Brian Setzer says he can no longer play guitar.
“Towards the end of the last Stray Cats tour I noticed that my hands were cramping up,” Setzer wrote. “I’ve since discovered that I have an auto-immune disease. I cannot play guitar. There is no pain, but it feels like I am wearing a pair of gloves when I try to play.”
Setzer has not shared what type of autoimmune disease he is battling.
Well, he can always fall back on The Brian Setzer Orchestra. I mean, it’s his orchestra, so all he should have to do is direct, right?
I assume you’ve never seen the Brian Setzer Orchestra.
Aw geez. A friend and I saw the Stray Cats in Atlantic City last summer, and they did a great job.
As I recall, it’s a guitar, a bass, two drums and a cymbal.
It’s a bit bigger than that!
Man, I LOVE the way he plays guitar.
I thought I recalled he also had some pretty severe tinnitus. Too bad. I know nothing about the guy, but his music sure is fun!
Mentioned at the end of the CNN article.
Sorry, didn’t read the article. Just took your word for it.
Well, I mean, that’s an “Extravaganza!”
It would be misleading if it weren’t a bit bigger than a trio combo.
The Orchestra in that photo looks small compared with my memory of a 2002 corporate event.
Never was a fan of the stray cats, but that corporate show was a rocking great time!
Same here, never paid any attention to the Stray Cats, but the Brian Setzer Orchestra was terrific.
Never knew about that!
I absolutely HATED the Stray cats when they were new. Stupid poseur band. They were like the rat rods of music: invoking a past time (50s era rockabilly) and completely getting it wrong. I was a music (and cultural) snob, I admit. I was 20.
But when The Dirty Boogie came out, I heard it was a nice example of the swing revival, so I bought it, and was hooked. I have most of his albums.
And I’ve reevaluated the Stray Cats. It helps that it has been longer between now and 1980 (by quite a bit!) than it was between the Stray Cats and 50s rockabilly.
And the DVD of his Christmas Extravaganza is a yearly watch in our house. Check it out!
They do quite a good number of songs, including a rockin’ version of the Nutcracker Suite. Listening to that, I often wonder what Tchaikovsky would have thought. “They’re ruining my music”, or “hey this is fun! Cool!”
Probably “Nutrocker”, been around since 1962. For anyone who’s interested in the orchestra I’d strongly recommend the Dirty Boogie album. An amazing blend of Big Band Swing with a very good rockabilly frontman.