Pete Krebs and his Portland Playboys' is the name of a quintet that I started in 2010 in order to play music inspired by the the great Hillbilly Jazz and Western Swing artists of the 40s, 50s and 60s, such as Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Spade Cooley, Jimmy Rivers and Ernest Tubb and his Texas Troubadours.  The band features David Langenes and Ian Miller on lead guitars, Rusty Blake on steel and 'King' Keith Brush on upright bass.  The music is a mix of stompin' jazz and swing, both instrumentals and vocal tunes, very uptempo and very hot.  The three primary soloists, Ian, David and Rusty, remind me of acrobats or flying aces as they weave, spark and fly through the repertoires of Duke Ellington, Red Foley, Django Reinhard and the Delmore Brothers.  We work hard to maintain a timeless quality to the sound and feel of the band, and hope to do justice to the music and the musicians who've inspired and influenced us.  The energy of the Playboys, mixed with the virtuosity of the soloists, makes for a great night out and we constantly find ourselves playing for swing dancers, fans of traditional music and the older generation who remembers this music first-hand.   The band released it's debut CD, 'Early Sessions' in Jan. 2012 on my new label Elko Records, which is available at all of our shows and online via GrindTone Records, Amazon and iTunes.  Recorded in one evening 'live' at a friend's studio, it really captures the sound of the band at it's best. The future looks bright for the Playboys with a busy live schedule anchored by our twice-monthly swing dance at the Secret Society Ballroom here in Portland and future releases on Elko.  C'mon down and shake the shack with us!

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