Gwen’s trademark bare feet are planted squarely in the tradition of cabaret, revealing her early days in musical theatre and straight drama. After paying her dues in cities with a single Holiday Inn and a piano, then losing her regular gig at an Atlanta hotel shortly before the Centennial Olympics, her future as a lounge lizard seemed, well...uncertain.

She responded with her first CD, Torch Life, which birthed her wildly successful “Kool Kat Lounge A-Go-Go” show – replete with cigarette girls, jugglers, comedians and a 14-piece band. Next came two more CDs in a single year: the introspective studio recording Lost and Found and a spontaneous, live release, The Misplaced Martini. Both of her original offerings have had Grammy entry, and individual tracks have been recognized by National Public Radio, Just Plain Folks and CDBaby.  She's a member of the  "Jazz Outreach" Committee for the Atlanta Chapter of NARAS; a board member of The Atlanta Coalition of the Performing Arts; &  a multiple winner of Creative Loafing's  BEST JAZZ ARTIST -- a popular ambassador of the genre.  Along the way, she has crooned in Paris and Prague, collaborated on a film about Elvis impersonators, and appeared as a character in a detective novel. Her latest quirky spin is jazz covers of Led Zeppelin songs.

Gwen has just wrapped New York production of INSTEAD OF LIGHT, working with Drew Young (formerly of Atlanta's "Ruben Kincaid") and Danny Kopelson (Blue Note mix producer of Cassandra Wilson, Amos Lee, Holly Cole, et al), due out in 2005.

Hear Gwen's Music!!  

View Gwen Hughes & The Rustic Jazz's Electronic Press Kit

Song and Film Placing Music in Today's Top TV Shows and Movies 

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National & International Performances

FESTIVALS INCLUDE:

LMNOP Festival (New Orleans)   
Ateliers d’Artistes de Belleville (Paris: France)
Pawleys Island Festival of Music & Art--opening for Chuck Mangione
City Stages (Birmingham, AL)
Dogwood Festival (Atlanta)
Atlantis Music Conference
One City, Many Voices (Atlanta)--producer & performer
Georgia Music Week – Georgia Music Hall of Fame (Macon, GA)
Atlanta Jazz Festival
Montreaux-Atlanta Music Festival
Jazz Jamboree (Stone Mountain, GA)                                                                    Jazz Festival (Cakovec, Croatia)                                                                         The Lake Oconee Jazz & Balloon Festival (Greensboro, GA)
Yellow Daisy Festival (Stone Mountain, GA)
Inman Park Festival (Atlanta)
OysterFest (Atlanta)
Pleasure Island Seafood & Jazz Festival (NC)
Red Wine Festival (Seaside, FL)
Sunset Serenade (Seaside, FL)
Yellow Nights (Koper, Slovenia)

CONCERT SERIES:

Allied Arts Series (Milledgeville, GA)
Centennial Olympic Park Concert Series
Black Mountain Concert Series (NC)
University of West Georgia Concert Series
Friday Jazz – The High Museum (Atlanta)
Martinis & IMAX – Fernbank Museum of
Natural History (Atlanta)
Marietta Concerts on the Square (GA)
Conyers Olde Towne Concerts (GA)

SPECIAL APPEARANCES:

The Rialto Theatre 
The Fox Theatre (Atlanta)
The Kodak Theatre (Los Angeles)                                                              Symphony Hall (Atlanta)
ALMAs – Atlanta Local Music Awards
Operation Starting Line -- federal penitentiary performance concert
Atlanta Thrashers                                                                                          Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Braves
NASCAR (Jonesboro, GA)
The Mayflower Hotel (Washington, DC)
The Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs,WV)
Atlanta Pops – Peachtree City & Galleria Amphitheatres

CLUB APPEARANCES INCLUDE:

Bluebird Café (Nashville)                                                                  Opus Cafe (Paris, France)                                                                               Rogoz Theatre (Varazdin, Croatia)
Club Zelezna (Prague: Czech Republic)
U Mahelo Glena (Prague: Czech Republic)
Beat Kitchen (Chicago)
Eddie’s Attic (Atlanta)
Churchill Grounds (Atlanta)
The Continental (NYC)
Downtime (NYC)
Hannah’s (Savannah, GA)
Café 290 (Atlanta)
Sambuca Jazz Café (Atlanta, Dallas, Denver)
The Links (Cayman Islands)
Elephant Room (Austin, TX)
The Red Room (New Orleans)