Thursday, Dec. 13
This 12-member ensemble—featuring former members of Alice Cooper, Rainbow, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Ted Nugent and Broadway veterans—perform rock opera. Wizards of Winter: Tales Beneath a Northern Star are at The Fox Theatre... Simply billed as a night of music and beer. Golden Boots keeps it real at Tap + Bottle Downtown... Into goth, darkwave, EBM? Celebrate "the cold winter within our souls." Spektrum: Danse Macabre with DJs Ricky Strange and Nullus at R Bar... 'Tis the season. K-Love Radio's Christmas Tour features Big Daddy Weave, Brandon Heath, Sarah Reeves, Becca Bradley and Jonathan Chu. At Tucson Arena... Roots rocker John Butler started his musical career humbly busking on the streets of Fremantle in Western Australia. Multiple ARIA and APRIA awards later he has become one of the most successful recording artists in the land down under. The John Butler Trio+ brings Home to The Rialto Theater. With the beatbox/soul/folk of Dustin Thomas opening...
Friday, Dec. 14
Something lo-fi? The nostalgia-obsessed, lo-fi pop delicately crafted with vintage electric pianos and drum machines of Advance Base—the brainchild of pained soul Owen Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone)—is at 191 Toole. With the lo-fi, psych-folk of Lisa/Liza and the haunted, found sound experimentalism of Tucson's Karima Walker... Musical mystic decker. was Born to Wake Up. With Carlos Arzate and the Kind Souls and Keli Carpenter at Club Congress... "Blues has a healing power. It's a beautiful celebration of our perfectly flawed lives. We help people to forget." Blues evangelist, Harpdog Brown & The Uptown Blues Band preach the gospel at House of Bards... GLD Dig: Ripdee and White Shadow spin at Mr. Heads... Noche De Flamenco features a triumvirate of guitar virtuosos Gabriel Ayala, Domingo DeGrazia and Ismael Barajas performing en conjunto at Sea of Glass Center for the Arts... In the mood for a cacao- and mugwort-infused lucid meditation weaving through hypnotic soundscapes? RootFlute connect with ancient Mayan wisdom at the Galactic Center... Parisian guitarist Naim Amor entertains in the tasting room at Sand-Reckoner... William Ackerman, Barbara Higbie and Alex De Grassi are featured performers in the 30th Anniversary of Windham Hill's Winter Solstice at The Fox Theatre... Dance to world beat imbued with a special ingredient: Joy. Baba Marimba is at Monterey Court... Dance with the devil. Pigmy Death-Ray and The Paris Accord battle unseen forces and climate change at Saint Charles Tavern... Cleveland art punks Ricky Hamilton & The Void Boys assert that Hell Is Real at The District Tavern. With one-man punk novelty act Mr. California... "This is our bread and hopefully one day our butter." Austin's Mountebank are in pursuit of sustenance at Sky Bar. With Marshal Man and Ricky Truly... DJ Ben Olayinka spins at a warehouse party: 333 N Seventh Ave... DJ/producer Damian Higgins aka Dieselboy bumps mad bass 'n' drum beats at 191 Toole. With Thomas B and Table Manners...
Saturday, Dec. 15
His compositions have been recorded by The Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Carly Simon, Norah Jones, George Strait and others. Esteemed songsmith John Prine plants seeds from The Tree of Forgiveness at The Fox Theatre... Time the Teacher, this Texas Hill Country singer-songwriter's latest, was named Americana Album of the Month in 2018 by Uncut. Jerry David DeCicca performs at Exo Roast Co. With Adam Ostrar (formerly of Manishevitz) and Casey Golden... Sky Bar is the portal for Heroes Reunion to make their debut. They will tag team with the atmospheric doom of Ovesic and Gila Byte... Self-proclaimed hot dog connoisseur Slobby Robby's Generation Cool celebrates its fifth anniversary at Club Congress with Craze and Humphouse... Also, glittering synth loving indie poppers Château Château turn a crisis into a party to Club Congress. With Spider Cider and Crooked Saints... "Flowers are the art, and bullets the struggle." An annual fundraiser for Flowers & Bullets: A collective with big ideas planting seeds of change through sustainability, art and rebellion. With sets by DJ Q, Humblelianess and Alias. At Borderlands Brewery... Reggae institution Neon Prophet spread one love at Chicago Bar... Catch the big brassy blues rock sound of The Coolers in what may be their last gig. At Monterey Court... "Music for getting through the hard times": Lisa O'Neill & the Open Ocean at Crooked Tooth Brewing... Monsoonpsyche presents Dementia featuring The trees, Topnax, PONDI w/dan pax, Dj yungalva and 520 kiiid. At Solar Culture... "The world's first and only heavy metal mariachi band," Metalachi, is going to set 191 Toole en fuego. With Miss Olivia and the Interlopers. No manches, be there... These wildly creative indie rockers continue to dream and build new worlds. The Live Video Tour is part film screening, Q&A session and rock concert all in one. OK Go encode DNA with music at The Rialto Theater...
