THURSDAY, FEB. 24
In 2015, the handwritten manuscript
containing the lyrics to “American Pie”
was auctioned at Christie’s for $1.2 million.
“Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.” Legendary
singer-songwriter Don McLean drives his
“Chevy to the levy’’ one more time. With
special guest multi-platinum British folk
rocker Al Stewart. At The Fox Theatre…
Rejecting the idea of conformity. In a
mashup of sweaty-palmed teen angst and
slinky R&B, Belaganas (Phoenix) + No
Suits (L.A.) are making their own lanes.
At 191 Toole…
In their debut performance,
The Morpholinos——Nick Augustine,
Karl Homann, Gary Mackender, and Neil
MaCallion—present An Evening of Tallsome Tales. With an opening set by Don
Armstrong, Liz Cerepanya, Petie Ronstadt
and Dan Davis. At Monterey Court…
Nanda
Zip, Anchorbaby, CLASS and CMG do
unspeakable things. At Hotel Congress
Plaza…
Reggae rockers Desert Fish are at
Chicago Bar…
Since the Tucson Rodeo’s
inception in 1925, this annual celebration of
cowboy culture has been an eagerly anticipated event. After the last bull bucks, the
Billy Shaw Jr. Band will take you on a wild
ride. La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. Feb 24-27. At
Tucson Rodeo Grounds…
FRIDAY, FEB. 25
The lovelorn ghosts of the Old West are
coming around to haunt us, once more.
Best known for writing and performing a
mix of Western, country and pop, singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey has
released over 35 albums. His 1975 platinum
hit “Wildfire”—a sentimental song about
the ghosts of a woman and her horse-stands as one of the most-aired songs in
radio history. A long-time champion of the
western wilderness and wildlife, Murphey
has lent his support to various causes associated with western culture and ideals. After
a hard day’s ride in the climate controlled
comfort, Michael Martin Murphey & The
Rio Grande Band perpetuate the myth of
the country outlaw. At Fox Tucson Theatre…
“Keep It Sexy.” A mixture of trap and dub-
step with heavy metal influences, gorestep
is a sub-genre used to describe one artist’s
music. EDM heads recognize. Raised in
Tel Aviv, Yosef Asaf Borger (aka Borgore)
told Spinner that the sounds in his songs
have been compared to horror movies, farm
animals and sex. Counting hundreds of
millions of streams across his discography,
the former drummer of Israeli deathcore
band Shabira first exploded onto the scene
with his breakout single “Decisions” (2012)
featuring Miley Cyrus. Since then, he has
collaborated on projects with Gucci Mane,
G-Eazy, Juicy J, Diplo and Waka Flocka
Flame. International DJ/producer Borgore drops tracks from Slaughterhouse (2021),
his latest EP. At Gentle Ben’s…
Tucson
alt-rockers The Basements occupy the big
stage. At 191 Toole. With SHIFTY…
In 1995,
in an uncanny twist of fate, Oliver Ray went
from being a New York City street poet/
noise guitarist to a full-time member of the
Patti Smith Band. Featuring the music of
Oliver Ray and Zane Nichols, Westbound
presents Singer-Songwriter Night. At MSA
Annex…
In advance of their forthcoming release, Birds and Arrows over a preview of
Electric Bones (slated to drop this summer).
Hookworm Records Spring Showcase. With
indie-pop duo Night Weather and Daphne
and The Glitches. At Hotel Congress
Plaza…
Followed by DJ Humblelianess presiding over Tucson’s hottest Latin dance
party. El Tambó. At Hotel Congress Plaza…
Austin reggae giants Lion Heights leave
big shoe prints. At Chicago Bar…
Singer-songwriter Brian Berggoetz toasts the
release of his latest album. At Monterey
Court…
In a tag team lucha libre death
match, Shooda Shook It, United Snakes,
and Evil Jungle Princess grapple to the
end. At Sky Bar…
From Nashville, Tennessee by way of Willcox, Arizona, country
singer Vince Moreno comes back home for
a visit. At Eddie’s Cocktails…
Parisian jazz
guitarist Naïm Amor provides the velvety soundtrack for the first Late Night. At The
Century Room…
SATURDAY, FEB. 26
Created by surfers during the 1950s who
wanted something to do during the downtime when the waves were low, skateboarding emerged as a truly American cultural
phenomenon. Along with skate legends
and pros, contests, vendors, food trucks, and
rad shit popping o everywhere, Teenage
Bottlerocket, Dead Fucking Last, Urethane, Go Betty Go, Change Today and
many others provide the banging musical
soundtrack for this annual festival in honor
of the skateboard. Drop into the bowl for
SkaterCon 6. At Santa Rita Skatepark…
The
“Best Thing Since Backroads.” An avid golfer, country star Jake Owen (in an interview
with Barstool Sports) described a verbal
altercation with Phil Mickelson. Expressing
disappointment with the outcome of The
Match: Tiger vs Phil (a winner-take-all golf
challenge in which Mickelson defeated
Tiger Woods for $9 million in prize money),
Owen asked for a refund. Owen had paid
$29.99 (the cost of the pay-per-view event)
and alleges that Mickelson pulled a wad of
$100 bills from his pocket and responded,
“Yeah, I won 90,000 of these yesterday. Take
one and go fuck yourself.” Jake Owen headlines the Cologuard Classic 2022 Military
Appreciation Concert. Diamond Rio and
Sophia Rankin and The Sound open the
show after the last putt drops. At Omni National Golf Resort…
In 1966, Nina Simone
released “Four Women.” The song was both
a civil rights protest and a feminist anthem.
Fifty years later, playwright Christina Ham
saw it as a way into a story about noxious
racism and the human capacity for resilience. Arizona Theater Company presents
Nina Simone: Four Women. Runs through
March 19. At Tucson Temple of Music
and Arts…
Imagine the best pub gig ever?
Featuring Broadway numbers, folk and rock
tunes, performed by a cast of world class
singers, dancers and instrumentalists, the
runaway hit of the international music and
theater scene The Choir of Man comes to
town. At Fox Tucson Theatre…
In a salute to
the music of hard bop trombone master JJ
Johnson, the Rob Boone Quartet presents
Blue Trombone. At The Century Room…
A native of Houston’s historic Third Ward,
this iconoclastic underground rapper’s style
is based around storytelling. Continuing
a monthly DJ residency, Fat Tony can be
found telling stories from behind the turntables. At Hotel Congress Plaza…
A voice of
the Southwest, troubadour John Coinman
won the international music video category
(2021) at the Procida International Film
Festival in Italy for “Long Way Home.” A
collaborative piece between Coinman, his
wife Jo, and photographer Michael Hyatt,
the music video portrays the plight of
immigrants along the U.S.–Mexico border.
John Coinman Band. At Monterey Court…
Taking the road often traveled, Middle
Lanes celebrate the release of their debut
EP. At Club Congress… In a production
abounding in laser lights, video walls, and
special effects, Shine On Floyd: A Tribute
to Pink Floyd perform The Dark Side of the
Moon in its entirety, along with other Floyd
classics. At The Gaslight Music Hall (Oro
Valley)…
SUNDAY, FEB. 27
Dave Guard and Bob Shane’s friendship
dates back to the late 1940s. Meeting in
a Honolulu junior high school, they both
learned to play ukulele in required music
classes. Later, while attending college in
Northern California, after meeting tenor
Nick Reynolds, The Kingston Trio was
formed. They began modestly as a San
Francisco Bay Area nightclub and beer
garden act, until their 1958 self-titled debut
album spawned a hit single. A cover of the
1866 murder ballad “Tom Dooley” shot
to the top of the Billboard charts. “It was a
phenomenon, as influential in its time as
The Beatles would become in theirs,” guitar
manufacturer C.F. Martin & Company
has been widely quoted as proclaiming.
