Posts by Mary Andrews

Alice Cooper, the legendary Godfather of Shock Rock, returned to Tucson on October 21st during his “Too Close for Comfort” tour. Even though the Arizona native normally tours six months out of the year, it’s been seven years since Cooper’s last appearance at AVA Amphitheater at Casino Del Sol in Tucson. However, the memory of his […]

The 37th annual Farm Aid that took place in Noblesville, Indiana at the Ruoff Music Center on September 23rd, will once again go down in history as one of the strongest to date with its cavalcade of musical legends. The press conference started the festivities with the board, local farmers, members of the band, and other […]

Robert Plant has made three appearances in Tucson over the last 12 years, yet he finally made his first appearance with bluegrass icon Alison Krauss, a frequent collaborator. The two vocal all-stars were welcomed by a sold-out crowd at the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall on June 15th.  Krauss, twenty years Plant’s junior, has been […]

Baseball and Rock N Roll mingled once again at the fifth Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park (AZ) on February 25th and 26th. This year’s event featured Green Day, Eddie Vedder, Weezer, Marcus Mumford, The Black Crowes, The Revivalists, The Offspring, The Bronson Arroyo Band, Mt. Joy, Head & The Heart, The Pretty Reckless, Umphrey’s McGee, Heartless Bastards and more.

Farm Aid remains the largest annual benefit concert for family farmers across the United States since 1985. The benefit was founded by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young, while Dave Matthews joined the “board” in the 90s, while Margo Price joined last year. The benefit’s existence is edging toward their four-decade when Nelson and […]

Earth, Wind & Fire first gained notoriety in 1972 and has not lost traction as a band with universal appeal. They have crossed all genre of music having produced 23 albums that includes eight number-one R&B singles and eight double platinum top 10 albums with records sales totaling over 90 million. The soul and funk […]

Lindsey Buckingham’s live appearance at Tucson’s Fox Theatre was probably one of the more anticipated shows in the Old Pueblo a year and a half ago. Buckingham has been given much credit for Fleetwood Mac’s meteoric success upon his arrival in the band with then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks in 1975, based upon his distinct vocals, fingerpicking […]

The 19th installment of Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding was a relentless barrage of high-energy musical entertainment at Phoenix’s Celebrity Theater.. Two long years have passed since the previous Alice Cooper Christmas Pudding. That is a long time for an organization that depends on two events to fund Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Centers. The mission of […]

Leslie Mendelson certainly has a way of stealing a show even if it’s not the unassuming singer-songwriter’s intentions. Take last Saturday night (11/13) on Austin City Limits where renowned rock legend Jackson Browne decided to welcome to the Moody Theatre stage in his own words- “my very good friend Leslie Mendelson.” While it would certainly […]

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real (POTR) have not performed in Tucson since the band opened for B. B. King in 2009. Back 12 years ago there was no band introduction and they came out on stage and started playing. Those in attendance were scratching their heads because the voice was so familiar. We […]

We are very familiar with the actor, Kevin Costner. Costner has garnered two Academy Awards, two golden Globe Awards, a primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor Guild Awards. He has starred in more than 60 movies, as well as several television miniseries. He is presently starring as John Dutton in Paramount’s very popular television […]

Pat Metheny, by far, is one of the most successful jazz musicians in the world. The guitarist has won 20 Grammy Awards in ten different categories since his 1976 debut Bright Size Life that featured Jaco Pastorious on bass and Bob Moses on drums. Metheny is renowned as a risk-taker performing in various collaborations and […]

Some things always change and some things stay the same. Unfortunately for the latter, Farm Aid still exists. Farm Aid board member Willie Nelson once said in 2012 -” Farm Aid exists because government agricultural policies too often tilt toward large corporate-owned farms, which have deep pockets they use to influence politicians. “I wish I […]

When Jackson Browne released “My Cleveland Heart,” the first single off his strong 2021 album Downhill From Everywhere, much ado was made of the video cameo by rising indie-pop star Phoebe Bridgers – a contrasting merger of different musical eras and fan bases. Yet, the real star of Jackson Browne collaborations of late is that […]

It seems that James McMurtry eavesdrops on us at our dinner tables, our boats, bars, big rigs, or wherever he chooses to find us. It doesn’t matter. The literary pictures he projects are as perfect as we can see ourselves, unadorned and often alone. McMurtry doesn’t offer apologies. It is what it is. Those of […]

The Flaming Lips continually remain one of the most entertaining touring bands going as their communal rock can be referred to as psychedelic love-bombs. It was just a few months ago that the OKC band was staging gigs in their home city where fans can bounce within their own sealed bubble- a sort of fool-proof […]

Bonnie Whitmore has been singing and playing music since she graduated from diapers. She was born into a family of musicians with her mom being trained as an opera singer, dad a folk singer, and her sister Eleanor sings and plays violin as one half of The Mastersons. The running joke in the family was […]

Twisted Pine is a Boston-based string band that takes that creatively mingles bluegrass and popular jazz, peppered with sprinkles of rock, funk, and country. Or in other words, its what Twisted Pine’s bass player, Chris Sartori coined as ‘neo-folk indie soul avant jazz jam grass-icana.’ Their latest album Right Now was released on August 14th […]

Waylon Payne has been singing on stage since he was three years old with his mother, country singer, Sammi Smith. Smith had the mega-crossover hit song “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and taught Payne everything about singing and laid the foundation for his songwriting chops.  Payne’s father was Jody Payne, guitarist and harmony […]

Singer/songwriter Gretchen Peters has made a huge impact in the world of country and American music since she moved to Nashville in the late 80s. She has had high powered artists from George Jones, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Bryan Adams to Etta James perform her songs. She is an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall […]