How do you sustain a career in music for over 50 years? More than half a century ago guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady started playing the kind of music they really wanted to, wherever it took them creatively, and unlocked the secret to Hot Tuna’s timeless success.

In the 1960s, Kaukonen and Casady were founding members of Jefferson Airplane, one of the biggest rock bands in the world at the time, when they started performing together as Hot Tuna. “It was a different kind of music that didn’t really fit into the landscape of Jefferson Airplane, but we really liked it,”

The band released a debut record in 1970, a live album which captured the spark of what became their trademark — a willingness to do it differently every time.

Ross Garren

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Aug 5, 2026

Hot Tuna · Count Basie Center for the Arts

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