Thursday, Jan. 3
Yo. True "juggalos and juggalettes," it's time to recognize: Insane Clown Posse's Violent J has tag-teamed with Detroit rap legend Esham. Yep, The E & J Tour pours, not so smoothly, into The Rock... Featuring saxophonist Michael Moynihan, double bassist Dylan DeRobertis and trapsman Tim Rachbach, this Austin-via-Tucson pianist/composer's latest recording The Desert is an exploration of "swampy, angsty chaos portrayed through hard-bop." Collin Shook Quartet emotes at Club Congress...
Friday, Jan. 4
Nurse your post-New Year's after-effects at the Rialto Theater with an '80s Holiday Hangover Party when The Cured, Arena, Substance and Maladjusted pay homage to the music of The Cure, Duran Duran, New Order and The Smiths... Is this thing on? Emo Night at Club Congress features Taking Back Harambe, Cement Shoes and Cool Funeral... GLD Dig at Mr. Head's finds DJs Ripdee and White Shadow spinning house and hip-hop... Influenced by "acoustic, rock, blues, psych, pop, folk, funk, jam and punk," singer-songwriter into the Medicine Cabinet and emerges with a fistful of songs about love, life and "weird problems" at Sky Bar. Backed by locals Zero Miles to Empty and Cloudless... And the Eleventh Day of Christmas finds Kyklo piping the sounds of the Old World at Exo Roast Co...
Saturday, Jan. 5
You can feel it coming in the chill of the night air. It's time again for The 26th Annual Wooden Ball. Your chance to see some of Tucson's finest—Mute Swan, Gabriel Sullivan, Sweet Ghosts, Little Cloud y mas—stripped down and unplugged. At Club Congress... It's "Time to Shine." Hosted by Jahmar International, vocalist/dancehall DJ Lukie D brings All Of Me to The Rialto Theater with guests Rockers Uptown, Neon Prophet and Papa Ranger... The Awareness Tours: Housing Homeless Veterans Through Entertainment sees Tribulance, 2 In The Chest, Black Wolf Mountain and D2D colliding on stage for a worthy cause. At House of Bards... Spare some Sugar [for the Rat]? Advanced guards on the frontline of the euro-folk noir movement, where fever dream prophecies and melancholia form a circuit, The Son of the Velvet Rat track "Blood Red Shoes" into Exo Roast Co. With the shadowy folk of The Adobe Collective...
Sunday, Jan. 6
From Austin, this husband/wife acoustic duo's latest Niños Del Sol, paints tenebrous portraits of life, love and death in the borderland. And features guest musicians Javier Escovedo (The Zeros), Steven Medina Hufsteter (Tito and Tarantula/Del Shannon), Jake Garcia (The Black Angels), Jay Reynolds (Asleep at the Wheel) and Rafael Bernardo Gayol (Leonard Cohen). Sharing the bill: Sonoran soul seeker Carlos Arzate at Exo Roast Co...
Monday, Jan. 7/Tuesday, Jan. 8
Nada. Good nights to stay in and work on those New Year's resolutions.
Wednesday, Jan. 9
Their playlist? It can be anything—honky tonk to indie rock, norteña to Afrobeat. DJs Carl Hanni and Steven Ramshur create an eclectic ambiance designed for maximum chill. The Suffering Jukebox at Exo Roast Co... "What the world needs now/Is love, sweet love." Lo-fi maven King Tuff brings the Infinite Smiles Tour to Club Congress beaming all the way. With Australian psych rockers Stonefield...
Thursday, Jan. 10
As part of the Oro Valley Concert Series, Southwest Americana artist Peter Dalton Ronstadt explores the regional songs of his father, of Mexico and new inspirations. At the Oro Valley Marketplace... The homespun quirkiness and charm that typifies Golden Boots is revealed in the bar at Agustin Kitchen... Spektrum Flesh: A Fetish Affair promises music, art, live performances and kink. Resident DJs Vamp Feline and Mijito spin. At R Bar... And, golden-throated vocalist Jackie Evancho opens the American songbook at The Fox Theater...
Shout Out
ChamberLab mastermind, composer/performer Chris Black is starting the new year with a glut of new material and he's pledged to release a song per week exclusively to his email list. You may want to sign up: www.chrisblackmusic.com
On The Horizon
This singer-songwriter/guitarist co-wrote of some of Gin Blossoms biggest hits: "Mrs. Rita" and "Until I Fall Away." Jesse Valenzuela is at Club Congress on Friday, Jan. 11. Flanked by Tucson legends The Sidewinders and Rich Hopkins and the Luminarios... The Fifth Annual Tucson Jazz Festival 2019 is a destination festival that brings world class jazz by plane, train and automobile to downtown Tucson. Last year's multiday soirée drew over 20,000 attendees from around the globe. Headlining this year's fest: Trombone Shorty, Bobby McFerrin, Asleep At The Wheel and Pink Martini. The occupation runs Jan. 11-Jan. 21. Details here: tucsonjazzfestival.org ... And, on Wednesday, Jan. 23, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music present celebrated artists from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center—including pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel. The program offers an evening of Romantic Era piano quartets by Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvorak and Josef Suk. Sure to foster pipe dream fantasy. At Leo Rich Theater...
Until next week, XOXO...
