In The Loop Magazine Jazzsters Squirrel Nut Zippers To Celebrate 30 Years of 'Hot' With One Of Only A Handful Of Stops Here At Ravinia

Jazzsters Squirrel Nut Zippers To Celebrate 30 Years of ‘Hot’ With One Of Only A Handful Of Stops Here At Ravinia

Jun 30, 2026 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

By Kelly Clausen

The Squirrel Nut Zippers have become a legendary band in the world of modern Swing music. The “Jazzsters” as they refer themselves these days are coming back to the Chicagoland area for a one off show up in Highland Park at Ravinia. This as they celebrate 30 years of their breakthrough album, “Hot” will be just one of a hand full of shows scheduled for the summer of 2026.

I’ve been covering the band since college. I was, like so many others, an instant fan with the music video release on MTV, “Hell”. It was something new but old. Something borrowed by true. They revamped the Swing genre like no one since Glenn Miller 50 years prior. Kids just dug it. You heard those songs in movies and commercials everywhere. Dance clubs popped up. People learned Swing dancing again and grandparents approved. For Jimbo Mathus, this is a tribute to the legacy he revived and helms today.

Starting in just a couple weeks from now, the Zippers will be back, not on their annual Christmas Caravan tour, but a 30th anniversary celebration tour of Hot.

Thirty years after Hot lit the fuse, The Squirrel Nut Zippers are still swinging with the same irresistible mix of jazz-age cool, vaudeville charm, and big-band fire. This anniversary tour isn’t just a celebration of an album—it’s proof that great songs never go out of style.

For more on this…

The Album that Set the World on Fire

The Platinum-Selling Gypsy Jazzsters Announce “In the Afterlife” Tour Dates Featuring Hits from the Breakthrough Record

When Hotfirst hit the airwaves in 1996, it didn’t just ignite excitement — it sparked a cultural bonfire. With its infectious blend of swing, jazz, Delta blues, and Southern storytelling, Hot rocketed the Squirrel Nut Zippers from the underground scene of Chapel Hill, NC, to the national stage, achieving Platinum status and defining a generation’s rediscovery of vintage Americana.

Now, three decades later, the Zippers are rekindling that fire with “In the Afterlife” tour dates, a 30^th anniversary celebration of the album that captured lightning in a bottle and cemented the band’s legacy as one of the most original and unpredictable acts of the era.

Tickets for the “In the Afterlife” tour dates are available at https://www.snzippers.com/tourdates.

Recorded in an old farmhouse outside New Orleans, Hot radiated authenticity. The album’s warm analog sound and wry, vivid storytelling made it a critical and commercial success, topping the Billboard 200 for an impressive 51 weeks. The record produced standout tracks such as “Put a Lid On It,” “Blue Angel,” and the band’s biggest hit to date, “Hell.”

“Hell,” an unlikely radio single at the time, defied expectations, climbing to #13 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay Chart and embedding itself in pop culture history. Nearly 30 years later, it continues to resonate with new audiences, recently featured in hit TV series like Wednesday(2025) and Lucifer (2021).

“Hot was pure alchemy — a mix of mischief, melody, and magic,” said bandleader Jimbo Mathus. “It was never meant to chase trends; it was meant to burn bright and last. And somehow, it still does.”

Formed in 1993 by Mathus, Katharine Whalen, and a tight-knit crew of musical misfits, the Squirrel Nut Zippers defied genre from the start. Their sound — a spirited blend of prohibition-era jazz, big band bravado, and punk-rock irreverence — invited listeners into a world where vaudeville met voodoo and speakeasy swagger met Southern soul.

Led today by Mathus, the modern-day Zippers continue to honor that rich legacy while bringing fresh fire to their beloved catalog. The 30th anniversary of Hot is more than a milestone — it’s a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the enduring power of music that swings, sings, and sizzles with soul.

Official “In the Afterlife” tour dates are as follows:

June 18 The Hall Gainesville, GA

June 19 The Grey Eagle Asheville, NC

June 20 Haw River Ballroom Saxapahaw, NC

June 21 Red Wing Roots Festival Mount Solon, VA

July 14 Ravinia Festival Highland Park, IL

Fans old and new can expect a show that’s equal parts celebration and revival — a joyful journey through the sound that started it all.

For the most up-to-date information on the band visit:

www.snzippers.com

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About Squirrel Nut Zippers

The Platinum recording artists have sold over three million albums to-date with their watershed album, Hot (1996), making them a household name. Recorded in the heat of New Orleans, fueled by a smoldering mix of booze and a youthful hunger to unlock the secrets of old-world jazz, this pivotal release was just the beginning for the band.

Since then, SNZ has unveiled such hits as Beasts Of Burgundy (2018), which debuted at #4 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart, and Christmas Caravan (1998), which went on to sell a quarter of a million copies and reach #12 on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart.

Their most recent record Lost Songs of Doc Souchon debuted in late 2020. It featured 10 tracks – a combination of newly-penned Zippers songs, along with a few tunes from past times – and has received acclaim from fans and critics alike.

Since reactivating in mid-2016, SNZ have been performing to packed houses across the country and around the world. As Mathus has said since the band’s re-launch, “it’s not a reunion, it’s a revival.”