The show is free. Details are up in the Tour section of the site along with more dates Jon is playing with Neko Case in July, with special guest Kelly Hogan.

Oh Sweet Margarita of Cascia, Patron Saint of Lost Causes, we beseech thee! Make the world safe for instrumental music once again! Is there no room for swank little numbers uncluttered by the human voice? Time was when the radio waves were littered with songs that eschewed the crutch of vocals: Tequila, Sleepwalk, Popcorn, Green Onions, The Rumble, Walk-Don’t Run. Hell, even the themes to The Rockford Files and Taxi cracked the pop charts. Why then? Why not now?

Jon Rauhouse, god love ‘em, is not one to give up this quixotic quest so easily. The pedal steel/Hawaiian wizard, who has contributed his alternately swashbuckling and swoony stylings to recordings by-among others– Calexico, Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Giant Sand, Sally Timms and the Waco Brothers, lets fly his third CD, Steel Guitar Heart Attack. Hitting all the hotspots and g-spots between Harlingen and Honolulu, Jon and his band (featuring Calexico and Jon’s longtime guitarist/ co-conspirator Tommy Connell) swing, sigh, giggle and charm their way into even those with hearts of tar.

As a concession to the whims of those in need of a human voice every now and again, there are performances by a few of the top notch singers of our day: Neko Case (“East of the Sun”), Kelly Hogan (“Big Iron”), Rachel Flotard of Visqueen (“Harbor Lights”) and Sally Timms (“I’ll Be Seeing You”). These ladies’ll melt the ice in anyone’s punchbowl. Jon even steps to the mic for one (the theme to the Andy Griffith Show “The Fishing Hole”—betcha didn’t know it had lyrics, didya?)

The rest of the album is pure instrumental magic. Woozy, dreamy songs that’ll set your mind to sailing into the sunset, happy hour, or the arms of your Polynesian princess. Beguiling melodies that take us to “Idaho,” the “Hood Canal,” and the “Girls of Pajama Hill” (who hasn’t wanted to go there?) or provide the perfect wordless soundtrack when you want to wet your line or wet your whistle. Everything from country classics to the theme song from Mannix. That’s called versatility, my friends. There’s even a banjo number that shows Jon can play stuff standing up, too (note: we cannot absolutely confirm that he was standing when this was recorded). And with some songs clocking it at a 1:50, Jon can bring it with Ramones-like brevity, but with class.

Steel Guitar Heart Attack is Jon’s third solo CD, following Steel Guitar Air Show (2002) and Steel Guitar Rodeo (2004). Why “Heart Attack?” Well, Jon started noticing chest pains when carrying his amp. Seems he had something known as a Widowmaker Lesion and critical blockages in major arteries from his heart. Emergency procedures, angiograms, catheterizations and stents followed. We are happy to report that all is well now; with his heart fixed, he can re-focus on saving the instrumental.

Jon Rauhouse’s Steel Guitar Heart Attack shows us all that you don’t need words, man, you just need a good rhythm while you’ve got the gin in the shaker.

Bloodshot Press Release

Track List

1. Idaho
2. Bongo Ride
3. I’ll Be Seeing You
4. 5 After 5
5. Drinkin’ & Smokin’
6. Harbor Lights
7. Mannix
8. Grief
9. Everybody Loves the Sun
10. Ballad of the Black Chihuahua
11. East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)
12. Begin the Beguine
13. Holiday for Strings
14. Hood Canal
15. Girls of Pajama Hill
16. Big Iron
17. Red Pollard
18. The Fishin’ Hole

The response to Jon Rauhouse’s first CD was soooo strong, we couldn’t stop him from making another. Who would have thought that a record replete with pedal steel and Hawaiian guitar classics would stand a chance in the techno-crazy new millenium? Maybe people miss records that contain actual MUSICIANS. Maybe they like the fact that even grandmaw will want to get down to this stuff and get off your back about all that “noise” you normally pollute your ears with.

