Nov 24-25: Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s Official State Balladeer, and Ian Macpherson – The Balladeer and the Short Lawyer
Dolan and Ian first met around 1960 when Dolan moved from Kansas to Arizona. Ian was still in college at the time, working part-time as a folk musician. Dolan went on to national fame, whereas Ian went to law school and is a practicing attorney. Please visit the Web page for Ian to learn just how much fans of the Arizona Folklore Preserve owe to him as a lawyer.

Ian is also a great musician. He plays guitar and banjo, both extremely well, and his voice is very clear and strong. His favorite music these days is bluegrass, so he may treat the audience to some of those tunes. You can also expect Dolan to sing his very special arrangement of Autumn Leaves (it's Thanksgiving weekend, after all), and one or two of his original songs. Dolan and Ian are sure to have a lot of fun as they play the old folk music hits of the 1960s, and they are sure to share that fun with the audience.

Dec 1-2: Jon Messenger – Western singer/songwriter/guitarist/storyteller extraordinaire
Jon Messenger is probably not yet aware that the legendary Travis Edmonson gave us this quote: “Jon’s music and lyrics take me back to the days I spent working on my Uncle Mitt’s ranch on the slopes of Mt Graham, near Safford. I have listened to him play for hours, and he never ceases to amaze me with his ability to combine the cowboy’s  love for the land and the artist’s ability to describe it.”

Jon's original music consists mostly of the cowboy songs he writes from his own experiences as a Cochise County cowboy. He is a true poet and one of the most articulate of performers. A Jon Messenger concert is a totally entertaining lesson in what it's like to be a cowboy. He tells us about his first time as a cowboy in Welcome to the Romance, then tells us how he feels when he watches horses run wild and free in Pony Dance. He describes one of the old-time cowboys he most admired in Shug's Tune. And he tells a story he first thought was fantasy in Roses in the Yard; only after writing it did he learn that pioneer women really did carry rose cuttings from one home to the next and nurture them to provide beauty in the otherwise stark environment.

This year Jon was nominated for the Western Music Association's Crescendo Award.

Jon will certainly include his Li'l' Cowpoke's Christmas Prayer at this weekend's shows, and since he is such a versatile musician with a huge repertoire, you can expect other Christmas songs as well.

Dec 15-16: Trails & Rails (Paula Strong and Walt Richards) – wonderful Western musicians from San Diego
Paula and Walt have spent a lot of time in Cochise, Pima, and Santa Cruz Counties, as well as Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the past few years as they have performed at Western music festivals and cowboy Gatherings and such. They are outstanding instrumentalists, and Walt is well-known as a teacher as well as performer.

This weekend they'll present their show "The Way West," in which they play and sing songs from historic periods and relate the songs to real events. They will also include a few numbers from the "Rails" side of their act, meaning railroad songs.

Trails & Rails won the Duo Harmony Award for the Western Music Association in 2005, and were nominated for the WMA Crescendo Award in 2007.

Dec 22-23: Tim Weed – Virtuoso Musician – singer/songwriter/instrumentalist – plus original classical banjo music (the artist formerly known as Tim Wiedenkeller)
There are two "for sure" things about a Tim Weed concert. The music will be outstanding, incredible, and all the complimentary superlatives one can think of. The second is that something wonderfully unexpected will happen. It may be a unique entrance. It may be a new Tim Weed composition. It may be a unique Tim Weed arrangement of a familiar song (a great example is his Route 66, which has become a favorite of his fans).

This weekend's program wail include some Christmas music to celebrate the season. It will also include some of Tim's original classical banjo music from his Milagros CD, which is played on National Public Radio quite regularly. He sings, too--mostly his original compositions in wide-ranging genres: Long Tom (bluegrass), Under the Banyan Tree (a beautiful love song) and Corazon (Sonoran, written in both Spanish and English) for example. A recording of his most-requested song, New Old Pueblo (subtitled We No Peel Nopal No More) is available on his MySpace page--if you aren't yet sure whether you want to take a break from Christmas shopping to see Tim's show, visit that page and you'll likely be convinced. There are also three other wonderful recordings on that page.

Tim has played for many dignitaries, including the Dalai Lama. Lately he has been playing at a lot more festivals, and his name is becoming more and more well known, not just among fans but among his fellow musicians. It's easy to understand why this versatile virtuoso would be the talk of the town, wherever he goes.

Dec 29-30:  Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s Official State Balladeer – “Old Arizona 2008”
This weekend, Dolan will present his annual New Years Concert, in which he contrasts the Arizona of about a century ago, when Arizona was still a U.S. territory (or perhaps not yet a territory), and statehood was barely a dream. He has a wealth of original songs that take us back 100 years or so: The Life of Geronimo, The Old Crook Trail, Frank Murphy's Impossible Bradshaw Mountain Railroad, and He Called It Tombstone, to name just a few.

The most up-to-date song in Dolan's repertoire is his Ballad of Sheriff Joe, his humorous look at the famous Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, who is constantly in the news these days. The humor in the song is the best type, that which is based on truth. He covers the pink underwear, the green baloney stew, the lack of girlie magazines, and "He's back again don't you know, with a reporter and a camera crew; he's on TV while I'm pickin' up trash on the work gang..."

Other songs about the newer Arizona include Therapeutic 4-Wheel Drive, about the Jeeps that take us where we used to have to go on horseback or on foot. Yuppieville is perhaps the perfect example, a song about the semi-jet setter in the electronic age.

2008
Jan 5-6: Way Out West (Slim Rost, Tom Poley, Emmy Creigh) – Bordergrass - a unique and fun style of Western music
Come to see this trio if you are ready for some high-energy entertainment. The songs they sing are mostly the traditional, classic music of the working cowboys, plus some that are purely the product of the Hollywood "singin' cowboy" movies."

They also include some of their original songs, and will likely recite some of their original poetry as well.

Way Out West refers to their unique sound as Bordergrass. It definitely has somewhat of a bluegrass sound that comes largely from Tom's banjo. Tom also plays guitar and sings lead on many of the songs. Emmy is on guitar and vocals, and Slim on his bunkhouse bass and vocals.

Their shows are always fun, but there are some serious moments. Be sure to check out their songs on MySpace (the link above) and their Down on the Ol' Bar None album on CDBaby to listen to samples. If you like the songs, you'll love seeing them in person.

Jan 12-13: Desert Sons (John (Buck) Ryberg, Benny Young, Slim Tighe, Skelly Boyd) – Western music in soothing 3- and 4-part harmony
The Desert Sons have enjoyed a loyal fan base in Cochise County for many years. Buck (rhythm guitar) and Benny (fiddle and occasionally accordion) have been part of the group for almost 20 years. Skelly (from Safford, on lead guitar) joined the group in 1994 and Slim (from Bisbee, on upright bass) in 1995.

Just so you're not confused, there are really two groups of Desert Sons these days. Buck and Benny are the constants. Tucsonans Bill Ganz (lead guitar) and Bill Ronstadt (upright bass) will take the stage at most concerts in Tucson as well as some other locations.

No matter which group is playing, the music is the best. All members of the group sing, but Buck usually takes the role of lead vocalist. Their repertoire consists of the songs that are known to almost everyone, such as Cool Water, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and Ghost Riders. They have also introduced fans to Western songs that are not so well known beyond the cowboy gatherings and Western festivals, such as Marty Robbins' beautiful and prophetic Man Walks Among Us and Ian Tyson's tribute to the Western painter Charles Russell, The Gift. There are also some fine original songs, including Buck's Arizona Home.