Brian Setzer Names Top Five Songs That Served As His Influences As He Gears Up For February And March 2024 Dates

As BRIAN SETZER gears up to hit the road this spring, the iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, and three-time Grammy Award-winner talked about the five essential songs that served as his inspiration.

Here are BRIAN SETZER's essential five songs that he listens to before shows.

Elvis Presley, “Mystery Train”

“The song that first got me is ‘Mystery Train' by Elvis Presley. And when I heard that guitar, a hand came out of the jukebox and said ‘you're going to play this music!'”

Sammy Masters, “Pink Cadillac”

“I dare anybody to even try and find this song. It's by a guy named Sammy Masters. This is some of the finest guitar playing I've ever heard in any genre. The guitar player's name was Jimmy Bryant.”

Bobby Helms, “Tennessee Rock 'N' Roll”

“Give me some of that ‘Tennessee Rock ‘N' Roll.' How good is this song? And check out the guitar on this one, and the vocal.”

The Clash, “I Fought The Law”

“So in 1979, to be honest with you, music had gotten a bit stale for me. And when this band came out, and I heard this song, I thought ‘Wow! This is what I want.'”

Merle Travis, “Blue Smoke”

“There's a guitar player named Merle Travis. And he was a little bit before Chet Atkins and he invented this style of guitar playing. So for me, this is definitive in my style of playing.”

SETZER's 2024 dates mark his first live shows in four years and follow a busy and successful 2023 with his critically acclaimed THE DEVIL ALWAYS COLLECTS album (released in September 2023). The tour kicks off February 24 in California and includes stops in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin and more before wrapping March 10 in Nebraska (see full itinerary below). Head to www.briansetzer.com for additional information.

BRIAN SETZER's 2024 tour dates

Sat-Feb-24	Lincoln, CA	Thunder Valley Casino Resort
Sun-Feb-25	Oakland, CA	Fox Theater
Tue-Feb-27	Los Angeles, CA	The Wiltern
Wed-Feb-28	Phoenix, AZ	Celebrity Theatre
Fri-Mar-1	Temecula, CA	Pechanga Resort Casino
Sat-Mar-2	Las Vegas, NV	The Pearl
Sun-Mar-3	Tucson, AZ	Fox Tucson Theatre
Tue-Mar-5	Austin, TX	Paramount Theatre
Wed-Mar-6	San Antonio, TX	Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
Thu-Mar-7	Dallas, TX	The Majestic Theatre
Sat-Mar-9	Salina, KS	The Stiefel Theatre
Sun-Mar-10	La Vista, NE	The Astro Theater

ABOUT BRIAN SETZER:

Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and 3-time Grammy award-winner BRIAN SETZER has achieved one career milestone after another. He's sold millions of albums and is a "Musician's Musician" credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles. Setzer is widely credited for taking two forgotten genres, rockabilly and swing, adding his own blend of gunpowder and rockin' style, and completely reinventing and single-handedly resurrecting them in the process. 

Along the way, he has scored chart-topping hits, sold 13 million records and received the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award throughout his decorated career as founder/leader of the Stray Cats, his 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, and as a solo artist. He is consistently cited as one of the world's greatest living guitarists, and has a best-selling, extensive line of elite Gretsch signature model guitars bearing his name.

SETZER is also, fittingly, in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. On the live front, Setzer has headlined venues and festivals worldwide, including a 1983 headlining slot on the iconic US Festival in California, The Playboy Jazz Festival, a three-night, sold-out headlining run at the Hollywood Bowl with the 98-piece Philharmonic Orchestra, Woodstock '99, and performing in front of more than 150,000 people as headliner of the Montreal Jazz Festival.  

His reach also includes films and TV, where his roles include portraying rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran in the 1987 film, La Bamba,  Fox's “Beverly Hills 90210,” among many others, and he is one of the few musicians to be animated in an episode of “The Simpsons” in 2002. That same year, SETZER was personally requested to induct Chet Atkins into the 17th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

SETZER had the honor of being invited in 2006 to perform at the White House for the President of the United States. Also in 2006, he was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame with the Stray Cats. In 2014, SETZER received the distinct honor of being asked by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to donate a replica of his original 1959 Gretsch 6120 “Stray Cat” guitar, joining an elite collection of iconic treasures at the museum.

Photo credit: Tony Nelson

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