Steve Dawson’s love of pre-WW2 acoustic Hawaiian music has finally found an outlet - The Volcano Brothers! In 2022, Steve and legendary sideman Fats Kaplin started the band with the intention of playing around town. Longtime John Prine bassist, Dave Jacques stepped up to the plate to round out the trio. When Fats’ schedule got too intense, Richard Bennett, also a Hawaiian music junkie, joined the fray as well. The Volcano Brothers pop up regularly for shows around Nashville, and have had friends like Dobro legend Rob Ickes and horn virtuoso Jim Hoke, and of course Fats, when he’s not on the road, join in on the proceedings.

This is sophisticated string band music played on metal-bodied steel guitars, ukulele, and upright bass that is more akin to the hot jazz of the 1920’s and ‘30’s than what comes to mind when most people think of Hawaiian music today. The band brings old classics to life with zippy, soulful renditions of tunes by the likes of Sol Hoopii, Roy Smeck, King Bennie Nawahi, Jim and Bob (The Genial Hawaiians), Irene West’s Royal Hawaiians, The Kalama Quartet and more. For now, the Volcano Brothers are strictly playing around their hometown of Nashville, but who knows what the future may hold... why just last week, in fact, Robert Plant was rumored to have said “Geez, if I didn’t already have a band booked for my birthday party, I’d have the V-Bros!”

Check the Tour page for upcoming dates.

Please email Steve Dawson for booking or further info on The Volcano Brothers.