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<p>If Santa Claus wore dark shades and a black leather jacket, and the elves kept their cigarettes rolled up in the sleeves of their white T-shirts, they&#8217;d play the kind of Christmas music that Brian Setzer churns out every holiday season. The ultra-cool master of rockabilly and swing has a penchant for yuletide tunes, and he&#8217;ll be bringing his hip versions of traditional songs to Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The Brian Setzer Orchestra is coming to the F.M. Kirby Center on Nov. 25 as part of the 12th Annual Christmas Rocks! Tour, and the 19-piece band will be playing songs from its first studio Christmas album in a decade, &#8220;Rockin&#8217; Rudolph,&#8221; as well as selections from three previous holiday records.</p><p>Setzer is a three time Grammy Award-winner who is best known for his revival of rockabilly music in the &#8217;80s with the Stray Cats and swing music in the &#8217;90s with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. He is widely known for his blinding guitar work. He was given a Gibson lifetime achievement award in 1999, and in 2014 he was asked to donate a replica of his 1959 Gretsch 6120 &#8220;Stray Cat&#8221; guitar to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.</p><p>His prowess as a player has made several genres of music accessible to new listeners, and he talked about why he enjoys performing Christmas music.</p><p>&#8220;The songs are classic songs,&#8221; Setzer said. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t like you&#8217;re stuck with a bunch of lemons to work with. They&#8217;re great songs, and for some reason people like the way I do them.&#8221;</p><p>The orchestra, Setzer explained, has added a piano to the previously 18-player lineup this year, and he called the band one of a kind.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re the top, top musicians,&#8221; Setzer said. &#8220;I let those guys blow a solo, and it blows me away. It&#8217;s a very enjoyable band to bring out.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Rockin&#8217; Rudolph&#8221; is a collection of newly arranged Christmas songs that Setzer and the orchestra have never delved into. The album includes highlights like &#8220;Rockabilly Rudolph,&#8221; &#8220;Yabba-Dabba-Yuletide,&#8221; and &#8220;Rockin&#8217; Around the Christmas Tree,&#8221; as well as several other swinging versions of holiday classics.</p><p>Setzer talked about taking songs people know and love and making them something that displays his creativity and style.</p><p>&#8220;It just has to happen to you,&#8221; Setzer said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t think about it too much. You don&#8217;t want to make the song unrecognizable, but on the other hand, if I want to play &#8220;Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer&#8221; the original way, it&#8217;d be like the Gene Autry version, the cowboy song.&#8221;</p><p>The rockabilly composer explained how his version of Rudolph came about.</p><p>&#8220;Rudolph, I just started playing on stage one day on a sound check, and I played this rockabilly &#8230; &#8216;chuga-chuga, chuga-chuga &#8230; Rudolph,&#8217; and I made it in a minor key, so right away that&#8217;s right down Brian boulevard,&#8221; Setzer said. &#8220;That&#8217;s Rudolph in a hotrod going down a dark alley.&#8221;</p><p>The Brian Setzer Orchestra will go on at 8 p.m. on Nov. 25. Ticket prices range from $46 to $66, and tickets are available by visiting <a href="http://www.kirbycenter.org">www.kirbycenter.org</a>.</p><p>Setzer said the set list for this year&#8217;s tour will be a surprise as he is unsure of what songs from the new album will replace tunes from previous tours.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m still kind of grappling with it, because to drop songs at this point &#8230; I can&#8217;t drop &#8216;Rock This Town,&#8217;&#8221; he said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t drop &#8216;Jingle Bells.&#8217; It&#8217;s hard to decide what to lose and what to put in.&#8221;</p><p>The enthusiastic frontman, who recently put out an album of rockabilly originals called &#8220;Rockabilly Riot,&#8221; said although the holiday tour features predominantly Christmas music, other songs make their way into the set.</p><p>&#8220;I do a little breakdown in the middle of the set, and because I have a piano this year, I&#8217;m going to throw some stuff in the middle that&#8217;s not Christmas related, just some fun rockabilly stuff,&#8221; Setzer said.</p><p>He also addressed the experience of leading a band as big as the orchestra.</p><p>&#8220;It feels like you&#8217;ve got a locomotive behind you,&#8221; Setzer said. &#8220;It&#8217;s awesome, and it&#8217;s so musical.&#8221;</p><p>While Setzer said the experience of playing with the band throughout the whole set, he noted a song he particularly enjoys playing during Christmas tours.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s always favorites that you look forward to playing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s usually something based around the guitar, something I can wrangle a new solo out of. I really like &#8220;Angels We Have Heard On High,&#8221; because it&#8217;s such a hodgepodge. My gosh, that song&#8217;s got everything in it. We&#8217;ve got a choir in there. We&#8217;ve got me playing a Buddy Holly, &#8216;I Fought The Law&#8217; lick, and then I play some melody chords &#8230; That&#8217;s a lot of fun.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Brian Setzer will lead his 19-piece orchestra on Nov. 25 at the F.M. Kirby Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_BrianSetzer1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Brian Setzer will lead his 19-piece orchestra on Nov. 25 at the F.M. Kirby Center. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_BSOrchestra1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Setzer on stage during a past performance with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_BSOrchestra1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Setzer on stage during a past performance with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photos </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_RockinRudolph1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">&#8220;Rockin&#8217; Rudolph&#8221; is the first studio Christmas album from Setzer in a decade. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_RockinRudolph1.jpg</photo2><caption2>&#8220;Rockin&#8217; Rudolph&#8221; is the first studio Christmas album from Setzer in a decade. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photos </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>King of rockabilly and swing bringing Christmas Rocks! Tour to Wilkes-Barre</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

The Brian Setzer Orchestra to perform at F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Christmas Rocks! Tour