Whatever the case, Jon and his gang are back with another installment that will most assuredly put a smile on your face and a beat in your feet. More classics like “Indian Love Call,” “Smoke Rings,” “Perry Mason Theme” and the Raymond Scott, hard as hell to play, you know it from Warner Brothers cartoons “Powerhouse,” a handful of originals, and, for those who just NEED the sound of a human voice, guest vocalists Neko Case, Sally Timms, Howe Gelb (Giant Sand), and Kelly Hogan. “Steel Guitar Rodeo” kicks up some dust, my friends. Help Jon and the gang end the unfair prejudice against instrumentals. This is THE record for dusting off the high-balls, putting a John Wayne DVD in the player, swapping lies about your visit to the Playboy Mansion, and dreaming of faraway scantily clad native gals running down white sand beaches. And remember, go easy on the vermouth, Dino and Don Ho would have wanted it that way.

Track List

1. Introduction
2. Widowmaker
3. Smoke Rings
4. Powerhouse
5. River Of No Return
6. Ropin’ The Goat
7. Wishin’
8. Roaches To Room Service
9. Hamma Hamma Hula
10. (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover
11. Perry Mason Theme
12. Indian Love Call
13. Prisoner Of Love
14. Jennifer’s Breakdown
15. Work Work
16. Swingin’ Elephant Graveyard
17. Corn & Coffee
18. Moa Lei’ a ‘i

Back in the day, when musicianship was still valued by the music industry, any respectable record collection had more than a few instrumental records. These records were perfect for stacking on the LP. They were good for dinner music, wiling away the hours or even better, getting busy. That’s right, grandma and grandpa were putting that Jackie Gleason record on AFTER they turned off the Lawrence Welk show.

Above all this music was fun. And its that spirit of fun that is captured on “Steel Guitar Air Show” We tried to convince Jon that the lounge revival was over. Undaunted, he donned his smoking jacket and broke out his pick and slide. Chock fill of classics like Perfidia, the Lonely Bull, and Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie, a mix of spunky originals and guest stars like Neko Case, Sally Timms, Calexico and more, it’s part Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant back from the grave and part Esquivel wearing spurs. Add up all these parts, throw in the unquestionable technical mastery of one tricky instrument and “Steel Guitar Air Show” will guarantee your next dinner party or lazy afternoon won’t crash and burn.

It is, simply put, the last word in tiki-inflected, spaghetti western, when’s-the-Rat-Pack-showin’-up? geezer rock. We highly recommend mixing a pitcher of Mai Tais, slipping into those silk pajamas (you know, the ones with the little horsies and ukeleles on them), turn up the heat to 85 degrees, and get real, REAL gone. Seriously, if you can listen to this record without being put in a better mood, without a content, distant smile creeping up on you, you should see a specialist. Really.

Track List

1. The Glow Worm
2. F86
3. The World Is Waiting For A Sunrise
4. Circle the Wagons Babe
5. Who’s the Baddie? Says Alan Laddie
6. Hula Blues
7. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
8. The Lonely Bull
9. Beer & Lettuce
10. Summer Samba
11. Perfidia
12. Choo Cho Ch’ Boogie
13. Homie’s Parade
14. Agent Burns (Theme)
15. Can ‘O’ Corn
16. Million Dollar Mermaid

Of course Jon will be there. So should you…

On some of the days off from this tour Neko will be headlining a few dates.

All details available are up in the “On Tour” page of the site – listed under “Tour: Got A Day Off Tour”.

There are also a couple of My Morning Jacket dates added since the last update.

Jon is out with Neko Case again during June and July to add to the dates already up for the My Morning Jacket tour in August.

As per usual the details are all up in the “On Tour” section of the site.

Jon should be along for the fun. The dates are up in the “On Tour” section, some of it’s a bit sketchy at the moment as tickets are on sale yet for some dates, so don’t know prices, age restrictions etc. Most tickets should be on sale by about the 21st of May and there should be more details on the venue sites linked then.