at 7 p.m.

Events committee chairwoman Bonnie Rogers said the change of venue from the CVIC Hall to Genoa was due to a scheduling conflict, and not a permanent change.

Since their first recording in 1998, Austin-based Hot Club of Cowtown have grown to be the most globe-trotting, hardest-swinging Western swing trio on the planet.

The first American band to tour Azerbaijan, they have opened stadiums for such artists as Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson and continue to bring their brand of western swing to a wide range of festival audiences all over the world. But for guitarist Whit Smith, fiddler Elana James and bassist Jake Erwin, it has always been about staying true to their roots.

Remaining willfully out of the musical mainstream, Hot Club of Cowtown have created an international cult following for their sonic personification of joy and unique sound inspired by their namesakes: "Hot Club" from the hot jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli's Hot Club of France, and "Cowtown" from the Western swing influence of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.

Tickets cost $17 for CVAC members, $20 for nonmembers and can be purchased online at cvartscouncil.com or 782-8207.