Mark your calendars…
Thursday, May 12
Where the river of life flows. In 1989, this unsigned German guitarist’s self-released debut album, Marita: Shadows and Storms, was recorded in a shack beside a gravel pit on old analog equipment for less than $3,000. After signing with Higher Octave Music, a remastered/rebranded version, Nouveau Flamenco (1990), rose to be the best-selling instrumental acoustic guitar album of all time. He returns with Visions 2020 (2021), his thirty-third album. Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra. At Rialto Theater…
Spring flowers bloom. Exploring themes of growth and acceptance, saxophonist/composer Autumn Dominguez & Friends toast the release of Sunflower Seeds (2022), Dominguez’ debut recording. At Hotel Congress Plaza…
Friday, May 13
An unexpected pairing. Mexican superstars Alejandra Guzmán y Paulina Rubio have a long, at times contentious, history. In the early ’90s, they both dated Mexican pop singer Erik Rubin, which led to a public rivalry. “Who would have thought? Two perras [bitches] onstage,” Guzmán quipped at a recent concert, the Houston Chronicle noted. Real life drama and pop spectacle collide like a crossfire huracán. At AVA Amphitheater…
Singing her heart. Highlights on Dianne Reeves’ awe-inspiring resume include: Five Grammy awards, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award, honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and The Juilliard School. Her newest collection of songs, Beautiful Life (2013), showcase Reeves’ gifts in melding R&B, Latin and pop elements within the architecture of 21st century jazz. At Leo Rich Theater…
“Never Enders.” Over the course of a thirty-year career, Lonestar’s rich vocal harmonies have propelled their well-crafted ballads and poppy country-rock songs to the top of the Billboard country charts. In an interview with Think Country, founding member Dean Sams muses about their potential fate had success not intervened. “Michael [Britt] would have fared okay. He was [studying] to be a pharmacist. Keech [Rainwater] would’ve been working on boats. I’d have been sackin’ groceries at Piggly Wiggly and Richie [McDonald] would’ve been mixing pigs feet.” At Fox Tucson Theatre…
Rose in the garden. During the 1960s, a fresh-faced Karla Bonoff used to queue up at the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood in hopes of landing a coveted slot for the open mic night. “It was an amazing time. Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Elton John were around in those days,” Bonoff recalls. Best known as a songwriter, she scored a hit with “Personally” (1982), a song that she didn’t write. Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Wynonna Judd, Bonnie Raitt have all recorded songs Bonoff did pen. At Berger Performing Arts Center. Accompanied by guitarist Nina Gerber. RISO (Matt & Bekah Rolland of Run Boy Run) opens… Reaching beyond the confines of any one performance genre, Tucson Libertine League celebrates the burlesque troupe’s fifth anniversary with a bash. DJ duo MiracleGrow spin wax at a post-show dance party. At 191 Toole…
Influenced by the DIY ethos of The Pixies and PJ Harvey, Cedars is an electronic rock band from Texas who believe that beauty will change the world. At Thunder Canyon Brewstillery…
Saturday, May 14
Besos Mediterreano. In 2002, celebrated Greek-Canadian guitarist Pavlo won a lawsuit against R. Kelly (no stranger to legal entanglements) and Jay-Z, who sampled riffs from Pavlo’s “Fantasia” to create the rhythmic underpinning for “Fiesta.” “Fiesta” rose to become a Top 10 hit and Pavlo now shares in the publishing royalties as a co-writer. At Rialto Theater…
Sometimes a cloud is just a cloud. Weaned on a steady diet of 1970s AM radio, songwriter/guitarist Eric D. Johnson (The Shins, Califone) began a solo four-track recording project in 1997. From humble beginnings, Fruit Bats—noted as early entrants into the folk-rock scene of the early aughts—grew into a touring band with an ever-shifting lineup. Johnson tells the Chicago Sun-Times, “I started out a hippie, but I’ve always had this pop jones. That’s been plenty revolutionary.” At 191 Toole...
