Indigo Swing, later shortened to Indigo, was an American retro swing band of the mid-late 1990s, based out of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California. They released two albums for the independent

Time Bomb Recordings Time Bomb Recordings was a Laguna Beach, California-based independent record label, founded in 1995 by artist manager Jim Guerinot in a joint-venture agreement with Arista Records. In the following five years, the artist roster grew to encompass ...

label, ''All Aboard!'' (1998) and ''Red Light!'' (1999). Founded in 1992, the initial inspiration for the group came when founder John Boydston saw a swing outfit performing in San Francisco's Club Deluxe. He wanted to capture the feel of the

swing era The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been aroun ...

of the 1940s and bring back styles of dancing that connected the partners, and so went looking for musicians that shared that vision. By late 1992, they were playing a date under the Indigo Swing name in a San Francisco club. The most well-known lineup of Indigo Swing consisted of singer John Boydston, stage name "Johnny Boyd"; Josh Workman on guitar; Vance Ehlers on string bass; drummer "Big Jim" Overton; William Beatty on piano; and saxophone and flute player Barry "Baron Shul" Shumway. The band stressed playing original music, not just renditions of classic swing tunes. The group did a lot of touring; in many cases they opened for The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The group had a high-energy performing style. A typical Indigo Swing show had some people just listening to the music but many people up and out on the dance area the whole time. As such, the group gained a following and some measure of renown; as an ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was c ...

'' story put it, the group became "one of the name bands in swing". The group was signed to the independent label

in 1997. A review in the ''

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in N ...

'' of their first release for the label, ''All Aboard!'', gave it four stars, saying that as a record it was the best of the recent crop of retro swing releases. A review in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said that the album's musical mix produced "engaging results", although a "more versatile vocalist" would help at times, but praised the group's rhythm section and the saxophone work of Baron Shul. The group underwent a number of personnel changes at various times, and at the end of 1999 Boyd departed. He was replaced by singer and actress Nicole Vigil. By Spring 2000, Shumway was the only original member still remaining. The group shortened its name to just Indigo and expanded its repertoire to include 1950s rhythm and blues. Indigo toured in 2000, and hoped to find a new record label, but did not. The last incarnation of the group was called the Nicole Vigil Band and played some dates in 2001.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Billboard'' page on group

Johnny Boyd's page
American swing musical groups Swing revival ensembles Musical groups from San Francisco Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Time Bomb Recordings artists