XOXO: Mark Your Calendars

THURSDAY, MARCH 17

“Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues.” Born in Lettsworth, Louisiana, the son of sharecroppers, this storied Chicago bluesman picked cotton for $2.50 per 100 pounds while learning to play the guitar on a two-string diddley bow he made. By the 1960s he rose to become the house guitarist at fabled Chess Records. By bending new curves into a blue note, his innovative style influenced Hendrix, Page, Richards, Clapton and more. Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Buddy Guy holds court. At Rialto Theatre...

Mining a rocky field of sound strewn with sparkly guitars and opalescent synths, these alt-rockers formed in Tempe in 2007. Frontman John O’Callaghan tells Alternative Press how the anxiety witnessed throughout the world during quarantine influenced the writing process on XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time (2021). “The idea of the world coming to a halt minimized a lot of the talk. It became more like, ‘Let’s create instead of talk about creating.’” The Maine. At 191 Toole...

In the expanse between the fertile soil of East Africa’s EDM club scene and that of the less-cultivated metal underground emerges Duma. On their self-titled debut album (2020), death growl vocalist Martin Khanja and producer/ guitarist Sam Karugu cross-fertilize spermatozoa—the darkly atmospheric techno menace of Perc with the sonic doom of Sunn O)))—to spawn lethal tracks of feral intensity forever expanding the boundaries of African metal. The Guardian opines, “[These] extreme Kenyan metalheads bring doom to the dancefloor.” Duma. At Club Congress...

This L.A. DJ/producer’s big booty shaking bass and techno are certified party starters. FreakOn headlines Electronic St. Patty’s Day. With Westcoast go-go crew the AfterGlow Dancers. At The Rock...

Fiddler Billy Shaw Jr. and his band of merry cohorts put the “luck of the Irish” to the test. At Whiskey Roads...

Specializing in Celtic-inspired music, Cleavers & Clovers perform once a year to observe the death of the patron saint of Ireland. At Tap + Bottle (downtown)...

FRIDAY,MARCH 18

A first-generation Swede—his Argentinian parents fled from a right- wing junta in their native land—indie folk singer José González first rose to prominence in the early aughts fronting Junip. Recorded at his home studio near the coast of the North Sea in a lush forest of birch and pine, Local Valley (2021)—the first album where he sings in English, Spanish, and Swedish—again finds González alone with a nylon-stringed Spanish guitar. Immersing himself in an array of books by some of the world’s most august thinkers, González tells NPR, “Many of the songs have a crystal-clear, secular humanist agenda: anti-dogma, pro-reason. There’s no political agenda. The focus is on underlying worldviews, and on our existential questions as smart apes on a quest to understand ourselves and our place in the cosmos.” José González. At Rialto Theater...

Experience a dynamic array of chamber music’s best artists. Anchored by the esteemed Dover Quartet, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music present the Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival. Runs through March 20. At Leo Rich Theater...

Maestro José Luis Gomez leads the Tucson Symphony Orchestra through The Splendor of Brahms. In the first of two performances. At Tucson Music Hall...

From the streets of New Jersey to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, this Grammy and Tony Award-winning musical brings the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons to life. Jersey Boys. Runs through March 22. At Centennial Hall...

Reflecting on his surroundings with a sharp pen, on Freewave 3 (2019), Westside Chicago underground rapper Lucki takes an unflinching look at his struggles with addiction (tagging himself a fiend) and dysfunctional relationships. After moving from Chicago to NYC to be with a woman, in a dispassionate and slurred voice, on “More Than Ever” Lucki raps, “I know she ain’t loyal, but she makes me better.” Lucki. 2 Neptune N Back Tour. At 191 Toole...

Mashing together music and visual art, this installment of Speakeasy pairs indie rockers Female Gaze with artist Ruben Urrea Moreno. At Habitation Realty...

Gypsy jazz ensemble ZAZU West salutes Django Reinhardt. At The Century Room...

SATURDAY, MARCH 19

With poisonous flowers strewn through their hair, Flor de Toloache formed a sisterhood in 2008, emerging as NYC’s first and only all-female mariachi. Their sophomore release Las Caras Lindas (2017) won a Latin Grammy award for best ranchero/mariachi album, breathing new life into a too often staid and testosterone permeated genre. Florecita Rock-ERA (2022)—an album of reinterpreted classic Latin rock anthems—finds these intrepid aventureras swapping out their embroidered bolero jackets for studded black leather. Flor de Toloache. At Fox Tucson Theatre...

Representing the four elements of hip hop considered to be its pillars—deejaying (“turntabling”), rapping (“emceeing”), graffiti painting (“tagging”) and break dancing (“B-boying”), THHF is a celebration of hip hop culture in the Southwest. Smif-N-Wessun and Che Noir top a bill featuring over 100 acts. Tucson Hip Hop Festival 2022: 2 Days, 7 Stages, 2 Locations. At 191 Toole and UA Poetry Center...

Growing up in Houston, rapper Mike Jones was close with his grandmother. In an interview with the Houston Press, Jones credits her with giving him the ideas to pursue rap and to write songs for strippers. Mike Jones. At Club 4th Avenue...

Bluesman Carvin Jones sets his Stratocaster ablaze. At The Rock...

This South Carolina sextet christened themselves Marshall Tucker after finding a keyring with the piano tuner’s name emblazoned on it in an old rehearsal space. Over the course of a career spanning five decades, they helped popularize Southern rock in the 1970s. The Marshall Tucker Band. 50th Anniversary Tour. At Tucson Music Hall. With special guest Dave Mason...

Portland post-punks Soft Kill’s latest, Dead Kids R.I.P. City (2020), depicts a desolate city where a post-punk underground scene once thrived. Soft Kill. At Club Congress...

After struggling to obtain a visa for years, Mexican reggaeton rapper José Luis Maldonado Ramos, vowed that he would not return to the U.S. until Donald Trump no longer occupied the presidency. C-Kan: Mi canción USA Tour. At Encore...

Songstress Gabrielle Pietrangelo performs two sets outdoors. At Hotel Congress Plaza...

Commemorating 28 years of sun scorched fury, Greyhound Soul circle the wagons. At Che’s Lounge...

Lap-slide, fingerstyle blues, gritty twang guitarist Joe Novelli adds his own original high-octane twist to American roots music. At MotoSonora Brewing Company...