Hot Tuna guitarist looking forward to Las Cruces concert

EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) — Renowned guitarist Jorma Kaukonen is looking forward to taking the stage with his Hot Tuna bandmate Jack Casady in Las Cruces over 50 years later.

Kaukonen and Casady are stopping along their tour to Atkinson Recital Hall on Monday, Oct. 7.

Hot Tuna is a product of Kaukonen and Casady who earned themselves a spot in the Hall of Fame with their band Jefferson Airplane, which they performed under when visiting the Borderland last time.

With a decades-long musical career, a Grammy nomination, and a title of Top 100 greatest guitarists by The Rolling Stone, Kaukonen does not go a day without picking up his guitar.

In his full interview with KTSM 9 News anchor Karla Draksler, he reveals where he still drains his motivation from.

“When I was just starting to learn to play guitar, when I was a kid, I just really I enjoyed performing. And people say, do you have stage fright? I think we I think all of us get a little antsy before you go and say, but that’s not stage fright. That’s just the excitement of finding your environment and making it your home when you get on a stage. So, even when I probably shouldn’t have played in front of other people, I really like doing it, you know? To be able to get that energy exchange that you have with a good audience, you can’t replicate that,” explained Kaukonen.

He also shared a message for young artists and his audience in Las Cruces.

“If you if you’re an artist, just keep on loving what it is you do. And, you know, in terms of people are they’re going to come to see us play. They’ll see a couple of guys that can still play really well, if I do say so myself. We try to keep it fresh in a lot of ways,” said Kaukonen.

You can still get your tickets for the concert here.

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