Caleb Tokarska grew up in Augusta, Georgia, and started playing guitar at 12 — his dad, who always played around the house, was his first influence. The Grateful Dead is the earliest sound he remembers from childhood, alongside James Brown, the Meters, and Willie Nelson. After a few years in Atlanta, a friend invited him down to New Orleans for a couple of days; the visit stretched to two weeks, and he fell in love with the city on the spot. Seeing George Porter Jr. play at the Maple Leaf settled it — he was going to live here. He plays a maple-colored 1948 Gibson L-12, and talks about chord inversions with the fervor most people reserve for sports.
He met John Boutté in passing on his first visit to town. After he moved, he went to see Boutté at d.b.a. with his guitar in hand — new to the city, he carried it everywhere — and Boutté recognized him. Boutté’s guitarist of 20 years, Todd Duke, had just passed away, and Boutté invited the young guitarist he had never heard play to come work on music with him. Through Boutté, Tokarska learned the world of Danny Barker, Snooks Eaglin, and Paul Barbarin. He has played in Boutté’s band ever since — Thursday nights at d.b.a. alongside Oscar Rossignoli, and festival stages including a July 2022 Vancouver International Jazz Festival date billed as the John Boutté Quartet — and has also gigged with Russell Batiste and the TBC Brass Band.
As a songwriter leading his own band, Tokarska’s music has echoes of classic Americana with a soulful and improvisatory twist — a blend of rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, and country, built on heartfelt lyrics, guitar harmonies, and a desire for groove-based improvisation. His debut full-length album, First Born (Well Kept Secret), arrived October 16, 2026, preceded by the singles “Tattered Pieces” (September 4) and “Let You In My Life” (September 25). He celebrated with an album release show at the Maple Leaf on October 23, 2026, with special guest John Boutté and an all-star lineup including Carter Wilkinson, Rodney Weber, Devin Kerrigan, Sam Kuslan, Aurélien Barnes, Renée Gros, and Miles Blackwell. An earlier record, Sing Me Back Home, was the subject of a 2022 OffBeat profile; its title track is a lament for his father, who died suddenly in 2018.
