Music of Arizona - Tucson

Tucson

The city of Tucson, Arizona, has an Official Troubador position, currently Ted Ramirez. Ramirez is a singer and songwriter who uses both English and Spanish lyrics, as well as singing in O’odham; he is also an Arizona Culture Keeper. The city of Tucson also produced the Ronstadt family, which most famously includes Linda Ronstadt; her brother Michael Ronstadt is a popular local musician. There are also many Ronstadt cousins who perform regularly in and around Tucson. Bobby Kimmel, who with Linda Ronstadt was one of 'The Stone Poneys', has returned to Tucson and performs frequently as part of BK Special

Tucson's music festivals include the Norteño Music Festival & Street Fair, which celebrates the Mexican-American style of norteño. Tucson supports an orchestra called the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

The first weekend in May each year, the Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, host the Tucson Folk Festival, a huge 2-day event on four stages, with about 100 acoustic music acts. The first festival was held in 1986.

Tucson boasts some of the best musicians, including several who have achieved national fame and recognition. Lalo Guerrero, known as the Father of Chicano Music and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts among many other awards, was born in Tucson, where he lived until his early 20s. But his heart was always in Tucson, and he returned there as often as possible, whether he was living in San Diego, Los Angeles, or, as in the last decades of his life, Palm Springs. Lalo died on March 17, 2005, at the age of 89. After services in Palm Springs, his ashes were returned to Tucson where a beautiful memorial tribute was held. On April 17, 2005, Lalo was one of the first inductees in the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.

Travis Edmonson was named Tucson's Singing Ambassador of Goodwill in 1975, a mayoral appointment that still stands today. Lalo Guerrero was an inspiration to Travis, a musician of Anglo descent who grew up in Nogales and spent a lot of time across the border absorbing the culture and developing a unique ability for singing and playing the native music of Mexico. Travis and his friend Roger Smith (who later became a famous actor (TV's Father Knows Best, Wagon Train, Sunset Strip, and Mr. Roberts) before marrying an even more famous actress, Ann-Margret) were well-known at the University of Arizona for serenading women on campus. Travis went on to fame as a member of the Gateway Singers and especially as half of the Bud & Travis folk (and Mexican music) duo that was together off an on from about 1958 to 1965, producing 10 albums. Travis was inducted as an Arizona Culture Keeper in September 2005. His citation includes these words: "Edmonson has been at the vanguard of the movement to bring Latin music north of the border."

Some other famous Tucson musicians include Bob Nolan, Katie Lee, and Rex Allen. Bob Nolan, a founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and the composer of classics such as "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," is a Tucson High graduate and is said to have written "Cool Water" while still in school.

Katie Lee moved to Tucson around the age of 1, and is an actress and folk singer. She is also an activist, and her cause is well-explained in her book, "All My Rivers Are Gone". Katie also wrote a book about cowboy music and recorded a double LP (with Travis Edmonson) by the same name: "Ten Thousand Goddam Cattle."

Rex Allen was the singing cowboy who replaced Roy Rogers in the waning years of that golden era. A native of Willcox, Arizona, he lived in Tucson in his later years. At the age of 11, John Denver received his first guitar from his grandmother while living in Tucson.

In the 1980s and throughout the 1990s Tucson was the site of a vital underground music scene centered around Club Congress and a handful of clubs and ersatz backyard parties located in the neighborhoods proximate to the University of Arizona. Many of these bands were of the indie rock and punk variety. They included The Bled, The River Roses, Pollo Elastico, The Phantom Limbs (not the hardcore band), Al Perry, The Deadbolts, The Lonely Trojans, Mondo Guano, Machines of Loving Grace, The Fells, The Knockout Pills, Chick Cashman, The Weird Lovemakers, Rainer Ptacek, Doo Rag, Bob Log III, and The Sidewinders (later the Sand Rubies).