Photo: Tom “Bones” Malone will join The Texas Bluesmen for an Oct. 9 performance in Corpus Christi as part of The Ritz Spotlight Series. Photo by John Filo
Original Blues Brothers Band member will join The Texas Bluesmen Oct. 9 as part of The Ritz Spotlight Series
By Claudia Perez Rivas | Kingsville Independent News
CORPUS CHRISTI — A musician whose career spans the original Blues Brothers Band, Saturday Night Live and more than two decades with David Letterman is coming to the Coastal Bend in October.
Tom “Bones” Malone will join The Texas Bluesmen for a performance from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at Bar Under the Sun, 702 N. Chaparral St. in downtown Corpus Christi.
The performance is part of The Ritz Spotlight Series, an initiative created by Corpus Christi’s historic Ritz Theatre to bring live entertainment to the Coastal Bend while the theater undergoes a major rehabilitation.
For those who may not immediately recognize Malone’s name, there is a good chance they have encountered his work.
The 79-year-old musician, arranger and session player was a member of the original Saturday Night Live band and the original Blues Brothers Band, which grew out of the characters created by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in the late 1970s.
Malone later spent more than two decades performing on David Letterman’s late-night television programs. His career has also put him onstage with some of the most recognizable names in music.
Among the experiences Malone singled out in an interview with Kingsville Independent News were performing with Earth, Wind & Fire at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards, playing live with James Brown in New York City for two weeks, and performing with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page at the same time.
His path toward that career began early.
“I wanted to be a NYC studio musician from age 15. I practiced 4 to 5 hours a day in Jr High & High School,” Malone said.
Bringing the Blues Brothers sound to Corpus Christi
Malone’s appearance in Corpus Christi will put him onstage with The Texas Bluesmen, a group he said caught his attention after meeting Paul Andrews and hearing the band.
“They are a serious great Blues Brothers Band,” Malone said.
Malone also pointed to the performance itself as part of the experience audiences can expect.
“Watching the show is a big part of the Texas Bluesmen,” he said.
The Blues Brothers became known not only through Saturday Night Live and the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, but for music rooted in blues, soul and R&B.
When asked what the Blues Brothers helped preserve or introduce to a new generation, Malone pointed to James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.
The Oct. 9 performance will be the sixth and final Ritz Spotlight Series event of 2026. The series launched in November 2025 as a way to continue bringing live entertainment to the community while The Ritz itself remains closed and to begin building an audience for the programming planned when the theater reopens.
A historic theater looks toward its second century
The Ritz Theatre first opened on Christmas Day 1929 in downtown Corpus Christi and has been closed since 1989.
The historic venue is the focus of an approximately $65 million rehabilitation that includes the theater as well as a new adjoining annex. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2027, with completion planned for fall 2029, the year The Ritz will mark its 100th anniversary.
The Ritz recently released new architectural renderings showing the current design for the historic theater and adjoining annex, including concepts for the grand lobby, lobby bar and reception area, event center and ballroom. The designs will continue to evolve as final construction documents are completed.
But The Ritz’s plans extend beyond restoring the building.
The organization is developing an education program in partnership with area schools that will use performing arts, music, theater and film as tools for learning. Initial programming is being developed with Corpus Christi ISD, with plans to eventually expand educational opportunities throughout the Coastal Bend.
Those plans specifically include Kingsville.
“We don’t see The Ritz as something that belongs only to downtown Corpus Christi,” Ritz Theatre Executive Director Arthur Seago said. “This is a regional project, and we want students and families from Kingsville and communities throughout South Texas to feel that The Ritz belongs to them, too.”
While the building remains closed, the Spotlight Series is serving as a bridge between The Ritz’s past and what its organizers hope will become its future.
“We decided early on that we weren’t going to disappear for several years and then suddenly reopen the doors in 2029,” Seago said. “The Spotlight Series allows us to be The Ritz today. We’re bringing people together, providing great entertainment, learning what our audiences respond to, and giving the community a little preview of what is coming.”
For Malone, meanwhile, continuing to perform appears considerably less complicated.
Asked what has been gained and lost as the music industry has changed during his career, he responded:
“Everything changes. I just try to keep up.”
PLAN TO GO
What: The Ritz Spotlight Series presents The Texas Bluesmen with special guest Tom “Bones” Malone
When: 7–9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9
Where: Bar Under the Sun, 702 N. Chaparral St., Corpus Christi
Tickets: Available through The Ritz Theatre