Wednesday, December 16, 2026 $82 Advance | $84 Day of Show Doors 7pm | Show 8pm For more than three decades, the Squirrel Nut Zippers have occupied a musical universe entirely their own. Blending the hot jazz of 1920s New Orleans, Southern roots music, vaudeville, blues, folk traditions, and a healthy dose of irreverent showmanship, the band emerged from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the mid-1990s and quickly became one of the most distinctive and unexpected success stories of the era. Founded by Jimbo Mathus, Katherine Whalen, and Chris Phillips, the Squirrel Nut Zippers began as a musical antidote to the alternative rock and grunge dominating the airwaves. Their wildly inventive sound—equal parts jazz revival, Americana, and carnival spectacle—captured the imagination of audiences looking for something entirely different. That difference paid off in a big way. The band's 1996 breakthrough album Hot became a platinum-certified phenomenon, spawning the hit single "Hell," which climbed to #13 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay Chart, and propelled the Zippers from cult favorites to national stars. More than three million albums sold followed, along with appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, Sesame Street, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. They performed at Carnegie Hall with Tony […]
