Since its beginnings in the late 1990s, the Hot Club of Cowtown's star has continued to rise as its reputation for jaw-dropping virtuosity and unforgettable live shows has become the band's global brand. Lauded for its "down-home melodies and exuberant improvisation" (The Times, London), the Hot Club has always woven a combination of seemingly disparate styles together to its own magical effect, setting up camp "at that crossroads where country meets jazz and chases the blues away" (The Independent), remaining "conscious always that above all else, the music is for dancing and an old-fashioned good time" (New York Times). The band's musical alchemy has been described as "another breathless journey in the Texas tardis" (The Times, London), while American Songwriter observed that "the excellent three players of this band could be doing anything but have chosen to honor the greats of jazz and swing with their sound." The Belfast Telegraph calls the Hot Club of Cowtown "a pretty much perfect country trio at the very top of their game."
Hot Club of Cowtown has toured extensively worldwide for over twenty years, both on its own and with with artists including Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Gatemouth Brown, the Avett Brothers, Dan Hicks, Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, the Squirrell Nut Zippers, the Mavericks, the Dustbowl Revival, and others. They have played at festivals all over the world; traveled as US State Department Musical Ambassadors to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Algeria, the Republic of Georgia, and the Sultanate of Oman; and were inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame.
Hot Club of Cowtown's latest studio album, Wild Kingdom, a collection of all new songs–eleven originals and three hand-picked standards–was released worldwide in September 2019.
"Steeped in Western Swing, gipsy jazz and country music, their unique sound, virtuoso playing and spectacular live shows are now legendary."
— Eilís Boland, Lonesome Highway
"Austin trio Hot Club Of Cowtown sounds like it's spent the last 40 years in tiny rural clubs. The group's old-fashioned mixture of Western swing and hot jazz leaves all the irony at home, and what's left is a refreshingly sweet-natured, accomplished, old-school treat, mixing the perky rhythms of swing masters like Bob Wills with the European gypsy music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli."
— The Onion
"Unfussy and unpretentious, their blend of down-home melodies and exuberant improvisation harks back to a lost era of so-called western swing. When they plunge into 'Orange Blossom Special' your thoughts turn not so much to runaway trains as to a B-52 tearing up a runway."
— Clive Davis, The Times (London)
"While its repertoire and style draw from classic western swing and hot violin/guitar jazz of the Parisian 1930s and '40s, it's one of the most original groups on the Americana circuit, deserving of attention both live and on record."
— Craig Havighurst, Nashville Tennessean