Credit: Ross HalfinWhile ZZ Top hasn’t released a studio album since 2012’s La Futura, the Texas trio’s frontman, Billy Gibbons, has put out two solo records in the past three years. Gibbons tells ABC Radio that his band mates were “very supportive” when he decided to focus on his latest solo effort, The Big Bad Blues, because it gave them a chance not only to take some time off, but also to work on new ZZ Top material.
“Our arrangement down in Texas, we have two studios with a lounge in the middle,” Billy explains. “And as I was entering studio to the right, I saw [drummer] Frank [Beard] and [bassist] Dusty [Hill] making a beeline into studio on the left.”
Gibbons says that with the upcoming 50th anniversary of the band’s 1969 formation in mind, Beard and Hill “began peeling the onion, and I think that they got some really interesting things to contribute to a new ZZ Top record.”
The 68-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer says his band also is planning a tour celebrating the anniversary, although “[t]he dates have yet to kind of take shape.” ZZ Top does have an eight-show Las Vegas residency scheduled in January and February of 2019, as well as a trio of shows in California around the same time. (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
Gibbons currently is winding down a U.S. solo tour in support of The Big Bad Blues that wraps up November 18 in West Hollywood, California. Billy also will host a couple of special holiday concerts dubbed “The Jungle Show” at Antone’s in Austin, Texas, on December 28 and 29. Gibbons will be joined at those events by Jimmie Vaughan, Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton, blues guitarist Sue Foley and Hammond organ player Mike Flanigin.
Here are Gibbons’ solo shows:
11/9 — Houston, TX, Revention Music Center
11/10 — Fort Worth, TX, Billy Bob’s Texas
11/11 — San Antonio, TX, Aztec Theatre
11/13 — Tempe, AZ, Marquee Theatre
11/15 — Solana Beach, CA, Belly Up Tavern
11/16 — Las Vegas, NV, Brooklyn Bowl
11/18 — West Hollywood, CA, Troubadour
12/28 — Austin, TX, Antone’s
12/29 — Austin, TX, Antone’s
And here are ZZ Top’s confirmed 2019 tour dates:
1/13 — San Jose, CA, City National Civic
1/15 — Modesto, CA, Gallo Center for the Arts
1/18 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
1/19 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
1/20 — Redding, CA, Redding Civic Auditorium
1/22 — Santa Rosa, CA, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
1/23 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
1/25 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
1/26 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
1/30 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
2/1 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
2/2 — Las Vegas, NV, The Venetian Theatre
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