From Grammys to PBS and Electric Hot Tuna for Milan's Justin Guip

Tune in to PBS Friday night and you will see a Dutchess County musician and sound engineer performing with members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who performed at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969.

Guitarist and vocalist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady were members of Jefferson Airplane, a San Francisco-based band that performed at Woodstock. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and earlier this year was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy.

Milan resident Justin Guip plays drums with Kaukonen and Casady in the band Electric Hot Tuna. He also joined them earlier this year for a musical performance tied to the Grammy honor for Jefferson Airplane.

That performance will be featured Friday night on “Grammy Salute To Music Legends,” which is set for broadcast at 9 p.m. on PBS and will also feature performances by Patti Austin; Earth, Wind & Fire; Herbie Hancock; Naughty By Nature and others.

Guip, 47, is a three-time Grammy winner as a sound engineer and he operates Milan Hill Studio in northern Dutchess. Guip first worked with Kaukonen, a former Ulster County resident, when he engineered, mixed and performed on two songs on Kaukonen’s 2009 CD, “River of Time,” which was recorded in Woodstock. 

Jorma and Jack on tour: Hot Tuna and the Hudson Valley

Guip, who worked extensively with the late Levon Helm, will tour with Electric Hot Tuna in November. Kaukonen and Casady have performed often in Poughkeepsie, at The Chance and Bardavon 1869 Opera House. 

Guip said the power trio format of Electric Hot Tuna “allows us to get really quiet and really loud. There is a lot more room to move around and explore. And it’s a very organic thing. Nothing is ever exactly the same.”

Added Guip, “When it gets big, it gets big. I like that power.”

ALSO: Halloween has yet arrive, never mind Thanksgiving or Christmas, but Daryl’s House in Pawling already has a sold-out crowd for New Year’s Eve. None other than Daryl Hall himself will ring in 2017 at the music venue and restaurant he owns on Route 22.

Hall, a member of Hall and Oates and a former Dutchess County resident, will be backed by the band from his “Live From Daryl’s House” cable television program. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more information on live music for New Year’s Eve in the Hudson Valley.

And please visit www.poughkeepsiejournal.com to watch videos, read stories and view photos of Daryl Hall, Hall and Oates and Daryl’s House in Pawling. 

John W. Barry’s column appears every Friday: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo