Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band take the stage at the Vacaville Performing Arts Theater on April 5. (Courtesy photo, VPAT)
The blues is in Jimmie Vaughan's blood, it's been there since the beginning, and it will always be there.
Vaughn has been synonymous with the instrument ever since a football injury in 1962 left him with nothing but a guitar to kill time at home.
In a way, the guitar was almost a family trait. Uncles on both sides of Vaughn's family always played guitar and taught him.
The four-time Grammy Award winner has spent his life helping revitalize and shape music. It has been his lifeblood for decades now, continuing and reinvigorating the sounds of American musical history.
On April 5th, Jimmie Vaughan & the Tilt-A-Whirl Band will bring classic American sounds to Vacaville.
A born and raised Texan, Vaughan doesn't consider his music to be limited by genre, but rather considers it American music.
“Whether you call it country or rock 'n' roll, I think it has all the elements,” Vaughn said, adding that the sound “couldn't be any other way.”
Vaughn explains that his genre is not simple, as he performs not only his own songs, but also a variety of songs written by country and blues artists.
“I make a lot of songs that people would think of as a country artist,” he says. “But I'm doing it my way.”
When he first heard songs like Phil Upchurch's “You Can't Sit Down,” the Nightcaps' “Wine, Wine, Wine” and B.B. King's early 1960s hits, he realized that his music I was convinced that I had found it. Since then, he has been on a constant quest to make it his own.
Whether it was with Austin bands like Storm and later the Fabulous Thunderbirds in the early 1970s, or later with brother Stevie Ray Vaughan on the Family Style album, or throughout the 1990s. It was the same with his own release in 2001.
During a formative summer early in his career, Vaughn remembers his band being booked to play six nights a week on Dallas' Honky Tonk Strip. At age 13, Vaughn and his trio were earning $50 a week singing through the Hobnob Lounge's jukebox.
Vaughan remembers her father, who had booked gigs, taking turns taking them to the set lounge while they enjoyed drinks at the bar.
The 2019 release “Baby, Please Come Home” brought Vaughn back into the spotlight, earning him another Grammy nomination and a Blues Foundation Award for Best Male Artist.
This year, he celebrates his life in the blues and touring with a special limited edition box set and book, The Jimmie Vaughan Story, containing more than 200 photographs covering his life and wide-ranging career.
Still, Vaughan feels like he's just getting started, and is dedicated to making sure he can give back to the music that has given him so much.
“I was able to play guitar for all these people,” he says, grateful that so many people have his records and come to see him requesting songs. .
Although Vaughan continues to tour and record a new album, he remains adamant about not over-labeling things. Regarding the status of the new album, he said, “I don't know if we've decided on an exact name for the album. We're always recording something.”
This characteristic attitude is also reflected in the song itself. Vaughn said: This is what I do. “
If you go:
what: Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band
when: April 5th 8pm
where: Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre, 1010 Ulatis Drive, Vacaville.
ticket: Individual tickets are $75 and are available now at the Box Office (phone 707-).
469-4013 or walk-up) or online at VPAT.net.