Houston’s firebrand blues-rockin’ guitar ace, Jay Hooks, currently on his Tequila and Bullets 2026 Tour, performs locally at Cadillac Zack Presents (at) Maui Sugar Mill, 18389 Ventura Blvd., Monday, June 29. Show: 8:00PM. Tickets: $14.64. Info: (818) 344-0034 or visit www.eventbrite.com/e/the-brazilian-blowout-three-blues-guitar-masters-in-tarzana-tickets-1991160187722.
“Hooks commanded the stage with the confidence of someone who’s earned every bit of his reputation,” writes Kevin Wildman, Publisher of Houston Music News in a review of Hook’s Texas Guitar Showdown event in Houston this past January. “His guitar work was a revelation — a perfect marriage of technical virtuosity and emotional depth. Hooks doesn’t just play the guitar; he makes it sing, cry, scream and whisper, often within the same song.”
Last September Hooks released Tequila & Bullets, his first studio album in years, to wide critical acclaim. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Hooks cut his teeth on Gulf Coast blues, mixing Texas grit with rock-and-roll swagger. Jay toured extensively with Antone’s recording artist Lavelle White, earning his stripes night after night. By the late ‘90s, he was fronting his own band, recording the 1998 Sunburst album Hooked Up with producer Dan Workman. In 1999, Hooks signed with Dutch-based blues powerhouse Provogue Records, releasing Jay Hooks (2000, produced by the late Ben Elliott) and Red Line (2002, produced by Hadden Sayers, featuring Jerry Gaskill of King’s X on drums). Jay’s fiery performances brought him to international stages, including a standout appearance on Germany’s legendary Rockpalast in 2003, solidifying his reputation as one of Texas’ most electrifying exports. “Tequila & Bullets is filled with the same yet somehow improved ferocious guitar wizardry I have long associated with Jay Hooks…from the opening track “Evinrude Boat Motor”, T&B absolutely explodes into your sensory system. Hooks does not play his guitar, he assaults it…the studio that recorded him has done a great job in presenting Hooks just exactly as he is musically: straight forward, in your face, take no prisoners, and if you don’t like it write your congressman!” – Tom Branson/BLUESROCKERS.
Jay Hooks – Tequila & Bullets (Apple Music, Spotify, ITunes,YouTube Music, Pandora, Amazon Music): https://jayhooksband.net/music
(Tarzana CA) – dougdeutschPR