Mark your calendars…
Thursday, Nov. 24
Mixing country, folk, bluegrass, and rock, country-rock singer-songwriter Jason Mayer’s approach to music reflects his Midwesterner upbringing — hard work and a blue-collar attitude — in with his desire to tell stories. From Nashville, the Jason Mayer Band — with guest fiddler Melissa Barrison — perform a free Thanksgiving Eve concert at Whiskey Roads…
Friday, Nov. 25
Pushing Latin culture forward. Spinning everything from the classics to the latest Latin hip-hop, trap and perreo, the hottest reggaeton dance party in the land, Gasolina burns white hot at the Rialto Theatre… Acclaimed Americana singer-storyteller Kevin Pakulis and his Band — keyboardist Duncan Stitt, bassist Karl Hoffmann and drummer Gary Mackender — preside over the festivities as The Monterey Court fête their 11th Anniversary with a bashment…
In addition to being a multidimensional artist and painter, classically trained Yaqui guitarist, Gabriel Ayala’s impressive resumé includes performances for a U.S. president and a pope. On the vanguard of a new generation of Native Americans making inroads in traditional art forms, Ayala performs at the Hotel Congress plaza. Followed by Tucson’s longest-enduring Latino dance party sin fronteras, El Tambó where consciousness and context come together. La Reina, DJ Humblelianess leads the Sonido Tambó crew. While Hump House pumps out the jams indoors at Club Congress…
In an encore presentation of their popular show of French jazz and chanson Française, vocalist Katherine Brynes and Parisian guitarist Naïm Amor bring new life to the music of Édith Piaf, Jacques Brel, and Serge Gainsbourg at The Century Room…
Saturday, Nov. 26
In the early ’90s, A Fire Inside, then a band of teenage misfits, manifested in the obscure Northern California town of Ukiah. At the time, the band could barely play their instruments. Undaunted, AFI soldiered on — pushing forward with an aggressive punk, hardcore and dark side of the ’80s UK-laced sound — in the process setting a subcultural groundswell into motion. Exploring emo, post-hardcore, goth and alt-rock, the release of 2003’s “Sing the Sorrow” marked AFI’s crossover into the mainstream. The album opened in Billboard’s top 10 and went on to platinum certification. In harmony with the figures contorting on the album artwork to their newest collection of songs, on “Bodies,” AFI remains fluid. “To find comfort in a constant is a dangerous thing,” said frontman Davey Havok. “Nothing is constant.” And over the course of a career spanning three decades, AFI has seen much change. “Because of the huge shift in the music industry,” Havoc reflected. “What we do has gone back to essentially becoming underground. If it’s guitar-based, and it isn’t traditional, straightforward rock and roll, it’s now underground.” Havok added. “There’s no effort as far as the industry goes because it’s not Dua Lipa, or it’s not The Weeknd — both of whom are great — but it’s just not what they care about. It’s not what’s pop.” Staying relevant for a new generation, AFI — with special guest Drab Majesty — is at the Rialto Theatre. After the concert, overseer of the dark realm, DJ Mijito keeps the party going at R Bar…
Brought together by skateboard icon Danny Way, Spray Allen is a new alt-rock/psychedelic band. Founded by drummer Wade Youman of Unwritten Law and bassist Eric Wilson formerly of Sublime and relative newcomers singer-guitarists Daniel Lonner and Eric Sherman formerly with NYC’s Late Night Episode, they are a mashup of old and new influence. After meeting initially to jam, the onset of the pandemic created unique circumstances. “We all moved into Eric Wilson’s place together and continued making music,” Youman said. “We were locked away in a ranch in San Diego and all we had was time to gel with each other. We had friends crammed into tiny NYC apartments while we were on a 15-acre avocado ranch making music every day and learning to become a band,” Lonner recalled. “We were very fortunate.” They would eventually surface with demos of 60 songs, which Wilson then sent to musician/producer Paul Leary, best known as lead guitarist for the Butthole Surfers. “Next thing you know, we’re off to record a record at Sonic Ranch Studios outside El Paso in Texas with Paul Leary coming out of retirement to produce it,” Lonner said. Spray Allen present “Needful Things,” their debut album, at 191 Toole…
“If vomit were a movie, this would be the soundtrack.” Cannibal Corpse make some of the most extreme, violent metal music, bar none. The gates of hell are sure to buckle under the strain. Cannibal Corpse bring horror to EncoreTucson…
Over the years, singer Emilie Marchand has performed solo and as part of several Tucson ensembles: The Fashionistas, Pearl Handled Pistol, The Ashes of Love, and Kiss & The Tells. Now, Marchand returns to lead her red-hot musical flames — bassist Thøger Lund, guitarist Ben Nisbet and trapsman Dimitri Manos — through a repertoire that includes torch songs from the 1920s to ’50s, vintage country, ’60s soul, ’70s classics, and even a few Broadway musical numbers. Lola Torch & The Torchbearers lead the descent into the Late Night at The Century Room… After officially disbanding in the summer of 2021, the motley crew that oversee this zydeco-tinged, accordion-fueled Tex-Mexican bacchanal — that also happen to be one of Tucson’s most beloved party bands — are back for one night only. Or so they say. Rhythm & Roots presents The Carnivaleros Reunion — featuring vocalist/accordionist Gary Mackender, bassist Karl Hoffmann, guitarist/mandolinist Joe Fanning, acoustic guitarist Björgvin Benediktsson, drummer Les Merrihew, and Alex Rodriguez on tenor sax — on the plaza at Hotel Congress…
From the Valley of the Sun, JJCnV — with Tucson punks Gutter Town, Standard Deviance and In Good Cause — lead the “Teenage Monster Pizza Party” at the St. Charles Tavern…
Resident DJ Posi plays the latest club bangers indoors at Club Congress while DJs Bex & Halsero detonate sonic bombs, keeping the dance floor radiating heat outdoors on the Hotel Congress plaza…
Sunday, Nov. 27
From Oahu — known to islanders as The Gathering Place — this virtuoso’s musical milieu is equally as welcoming. Funk to bluegrass, classical to jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll, Jake Shimabukuro has taken the ukulele to places that Don Ho (the icon of breezy ’60s and ’70s Hawaiian pop) could have never imagined. His latest release, 2021’s “Jake & Friends” continues this trend with an impressive and diverse roll call of collaborators: Willie Nelson, Billy Strings, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Jack Johnson, Bette Midler, Ziggy Marley and that is just the short list. “Looking back on it all now, it feels like a dream,” Shimabukuro reflected. “I grew up fantasizing that one day I might be able to meet my musical heroes, and here I am on my own record playing with them.” Bringing the spirit of the Pacific Islands to Tucson, Shimabukuro presents “Christmas in Hawai’I” — with bassist Jackson Waldhoff and special guests, singer-songwriters Justin Kawika Young and Herb Ohta Jr. — at the Fox Tucson Theatre…
Formed in 2001, this band of highly trained female musicians from diverse musical backgrounds have established themselves as one of Southern California’s most popular tribute acts, gaining international recognition. The Iron Maidens pay homage to the music of, you guessed it, Iron Maiden — with Tucson AC/DC tribute The Jack — at the Rialto Theatre…
The texturally-rich pop songs that comprise “Clearing,” the debut album from performance artist/musician Hayden Dunham, also known as Hyd, carries the listener through elemental states of being: Fire (destruction), Ash (rebuilding), Garden (germination) and Air (emergence), sonically and visually building out a sensory world for their audience to hear, see, feel and breathe in. Experience Hyd at Club Congress. Umru opens…
Connie Brannock & The Little House of Funk return for their monthly Congress Cookout showcase at Hotel Congress plaza… Equally adept at performing on both woodwind and brass instruments, musical wunderkind Max Goldschmid hosts a Sunday night jazz jam session at The Century Room…
Monday, Nov. 28
Embracing the spirit of spontaneity, “playing whatever our hearts desire,” DJs Bonus and Party return with Club Whutever at Club Congress…
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Known for delivering erratic, rapid-fire rhymes over downtempo trap beats, Atlanta rapper Destroy Lonely — after releasing a steady stream of singles, EPs and full-length albums — recently dropped “No Stylist,” perhaps his most sonically adventurous work to date. The No Stylist Tour brings Destroy Lonely — with special guests Homixide Gang — to the Rialto Theatre…
Uniting in an unholy alliance, two of the most prominent bands in the new wave of American death metal movement, Undeath and 200 Stab Wounds are in league. Touted as one of the nastiest and most brutal death metal tours on the road today, The Slave to the Grave Tour — along with special guests Enforced and Phobophilic — makes a stop at The Rock…
Independent songwriter Jesse Daniel Edwards grew up isolated in a small mountain town without TV, internet, or significant exposure to the outside world. He spent his late teens busking on street corners around the United States and abroad. Born in Nashville, Landon Pigg is an actor/executive/musician — known for his work in “Whip It,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and “Shrek Forever After” — and makes the epitome of coffee shop music. Finding kinship in their shared love for books, music, and red, red wine, these two friends, “philosopher poets and songsters” met in Nashville in 2022. Uniting in common cause, they have taken to the high road with guitars in hand. Jesse Daniel Edwards and Landon Pigg entertain at The Century Room…
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Over the past 18 years, country singer Casey Donahew has risen from a favorite on the local Texas music scene — his singles and albums have catapulted into the Billboard top ten on several occasions — to a national touring act. “Once you get your heart broken for the first time, you’ve got a lot to say, I guess,” Donahew quips. He brings his signature rockin’ Texas country sound to Whiskey Roads. The Mark Miller Band provides local support…
The Carolyn Toronto Band exude subtle strains of jazz/lounge at R Bar… From Baltimore, purveyors in seething and ferocious grindcore/noisecore, Triac mete out its brand of “fast, ugly and meaningless garbage” — along with Backslider, Languish, and Aftermath — on the stage at Club Congress…
Until next week, XOXO…
