SiriusXM Presents The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s 'Christmas Rocks! Tour' at Ovens Auditorium on Dec. 1

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 19, 2018) – Ovens Auditorium will host The Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Christmas Rocks! Tour" on Saturday, December 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale on tomorrow, Friday, July 20 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000, at all Ticketmaster outlets or at the Bojangles' Coliseum Box Office located at 2700 E. Independence Blvd. Tickets cost between $49.50 and $69.50 (plus applicable service charges) and are subject to change.

Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and three-time Grammy-Award winner Brian Setzler and his 19-piece orchestra have announced the details for their 15th anniversary “Christmas Rocks! Tour,” presented for the fourth consecutive year by SiriusXM. Hitting 25 cities, the annual holiday extravaganza will launch November 16 at the State Theatre in Setzer’s adopted hometown of Minneapolis and wrap December 22 in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater (full itinerary below). The public on sale date is Friday, July 20 at 10 a.m. local time.

“People tell me all the time what joy I bring them over the holidays,” says Setzer. “I don't take this for granted. People don't say something like that unless they mean it. When we get a standing ovation at the end of the Christmas show, it means something just a little extra.”

The group’s set list will feature music off their latest Christmas album "Rockin' Rudolph" (available now as a limited-edition box set, CD, vinyl or download), plus music off their three previous best-selling holiday albums and original material from Brian Setzler. Setzer’s trademark guitar work and vocal stylings will be matched with his 19-piece orchestra’s rockin’ big-band horn arrangements, making for a reliably unbeatable combination. View the Christmas sizzle reel here: https://youtu.be/6NXEa29BMqk.

Brian Setzer belongs to an elite group of artists who has had four super successful phases of his career from the Stray Cats, to solo albums, the Rockabilly Riot and BSO. The BSO show seamlessly encompasses music from all these phases. “The music I play in the big band is rock n’ roll with a jazz influence,” says Setzer. “What keeps it fresh is the quality of the players in the band. Also, a big part of keeping the big band fresh is the arrangements; writing the arrangement for 18-19 people is like writing a song within a song. It makes the song you might have heard many times sound new again.”

For the past three years (2015, 2016 and 2017), The Brian Setzer Orchestra has had a strong presence on SiriusXM during the holidays. They’ve performed exclusive invitation-only concerts for SiriusXM listeners in New York City and Los Angeles which aired on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country and Holly channels, a tradition that will continue this year (date and location TBA).

Visit briansetzer.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

About Brian Setzer

Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and 3-time Grammy-award-winner Brian Setzer is a "Musician's Musician" credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles. Setzer is widely credited for taking two forgotten genres, rockabilly and swing, adding his own blend of gunpowder and rockin' style, and completely reinventing and single-handedly resurrecting them in the process. Along the way, he has scored chart-topping hits, sold 13 million records and received the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award throughout his decorated career as founder/leader of the Stray Cats, his 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, and as a solo artist. He is consistently cited as one of the world’s greatest living guitarists, and has a best-selling, extensive line of elite Gretsch signature model guitars bearing his name. Brian appeared in the 1987 film, La Bamba, portraying rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran. In 2002, Brian earned the privilege of being one of the few musicians to be animated in an episode of “The Simpsons.” That same year, Setzer was personally requested to induct Chet Atkins into the 17th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Setzer had the honor of being invited in 2006 to perform at the White House for the President of the United States. In 2014, Setzer received the distinct honor of being asked by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to donate a replica of his original 1959 Gretsch 6120 “Stray Cat” guitar, joining an elite collection of iconic treasures at the museum.

About Ovens Auditorium
Ovens Auditorium, located adjacent to Bojangles' Coliseum, opened in 1955. With a seating capacity of approximately 2,400, Ovens has hosted more than 7,000 events including Broadway shows, symphony concerts, operas, dance recitals and nationally known speakers. For more information, visit ovensauditorium.com.