Sunday, Dec. 16
Arizona Friends of Chamber Music presents pianist Daniel Hsu in a solo performance by the bronze medalist of the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. At Leo Rich Theater... Recognized as masters at their crafts, acoustic guitarist Tommy Emmanuel and Accomplice One dobro player Jerry Douglas hold court at The Fox Theatre... Performing on sacred instruments: Gongs, crystal singing bowls, Tibetan bowls, handpans and drums, The Art of Gong promise to take you on a journey inward. Harmonic Emersion: A Sound and Meditation Experience. At the Galactic Center... Salem the Bear's Annual Food Drive takes place at Club Congress. With performances by Lucky Lenny, Bryan Dean Trio, Heather "Lil Mama" Hardy Band, AmoSphere and Top Dead Center... "Rag-timey and whimsical?" Two-Door Hatchback delight at Public Brewhouse... Expanding horizons, Center Stage brings together beatboxers, break dancers and slam poets to comedians, banjo players and hula hoopers, comedians, drag kings and DJs. The mania takes place at Cans... Yes, it's Christmastime. The Tucson Symphony Orchestra & Chorus perform Handel's Messiah at Catalina Foothills High School... Spreading peace, joy and harmony, the Tucson Girls' Chorus Jubilate Singers perform for all at Main Gate Square...
Monday, Dec. 17
"Bilingual Ameri-Mexicana for the betterment of the human soul." Febbo y Fuentes are at Public Brewhouse...
Tuesday, Dec. 18
Club Congress is the site for Ladytowne: A live feminist talk/variety show. With live music, round table discussion and performances by Mo Urban, Nirantha Balagopal, Hannah Yeun, Chelsey Trejo, Stretchmarxxx y mucho mas...
Wednesday, Dec. 19
Magic Wednesdays continue with Street Blues Family at Club Congress... The seventh installment of Losers' Lounge brings forth the musical stylings of Natalie Pohanic, Gabe Rozzell and a ravenous Hank Topless Band, who promise to "eat your face off." At Owls Club...
Thursday, Dec 20
Night one of the three-ring circus that is The 2018 Great Cover Up sees local bands paying tribute to artists as diverse as The Cars and Garth Brooks. Featuring Juju Fontaine, Natalie Pohanic, Southbound Pilot, The Bennu, Fitter Happier, Spacefish, Cloudless and Belinda Esquer. At Cans... Guitarist Joe Novelli leads the power trio that is The Cloud Walls headlong into the deluge. At Tap + Bottle Downtown... High School Winter Break Kickoff features some of Tucson's best and youngest talent: Calling Upon Theory, Carnival, The Trees, Yum!, Rough Draft and Pelt. At Club Congress... DJ Mijito wakes the dead for Order of the Owl: Goth Nite at Owls Club... And the Gabrielle Pietrangelo Trio perform timeless romantic songs to soothe your feral soul. On the patio of The Coronet... Until next week, XOXO...
In Memoriam: Chris Burroughs
Christopher Charles Burroughs grew up in West Milford, New Jersey. He studied journalism at Rutgers University before migrating to Tucson to pursue his dream of a career in music. With a penchant for language, he put pen to paper. Combining social commentary and vagabond philosophy, vivid storytelling became his musical trademark.
In the summer of 1982, Chris Burroughs and the Nationals made their debut playing local clubs—Nino's, Dooley's and such—leaping onto the scene with contemporaries Eighty Go Ninety, Jonny Sevin and The Fred's. The Nationals spent the next two years playing dive bars and watering holes from Bisbee to Flagstaff before the bright lights of Los Angeles beckoned. "We would do something like 18 one-nighters in a row... And only play three cities," Burroughs once told the press.
Burroughs released six albums—his debut West of Texas (Triple Bar Records) came out in 1988—and appeared on numerous others. In addition to The Nationals, he fronted Chris Burroughs and the Mercenaries and, most recently, Hardpan (with stints in Yard Trauma, Losers Club and Creosote), acquiring fans throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Christopher Charles Burroughs passed away unexpectedly at his Tucson home on Monday, Nov. 19. He was 60 years old.
