In the late 1990s, it was nearly impossible to turn on the radio or TV and not hear a neo-swing band underscoring a commercial for The Gap or a big box retailer. Swing was everywhere, enjoying a renaissance as unexpected as it was brief. Somewhere in all that hullabaloo was the Squirrel Nut Zippers, whose hit single “Hell” drove their album Hot (Mammoth Records, 1996) into the platinum reaches of the Billboard stratosphere. And then, shortly after the turn of the century, it was all pretty much gone — even the ’Zippers, who were cut from a different cloth than the rest. There were similarities, for sure, but the ’Zippers threw it back to an earlier era — more vaudeville than jump swing, more flapper than Frank Sinatra. Indeed, considering how popular string-band Americana is now, it makes sense that Jimbo Mathus would stage a Squirrel Nut Zipper revival, complete with a new cast of characters and a killer Big Easy-focused album to tour on. Here, Mathus gets deep into the concept album on old Nola — Beasts of Burgundy — how the revival came to pass, and his plans for the future.
