Biography of Squirrel Nut Zippers

Part of the late-'90s retro fascination with all things swinging, Squirrel Nut Zippers hark back to a period much earlier than the usual cult of bachelor-pad revivalists. The sextet concentrates on swing music of the '30s, and has gained fans almost as rabid as Phish-heads while playing hot dance music that disappeared almost 50 years ago.Jim Mathus (vocals, guitar) and Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo) were originally students in Chapel Hill, NC, who grew tired of life in the college town and decided to move out into the country. After gaining inspiration from early jazz records, they began playing together with some friends, bassist Don Raleigh and guitarist Ken Mosher. Percussionist Chris Phillips and vocalist/guitarist Tom Maxwell joined not long after, and the Squirrel Nut Zippers (named for a brand of candy) began playing around Chapel Hill. Signed to nearby Mammoth Records, the Zippers delivered The Inevitable in early 1995 and gained a following in alternative circles for their kinetic live shows, where audience members recreated the feel of an early jazz club instead of the indie-hell atmosphere prevalent at most concerts. After replacing Raleigh with Stewart Cole and adding a full-time trumpet player (Je Windenhouse) and fiddler (Andrew Bird), Squirrel Nut Zippers began preparations for their second album. The band traveled to Daniel Lanois' Kingsway Studio in New Orleans, and recorded tracks -- usually live on one take with a minimum of microphones, to recapture the energy of their early heroes -- and released Hot in January 1997. The album made a surprise showing in the charts, cracking the Top 20 and attaining gold status. Mathus began work on his first solo album not long after, a tribute to the roots music of Mississippi. Bird as well has released a solo work, Music of Hair, with contributions from most of the full-time Zippers. ~ John Bush