Blues legend Jimmie Vaughan set to play Kahilu Theatre

WAIMEA — Tickets are on sale now for the Jimmie Vaughan Trio on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019 at 7 p.m.

When it comes to the blues today, there are a handful of guiding lights to make sure the music stays true to its powerful source.

The sound of pleasure and pain that first sparked musicians to create such a sound is a force that can never be underestimated. For Jimmie Vaughan, he’s dedicated his life to making sure the blues not only stays alive, but remains full of life and an inspiration to all who listen. It’s a spirit he holds close to him, and after 50, Vaughan isn’t about to stop now.

“Playing what you feel has always been my main goal,” Vaughan said.

Considering the Texas guitarist and singer has had the kind of career that makes him a living legacy, those are no idle words. His first group when he was starting high school played Dallas’ Hob Knob Lounge six nights a week, learning the kind of lessons that can’t be taught.

Other bands in the ’60s convinced the young man it was time to find a way to play the music he felt the strongest about: the blues. Jimmie Vaughan started in the lead, and has remained there.

After worldwide success with the Fabulous Thunderbirds during the ’80s, it came time to leave that band and build his own path in exploring different approaches to the blues. He did not hesitate. And what Vaughan discovered was that he could take it anywhere; there were no boundaries.

“I wanted to find out what I could really do,” he said in a press release promoting the Jimmie Vaughan Trio show set to perform at 7 p.m. at the Kahilu Theatre on Aug. 17. “And when I started singing it gave me a whole new side to explore. When I was young I didn’t really pay much attention to categories of music. I just heard what I liked and decided to explore that. And that’s really what I’m still doing.”

Years later, Jimmie stopped into a club in Austin to hear Mike Flanigin (organist) and Barry “Frosty” Smith (drums) play.

“When I heard Mike Flanigin and Frosty play, it made me want to get back into that organ trio sound that I loved from the ’60s,” Vaughn is quoted as saying.

Soon after, when Jimmie wasn’t on the road, he began sitting in with them, and it became the cool thing to catch in Austin. And so the Jimmie Vaughan Trio was born. Frosty Smith passed away shortly after the trio recorded their first album “Live at C-Boy’s” in 2017. Replacing Smith on drums is world-renowned percussionist Rudy Petschauer. With Flanigin on the organ and Petschauer on drums, the Jimmie Vaughan Trio is an unstoppable blues machine.

As bandleader, singer and guitarist, Jimmie Vaughan is a master of how everything is captured for posterity. His singing voice has grown into a study in strength. And while sometimes he might say, “Sometimes you can sing and sometimes you can’t,” like everything else the Texan touches, Vaughan knows when it’s right and never stops until it is.

He has always looked to his soul as the ultimate barometer of when the music is right, and when that is satisfied Vaughan knows he has found that spot where the music is ready to be shared.

Tickets are $65/$45/$25 and can be purchased at kahilutheatre.org, (808) 885-6868 or at the Kahilu Theatre Box Office located at 67-1186 Lindsey Road in Waimea.