Tom Rigney and Flambeau

21+ Bar opens one hour before showtime. Show starts at 7:30 pm. 

Tom Rigney is one of the premier Roots Music fiddle players on the planet. His band - Tom Rigney and Flambeau - specializes in blazing Cajun two-steps, low-down Blues, funky New Orleans grooves, Boogie Woogie piano, and heartbreakingly beautiful ballads and waltzes. Much of the repertoire is composed by Rigney, but they mix in a few classics from the Cajun/New Orleans songbook. Along the way you may pick up a trace of Rigney’s Irish roots, or echoes of Eastern Europe - it just makes the musical gumbo that much tastier.    

Flambeau showcases Rigney’s fiery, virtuoso fiddling, his charismatic stage presence, and his range and originality as a composer. He and Flambeau have forged a unique sound that blends American Roots styles into something original and HOT - mixing irresistible grooves with deep musicality and spectacular soloing. Rigney’s high-energy showmanship pulls the audience into his performances and makes them feel they are a part of the music and the show. 

See them live at Almost Famous Wine Lounge, an award-winning, new tasting room and venue located on Vasco Road in the heart of Livermore's wine, spirits and brewery district. Almost Famous Wine makes fifteen wines in diverse styles, and earned over 50 top industry awards since our debut in 2021.

ABOUT TOM RIGNEY & FLAMBEAU

Tom Rigney has been a part of the San Francisco Bay Area roots music scene for more than thirty-five years. In 2000, after fifteen years as the leader and electrifying violinist of The Sundogs, fiddler/composer Tom Rigney stepped out on his own with a hot new band, Flambeau. The repertoire is original, eclectic, passionate, and filled with a musical and emotional intensity that will come as no surprise to followers of Rigney’s career.   

The son of baseball great, Bill Rigney, Tom is a native of the Bay Area. His musical career began after he finished his graduate studies at Harvard University, where he received a Masters degree in Fine Arts.

Tom first rose to prominence in the music scene as the leader/fiddler of the legendary Bluegrass/Western Swing band, Back in the Saddle. He won a Bammie award in 1981 for the band’s debut recording. He also wrote their hit song, “Time and Again”, which rode the country music charts in the Bay Area for many weeks, no small achievement for an independent release.

After the demise of Back in the Saddle, Tom joined Queen Ida’s Bon Temps Zydeco Band and toured the world with the Queen in 1983 and 1984. It was at this time that he developed a love of South Louisiana dance music (Cajun, zydeco, and New Orleans second line grooves). These styles formed a major ingredient in the sound of his next band, The Sundogs. Teaming with songwriter Joe Paquin and slide guitarist T.J. Politzer, Tom and The Sundogs performed and recorded together for fifteen years. They released seven CD’s (and even an LP!), including two on the Rounder label. Their last recording, “Dancing Room Only”, spent eight weeks on the Americana Radio charts nationally. They toured extensively across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, performing at numerous major festivals and concerts and at more dances and nightclubs than anyone cares to remember. Their sound was a scorching blend of Cajun, blues, and roots Rock and Roll--original Americana music that struck a nerve with audiences all over the globe.

And now, with the broadening and deepening of his composing skills, and the refinement of his virtuoso technique on the violin, Tom Rigney steps out as the focal point of Flambeau, and as the creator of most of the band's music. The strong Cajun/zydeco influence is still present, as are the irresistible dance grooves that have been his specialty for twenty years. But there is also a deepening of the emotional range of his music and a concentration on creating moving and memorable melodies in a wide range of styles--he has literally become a “singer” on the violin. The music bursts with the energy of the bayou one minute, turns passionate with a gypsy tune the next; it can raise the roof with a Celtic reel and then touch the heart with a beautiful waltz; it can drive deep into the heart of the Blues or evoke echoes of Eastern Europe or the coast of Spain.

In 1998, Tom released the critically-acclaimed “Chasing the Devil” on the Parhelion label. In 2000, he released Flambeau's debut CD, “Red Boots and Rice”. Since then, Rigney has recorded and released a new CD (or DVD video) every year--from "Happy to be Here", Flambeau's rockin' 2003 release that spent weeks on the Americana radio chart; to "Metamorphosis", Rigney's highly eclectic (and highly-acclaimed) all-instrumental album; to the DVD video/CD combination "Live at the Throckmorton Theatre" (2006), to three all-blues CDs--"A Blue Thing" (2007), "Back Porch Blues" (2009), "Don't Fight It" (2011)--each of which climbed to Number 1 on the XM/Sirius Satellite Radio Bluesville Chart; to the latest Flambeau CD, "You're the One" (2012), which received serious airplay from Americana programmers all over the country.

There is no question that Rigney has become one of the premier blues and roots music violinists in the world, and continues to be a prolific composer of powerfully compelling music for the violin, music whose influences come from an extremely wide range of musical styles within the broad boundaries of American Roots Music. As a composer, as a violinist, as a band leader, Tom Rigney is a true American original. 

VENUE INFORMATION

There is a two drink minimum for each guest. With a menu of 15 wines in diverse styles and sophisticated non-alcoholic options, there's something for everyone.

Set times and ticket prices are subject to change, and sales are final.

Dancing is encouraged at Almost Famous, and usually takes place in front of and to the side of the stage. If a dance party breaks out, we cannot guarantee a completely unobstructed view to those sitting in the bistro table seats.

Please visit www.almostfamous.wine for our other venue policies.

Host or Publisher Almost Famous Wine Company