DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Don’t you want somebody to love? How about somebody to see Jefferson Starship with? Believe it or not, the band has been around for 50 years, and to celebrate, they’re touring across the country.
Daytona Beach is just one of their three Florida stops. They’re heading to Vero Beach first, then Daytona Beach on Feb. 16 and Miami after that.
Jefferson Starship is considered one of the most successful rock groups of the 1970s and ‘80s, earning three platinum records and eight gold records.
The band is known for hits such as “Somebody To Love,” “Jane,” “Ride The Tiger” and more.
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They first started touring in 1974 with some former members of the band Jefferson Airplane making up the new band, Jefferson Starship.
Throughout the years, the band has gone through personnel and lineup changes.
Jefferson Starship’s current band members include founding member David Freiberg, Jefferson Starship and Starship drummer Donny Baldwin, long-time keyboardist Chris Smith, vocalist Cathy Richardson and lead guitarist Jude Gold.
Richardson first joined the band in 2008 and anchors the historic role made famous by Grace Slick.
She said she has been a fan of the band since high school. Before joining, she had her own band and was doing her own thing in the Chicago area.
She then starred as Janis Joplin in the original touring show “Love, Janis.” When she toured the U.S. as the lead singer of Joplin’s original band, Big Brother and the Holding Co., she opened for Jefferson Starship, which led to the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I just happened to be there, in the right place at the right time, and they said, ‘Would you like to come sing in our band?’ and I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Of course,” Richardson exclaimed.
She said she even showed the group’s founder, Paul Kantner, her stack of albums, so he could see how big of a fan she was.
The name “Jefferson Starship” was retired in 1985 when Kantner left due to creative differences.
The remaining members, including Mickey Thomas, then branched off, called themselves “Starship” and continue to tour under that name today.
Then in 1992, Kantner returned to touring life and revived the name “Jefferson Starship.” He later died in 2016, but the band remains.
Richardson said they’ve performed so much throughout the years, they don’t even really need to rehearse before going back on tour.
“We’ve been playing these songs for so many years, we could even whip out ones we haven’t played in a long time and still remember them,” Richardson explained.
Jefferson Starship will be playing all of their hits and more at the Peabody Auditorium.
“I think music is one of those things, those intangible things in life that is like a time machine, and it takes you, hearing a song could take you back in time and remind you of, you know, like your younger years, or you know, ‘Oh, I remember the first time I heard this song,’” Richardson said. “Like, every time we hear ‘Jane,’ I just visualize myself in my parents’ station wagon, you know, and I love that about music.”
You can purchase tickets here.
See Richardson’s full interview with News 6 Producer and “Setting the Stage” newsletter writer, Brooke Savage, below:
Check out every episode of Riff On This in the media player below: