Jefferson Airplane founding member, Jorma Kaukonen, announces 85th birthday tour
By Aidin Vaziri – San Francisco Chronicle
8 October 2025 – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, best known as a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, is marking his 85th birthday with a career-spanning U.S. tour featuring an all-star lineup of collaborators and friends.
The tour is scheduled to kick off Nov. 1 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., followed by stops at Carnegie Hall in New York on Nov. 29, before a hometown show at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco set for Dec. 5. The tour ends at Paramount Theatre in Denver on Dec. 13.
He will be joined by longtime Hot Tuna partner Jack Casady, acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Ross Garren, and three-time Grammy winner Justin Guip.
Each city will also feature a rotating cast of special guests, including Steve Earle, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, and G.E. Smith in New York; Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and Bruce Cockburn in San Francisco; and R. Carlos Nakai and David Hidalgo in Denver.
The milestone tour coincides with the release of “Wabash Avenue,” a rare live recording from 1965 capturing one of Kaukonen’s earliest public performances in San Jose — just before he joined Jefferson Airplane.
The album will debut as a Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive on Nov. 28, offering fans a glimpse into his formative years as a blues-influenced guitarist.
Over more than six decades, Kaukonen has remained a revered figure in American roots music, blending folk, blues and rock into a singular sound that has influenced generations.
“Music seemed to me to be the reward for being alive,” he wrote in his 2018 memoir, “Been So Long: My Life and Music.”
Between solo shows, Kaukonen continues touring with Hot Tuna and running his Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp in Ohio, a haven for musicians drawn to his timeless craft.
