Wanda Jackson Coming to The Dakota

Wanda Jackson comes to town to light things up

 

I’m not sure how many artists can claim to have worked alongside both Elvis Presley and former White Stripes frontman Jack White—a testament to the talent and genre-spanning career of Oklahoma’s Wanda Jackson. (I’m also pretty sure that the number of women whom Bob Dylan has described as “an atomic fireball of a lady” is similarly small, but I’m less positive about that one.)

Photo courtesy of WJE

Her career began in the 1950s, combining cool glamour with a back and forth between rockabilly and country—not unlike Elvis, with whom she toured in 1955. In the years since, new audiences have regularly cropped up to discover her unique mix of sly sultriness, charisma, and good-time tunes such as “Let’s Have a Party.”

Photo courtesy of WJE

Now in her seventies, Jackson is still on the road and releasing new records, having been touted by everyone from Adele to Cyndi Lauper to Bruce Springsteen. She’s called the Queen of Rockabilly but on this tour is playing country and gospel as well. This is a chance to see someone who has been both an early influencer of just about every form of popular music as well as a bad-ass performer who has written, belted, and endured her way into any proper and complete description of that thing called rock.

Wanda Jackson • The Dakota • 10/15, dakotacooks.com