Boz Skaggs Coming to Salina

One of the most respected names in rock music is coming to perform in Salina. Boz Skaggs is coming to the Stiefel Theatre this fall.

After first finding acclaim with the Steve Miller Band, singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs went on to enjoy considerable solo success.  His 1976 album “Silk Degrees” peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, and produced the hit singles “Lido Shuffle” and “Lowdown”.

Scaggs produced two more platinum-certified albums in “Down Two Then Left” and “Middle Man”, the latter of which produced two top-40 singles “Breakdown Dead Ahead” and “Jojo”.

After a hiatus for most of the 1980s, Skaggs returned to recording and touring in 1988, joining The New York Rock and Soul Revue and opening the nightclub Slim’s, a popular San Francisco music venue until it closed in 2020.

Skaggs has continued to record and tour throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, with his most recent album being 2018’s Out of the Blues.

Scaggs is credited for helping the formation of Toto. For his 1976 album, “Silk Degrees”, he hand picked musicians after taking suggestions from several people. These musicians were David Paich, David Hungate, and Jeff Porcaro. The three were already friends and had frequently performed together on other albums, such as Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic. By going on tour with Scaggs, it solidified the prospect of starting a band. Columbia picked up on this talent by offering the new group a contract “without audition”. Steve Porcaro described this as “a record deal thrown in our laps”. Paich stated “I’m not sure if Toto would have happened as soon, or quite the same way, without Silk Degrees”. Their friendship has continued throughout the decades shown by the varying collaborations and concerts performed together. Paich teamed up once more for Scaggs’ 2001 album, Dig, where he contributed to 6 out of the 11 songs.

Boz Skaggs will perform at the Stiefel Theatre in Salina on Sunday, November 2nd. Thickets go on sale this Friday.