Double Trouble (band)

This article describes the band Double Trouble across its various incarnations. For further information on its most successful period, see Stevie Ray Vaughan § Double Trouble and following sections.
For the UK dance act, see Double Trouble (dance music producers).
Double Trouble
Left to right: Chris Layton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tommy Shannon in 1983
Background information
OriginAustin, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Years active1978 (1978)–present
LabelsEpic, Legacy, Sony, Tone-Cool
MembersChris Layton
Tommy Shannon
Past membersStevie Ray Vaughan
Lou Ann Barton
Johnny Reno
Fredde Walden
W. C. Clark
Mike Kindred
Jackie Newhouse
Jack Moore
Reese Wynans

Double Trouble is an American blues rock band from Austin, Texas, which served as the backing band for singer-guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. The group was active throughout the 1980s and contributed to reviving blues music, inspiring many later blues and rock acts. Formed in Austin, Texas in 1978, the group went through several early line-up changes before settling on a power trio consisting of Vaughan, Chris Layton (drums), Tommy Shannon (bass). They became a four-piece by 1985 after adding Reese Wynans (keyboards). Whilst with Vaughan they were billed Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Rooted in blues and rock music, the group worked in various genres ranging from ballads to soul, often incorporating jazz and other musical elements.

Initially a five-piece lineup with Vaughan, Lou Ann Barton (vocals), Fredde Walden (drums), Jackie Newhouse (bass) and Johnny Reno (saxophone), they built their reputation playing clubs around Texas over a four-year period. Molded into a trio (Vaughan, Layton, Shannon), their musical potential was encouraged by producer John H. Hammond, who got the band a recording contract with Epic Records. They gained popularity after their debut album, Texas Flood, became a critical and commercial success in 1983. By the mid-1980s, they had become an international act, touring extensively around the world until August 1990, when Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash after departing East Troy, Wisconsin.

Various posthumous releases featuring Vaughan have been issued since his death, overseen by his brother Jimmie. Since Vaughan's death, Double Trouble has continued in various capacities, releasing a studio album in 2001 and acting as a session band for blues and local Austin musicians. The band has sold over 11.5 million albums in the United States, receiving platinum certifications for all four of their studio albums featuring Vaughan. They have won four Grammy Awards including Best Contemporary Blues Performance for their album In Step (1989).