Bandleader Don Burnham celebrates his birthday tonight by corralling his 11 piece all-star Western Swing outfit, Lost Weekend, and herding them onto our stage for a sure-fire evening of superb entertainment. Longtime Freight favorites, this 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 '40s, 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.

Guitarist and singer Don—his name forever immortalized in the Western Swing Hall of Fame—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, Kevin Porter on trombone, Bob Schulz on cornet, and Rick Alegria on drums. Still more good news: Don and the gang will have the band's recent live CD, Swingin' Out West, in their saddlebags.

All this, and birthday cake, too: what are you waiting for? Hightail it on over right now!