In 2005, the couple traded living by the ocean for the Minneapolis loft. I fell in love with the city and liked the whole Minneapolis scene.” “We were living in California, and we kept going back and forth to visit her family. “I married my Minnesota gal, Julie,” he said. He met Reiten, a singer for the Twin Cities band the Dust Bunnies, in Los Angeles when she auditioned as a vocalist for the Brian Setzer Orchestra.īrian Setzer, former Stray Cat and frontman of the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Then he revived big-band swing music with the Brian Setzer Orchestra in the 1990s. Setzer, known for his ’50s-style blond pompadour and masterful guitar playing, founded the rockabilly revival band the Stray Cats, which produced hits such as “Stray Cat Strut” and “Rock This Town” in the 1980s. “My hobby is working on hot rods and motorcycles,” he said. They’re moving to a western suburb where Reiten will have a yard for gardening and space for an art studio - and Setzer will have a three-car garage. “It’s the prettiest nightlight you could have.”īut after eight years there, Setzer and Reiten are selling their condo in the North Loop neighborhood, which is within walking distance of restaurants, nightlife haunts and Target Field. “We leave the curtains open in the living room,” he said during a phone interview while on tour with the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s Christmas show, which included a gig last month at the Orpheum Theatre. He even posed with his signature Gretsch guitar in front of the downtown Minneapolis skyline on his rooftop patio for the cover of his 2009 album, “Songs From Lonely Avenue.” Setzer would have friends over and “rock the heck” out of the top-floor unit. But I’m not losing any sleep over it.Guitarist Brian Setzer and his wife, Julie Reiten, felt right at home in their aptly named Rock Island Lofts.
My guitar’s in the Smithsonian, but I think Stray Cats should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, yeah. I honestly don’t know how those things work. Is that something you want to see happen? The Stray Cats are not yet in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. … I remember cutting “Runaway Boys” and “Rock This Town,” and when we played them back, we had nailed it. Dave Edmunds wanted to get a clean sound, not too distorted, but not too clean. Lee was a fantastic bass player, but we wanted to get that slap and the volume. People played the standup bass in the Fifties, but it had been neglected for 40 years. And what I remember was really working on getting the bass sound because the bass was such an integral part to rockabilly. It was a studio that is not there anymore. I remember the session because it was in London. Speaking of the Stray Cats, the single release of “Rock This Town” turns 40 years old next year. “Drip Drop” is a bossa nova love song, “Turn You On, Turn Me On” mines a Bo Diddley chunka-chunka beat, and “Rockabilly Banjo” pays tribute to Glen Campbell, whose Seventies variety show Setzer absorbed as a kid. That energy comes across throughout the LP’s 11 tracks, all of them recorded remotely with Nashville producer Julian Raymond. Many of the songs on Gotta Have the Rumble, released in August, were written while Setzer was out on his adrenaline rides. We’ve got beautiful country roads up here in Minnesota, and everybody needs something to kind of clear their head.” “That’s a pretty amazing ride, though.”Īt 62, Setzer remains loyal to muscle cars and rumbling bikes, and both underscore his image as a rockabilly icon.
“No, no, no,” Setzer laughs when asked the question. In other words, there’s no Tesla parked in the driveway of his Minnesota home. His latest, Gotta Have the Rumble, is no exception - it opens with the one-two punch of the racer’s taunt “Checkered Flag” and the noir-ish “Smash Up on Highway One.” But the singer, guitarist, and co-founder of rockabilly heroes the Stray Cats favors a particular kind of car. Car songs are a must on any Brian Setzer album.
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