Remaining faithful to set lists and arrangements, Roy Orbison Returns with a re-creation of Orbison’s 1980’s concert era. At Fox Tucson Theatre… Inspired by the mysterious full moon and alluring starlit sky, GLOW: An annual multimedia art event, features the music of Kevin Pakulis and his Band. At The Triangle L Ranch (Oracle)…
From North Carolina, traveling singer-songwriter Alma Russ weaves a patchwork of music: country, folk and Appalachian. At MotoSonora Brewing Company…
Celebrating all things uniquely Tucson—featuring food trucks, street performers, live music y mas—2nd Saturdays Downtown is a monthly family-friendly urban street fair…
Sunday, May 15
Fresh off the plane. Pi’erre Bourne began making beats in elementary school, encouraged by an uncle who introduced him to FruityLoops (music software). After studying sound engineering at SAE Institute, he landed a job at Epic Records (Atlanta). It was Bourne’s work on Playboi Carti’s breakout hit “Magnolia” (2017) that shifted the landscape of hip-hop production, pioneering a sound he describes as a “happy-ass beat with trap 808s.” In 2021, Bourne won a Grammy for co-producing Kanye West’s Jesus Is King album, while continuing to work tirelessly advancing his solo career. Heat-seeking single “Drunk and Nasty” catapulted The Life of Pi’erre 5 (2021) to No. 17 on Billboard’s Top R&B/hip-hop albums chart. “...let them keep copying. I’m gonna keep setting the example,” Bourne tells Fader. At Rialto Theater…
“Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.” In many ways The Smashing Pumpkins—whose songs stand as “anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan’s nightmareland”—epitomize the ’90s. They return with Cyr (2020). At AVA Amphitheater…
Unfit for human consumption. Boosting two vegetarians in the band, England’s Carcass take metal to extremes. At 191 Toole… Consisting of sisters Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles, pop punks Dog Party feed off that symbiosis. “There’s songs that Lucy might show me that I’ve never [heard] before. I can hop in with harmonies just by looking at her.” At House of Bards…
Monday, May 16
Known for their “wild live performances filled with beyond intense visuals and dangerous stage antics.” In the band’s formative years, opening shows for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Brian Jonestown Massacre, these noise rockers soon earned the distinction as NYC’s loudest band by reviewers. A Place to Bury Strangers. At 191 Toole. Flanked by Glove and Mute Swan…
Tuesday, May 17
Westword describes the contrary nature of their sound as “two Beach Boys records [playing] at the same time.” Worrying that Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin and Geologist would be too long of a tag, at their record label’s urging, these Baltimore experimentalists christened themselves Animal Collective prior to the release of Here Comes the Indian (2003), their debut recording. Now, they present their latest reverb-heavy sound collage, Time Skiffs (2022). At Rialto Theater…
During the 1990s, these So-Cal pop punks landed three songs on the Top 40, including “Inside Out.” Sounding a bit jaded, on their Bandcamp site they state that they’ve experienced “all the terminally predictable ups and downs of every other band that’s been chewed up and spit out by the machine.” Eve 6. At 191 Toole…
Wednesday, May 18
He’s not just a singer in a rock and roll band. In an interview with Louder, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Justin Hayward reflects on joining The Moody Blues in 1966. “We were all just trying not to get proper jobs. I don’t think any of us had our hearts in it until we began to write our own songs. Until then, nobody thought the band could last long.” The voice of The Moody Blues draws material from a career that has lasted nearly six decades. At Rialto Theater…
“He’s a lil’ bit country, she’s a lil’ bit rock ’n’ roll.” All kidding aside, punk and grunge veterans Meat Puppets and Mudhoney circle the wagons for a co-headlining tour de force. At 191 Toole…
In Memoriam: A beloved figure on the Tucson music scene, Mario Lizarraga Cordova passed away on Monday, May 2, 2022.
A talented multi-instrumentalist, Cordova lent his formidable skills to numerous bands, recording projects, and musical events over the course of his life.
Notably he was a long-time member of The Resonars and a founding member of How To Build A Rocketship.
A gentle soul, with a huge heart, the kindness of his words and genuine smile will always be remembered.
Mario Lizarraga Cordova was 54 years old.
KMKR-LP 99.9 FM is hosting a record listening party to honor his memory. Saturday, May 14. At Steinfeld Warehouse Community Arts Center.
