SWING SHIFT

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy bringing holiday tour to ABQ

The holidays are a great time for Kurt Sodergren.

The musician enjoys time with his family as well as heading out on tour.

“We always do a holiday tour,” he says during a recent phone interview. “The entire band enjoys the holiday season. We’ve even released a few holiday albums. It’s just fun to be out on the road.”

Sodergren is a member of the California-based band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

The band is marking its 23rd year in the music industry.

Since its formation in the early 1990s in Ventura, Calif., the band has toured virtually nonstop, performing on average over 150 shows a year, and has produced a sizable catalog of recorded music, with sales of over two million albums to date.

The band, co-founded by singer Scotty Morris and Sodergren, was at the forefront of the swing revival of the early ’90s, creating a vibrant fusion of the classic American sounds of jazz, swing and Dixieland, with the energy and spirit of contemporary culture.

The band is rounded out by Dirk Shumaker, Andy Rowley, Glen “The Kid” Marhevka, Karl Hunter, Joshua Levy, as well as touring members Anthony Bonsera Jr. and Alex Henderson.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s first phase of stardom featured an appearance in the 1996 indie film “Swingers,” a movie that not only launched the careers of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, but introduced Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to an audience beyond the band’s Southern California base.

“That movie was what helped us become a little more mainstream,” he says. “It’s crazy to watch the film now and see how much we have grown as a band.”

Sodergren says the band arranges all of its own music now, which is a nice challenge for all of its members.

And the band will embark on another tour early next year for its upcoming album.

“We recorded a tribute album to Louis Jordan, Louis Prima and Louis Armstrong,” he says. “These musicians have a great impact on the band.”