THE BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA'S 16TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS ROCKS! TOUR On Sale At Hennepin This Friday

Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and three-time Grammy-Award winner Brian Setzer and his 19-piece ORCHESTRA will tour the country on their 16th annual "Christmas Rocks! Tour," presented for the fifth consecutive year by SiriusXM and Hennepin Theatre Trust. The annual and critically acclaimed holiday extravaganza will launch at the historic State Theatre (805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis) on Friday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. and visit over 20 cities nationwide.

"People tell me all the time what joy I bring them over the holidays," says Brian 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."

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Ave.), charge-by-phone at (800) 982-2787 and online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org.

THE Brian Setzer ORCHESTRA's set list will feature music from the group's three Christmas albums, Boogie Woogie Christmas, Dig That Crazy Christmas and Rockin' Rudolph, as well as original material that spans his 40-year career. 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.

Setzer's legendary career has led him through four critically acclaimed and successful phases from the Stray Cats, to solo albums, the Rockabilly Riot and The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The Brian Setzer Orchestra show seamlessly encompasses music from all these phases. He is a three-time Grammy Award-winner, and 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.

"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 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 four years (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018), THE Brian Setzer ORCHESTRA has had a strong presence across SiriusXM channels during the holidays and has partnered with the audio entertainment company for subscriber-only concerts in New York City and Los Angeles, which have aired on SiriusXM's Outlaw Country and Holly channels. This tradition will continue this year.