Pioneers of the college concert circuit, The
Kingston Trio rose to help launch the folk
music revival of the late 1950s and ’60s,
fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records
(the Long-Play vinyl platter was introduced
by Columbia in 1948) and altering the direction of pop music. The legacy continues
as kin of the original members now carry
the torch. The Kingston Trio perform the
hits. At Fox Tucson Theatre…
Led by fire cat
vocalist Connie Brannock, Little House of
Blues will set the coals ablaze. The Congress
Cookout. At Hotel Congress Plaza…
Los Angeles darkwave artist Blood Handsome joins DJ Mijito for the latest installment of Disco Oscura. Together they will
have you Dancing on the Edge of a Knife.
At The Royal Room…
MONDAY, FEB. 28
Nada mucho.
TUESDAY, MARCH 1
From the outset, Chicago has embodied
the confluence of the academic approach to
music with one coming from the streets. In
1968, at the insistence of their manager, the
band relocated to Los Angeles in a move
that would prove fortuitous. After signing
with Columbia Records, they began performing regularly at the infamous Whisky a
Go Go. Before long they fell in with a heady
crowd, opening for Janis Joplin and Jimi
Hendrix. Hendrix once told Chicago saxophonist Walter Parazaider, “Your horn players are like one set of lungs and your guitar
player is better than me.” Despite numerous
lineup changes, the loss of co-founding
member guitarist Terry Kath, and enduring the vicissitudes that accompany a
career spanning five decades, Chicago has
emerged as one of the longest-running and
most successful American rock groups,
second only to the Beach Boys. Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame inductees Chicago return. At
Tucson Music Hall…
Rising to prominence
during the heady days of prog rock, English
keyboardist Rick Wakeman recorded a
second album with The Strawbs, From The
Witchwood (1971), before leaving the band
to join Yes. After touring America for the
first time, as a member of Yes, he recorded
what would become the band’s classic
album Fragile, regarded by many as the
epitome of the progressive rock album. By
year’s end he signed a solo contract with
A&M Records and recorded Catherine of
Aragon in London. 1971 proved to be a very
good year, indeed. And that was just the
beginning of a long career. In 2021, Wake-
man’s outstanding accomplishments were
recognized by Queen Elizabeth II, who
named him a Commander of the Order of
the British Empire (CBE) for his services
to music and broadcasting. Rock and roll
royalty, Rick Wakeman returns to America.
The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour.
At Rialto Theater…
As if a slice of king cake
and a po’ boy weren’t enticing enough. Observing the time-honored celebration—the
music, the dancing, the carefree abandon—
of the last night before the ritual sacrifices
and fasting of the Lenten season commence. Dr. Mojo & the Zydeco Cannibals
and DJ Carl Hanni keep the spirit of Fat
Tuesday alive. Mardis Gras Celebration. At
Hotel Congress Plaza…
Writer/filmmaker
Daniel Buckley will explore the far-reaching impact of mariachi music—from
ground-breaking Flor de Toloache to Mariachi Sol de Mexico’s festive holiday program,
Merry-Achi Christmas—in an informal chat
and storytelling session. Curious Conversations. At Fox Tucson Theatre…
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2
Functioning on the borderline of songwriting—utilizing electronics as instruments,
creating loops to build layer-upon-layer of
sound—these two extraordinary songwriters
innovate to beautiful effect. Arizona Arts
Live presents Elizabeth Goodfellow and Jillian Bessett in an exploration of new
sonic landscapes. At Club Congress…
Joe
Peña and Phoenix’s Rocking Chair help
photographer Jimi Gianatti fête Vanishing
Highways, an exhibition of vintage neon
photographed by the side of the road. At
Tap & Bottle…
“I write songs. I sing songs. I
feel music everywhere I go.” Little Cat trills
and yowls. At Crooked Tooth Brewing Co…
On the horizon: “Tangled Up In Blue.”
Often regarded as one of the greatest song-
writers of all time, elder statesman of American music Bob Dylan will perform pieces
from Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), his
39th studio album. On Friday, March 4. At
Tucson Music Hall…
Until next week, XOXO…
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2022.