Formed by two members of the Jefferson Airplane, Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen, Hot Tuna released a self-titled debut, with a set drawn largely from traditional blues/ragtime material. By the time of their second album, First Pull Up, Then Pull Down, they were a full-blown rock quartet with the addition of violinist Papa John Creach and drummer Sammy Piazza. Their music became progressively louder, by their sixth album they sounded like a rumbling heavy rock traditional ragtime blues band. But throughout all this time the band maintained a hardcore following. In 1978 the duo split, with Casady embarking on an ill-advised excursion into punk with SVT. Kaukonen continued with a solo career combining both electric and acoustic performances. Casady and Kaukonen reunited for 1991's Pair a Dice Found. ~ Rovi Staff