It’s time to dig out those spurs and hightail it on over to the Freight: Lost Weekend is back! An absolutely irresistible evening is sure to be had by all as guitarist and singer Don Burnham and his mighty nine-piece all-star Western swing band celebrate the band’s 22nd anniversary. Longtime Freight favorites, this truly unstoppable ensemble has been keeping the flame of “cowboy jazz” burning brightly on the West Coast for over two decades with their great tunes, world-class ensemble playing and soloing, spine-chilling vocals, and pulsing tempos.

Popularized in the country dance halls of Texas and Oklahoma in the 1930s and 1940s, Western Swing music is an infectious combination of old-time country fiddle and cowboy music blended with the rhythmic intensity and improvisational feel of big band swing jazz. This country cousin of the big band music that was being performed in urban ballrooms was brought to the fore by famed bandleaders like Bob Wills and Milton Brown, along with West Coast practitioners of the art from Tex Williams and Spade Cooley to Asleep at the Wheel and the Bay Area’s own Lost Weekend.

Bandleader Don -- who was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame last August -- is joined by steel guitar Hall-of-Famer Bobby Black, reedmeister Jim Rothermel on clarinet and sax, fiddle ace Paul Shelasky, Mark Holzinger on guitar, vocalist Pam Brandon, piano titan Shota Osabe, bassist Bing Nathan, and John Brinck on drums. Still more good news: Don and the gang will have the band’s hot new live CD, Swingin’ Out West, in their saddlebags. Don’t miss this chance to enjoy an evening with one of Western music’s truly great swing bands!