Arizona Folklore Preserve

Ted Ramirez
2026-03-22 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Phoenix) | Arizona Folklore Preserve, 56 E. Folklore Trail, Hereford, AZ, 85615, United States
Teodoro “Ted” Ramirez is a Southwest troubadour with a captivating sound and distinctive music style. His performances are a celebration in Southwest culture. The name “Teodoro” is the Spanish version of English “Theodore”, and is a old family name – one that dates back to before the 1700’s in his family. Ted often with a smile says: “my name is Teodoro, but all my friends call me Teo or Ted.
Ted’s repertoire is a mixture of original music, classic American and Mexican folk songs, and stories. Ted is an established and seasoned live concert performing artist having toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and northern Europe.
Ted was born in Tucson, Arizona in 1953 with family roots that pre-date the Spanish and Mexican eras of the region.
Ted presents songs with intriguing introductions drawn from personal experience, and the oral and written histories of Mexico and the American Southwest.
Ted has received numerous awards including: “Arizona Culture Keeper Award” and named “Tucson’s Official Troubadour” by the Tucson’s Mayor and City Council in 2001.
Ted is the founder of the celebrated Tucson-based folk group; “The Santa Cruz River Band”.
Ted’s live performance presentations are well-suited for: concerts, festivals, educational programs, residencies, workshops, and special presentations and ceremonies for all ages.

Steff Kayser and Alvin Blaine
2026-03-28 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-29 14:00 - 16:00
An insightful, award-winning composer and brilliant interpreter of others’ material, Tucson-based Steff Kayser offers unique and diverse performances with a soulful soaring voice and musical talents that delight the most discerning of audiences. Most recently, Steff’s original ‘The Space Between Our Fences’ won 3rd place in the 2022 Tumbleweed Music Festival Song Contest. He’s a finalist in this year’s 2023 Tucson Folk Festival Song Contest (winner TBD). He also surprises with creative takes on a variety of unexpected cover tunes.

Alvin Blaine’s career took off after performing Wildwood Flower for his dad at age 5. Up to that point, Dad had prohibited the kids from playing any of his many instruments that graced the living room of Alvin’s childhood. Since then, as a multi-genre, multi-instrumentalist musician, Alvin has performed in countless bands as a treasured and skilled sideman. With 25 years in Las Vegas as a professional musician, he played everything from cowboy swing to jazz, blues, and country standards on the energized Vegas circuit honing his many skills.

Doors open at 1 p.m., performances begin at 2:00 p.m. Reservations are preferred; however, walk-ins will be seated if space permits. The Arizona Folklore Preserve is located at 56 E. Folklore Trail in Hereford. Make reservations at www.arizonafolklore.com.

Michael Grande
2026-04-04 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-05 14:00 - 16:00
Michael Grande, one of the world’s beloved entertainers is returning this weekend.
Grande, who tours the world, only performs in Cochise County twice per year. A singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist, Grande brings laughter and tears to audience members as he moves from exciting instrumentals featuring his famous five-fingered picking technique and breathtaking guitar flourishes to his gentle, almost caressing of the strings, as his sexy, smooth voice, tells tales of soldiers, families and the great depression.
But if the song is a sad one, the mood is uplifted immediately by Grande inserting songs and stories of friends, family and animals: a little girl’s first horse, the loss of a stray dog that became a hero to a family it saved, and the romantic love story of an Arabian stallion and mare.
In between songs, Grande is known for his tales. Growing up in an Italian family, he tells of being a child in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he used to tie the tail of his coonskin cap to his bicycle and pretend it was a horse as he raced through the mean streets of Bensonhurst. In his mind and his dreams, he was always a cowboy, and he was always in Arizona.

Old Pueblo Bluegrass Band
2026-04-11 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-12 14:00 - 16:00
The Old Pueblo Bluegrass Band has been delighting audiences with high-energy bluegrass music for five years. Bandleader Reid Griffin, on guitar and vocals, is a Tucson native. He has performed throughout the Southwest since the 1980s and toured Europe with his band “Griffin Brothers”. Steve Reed, on electric and upright bass and vocals, majored in music at Pima College, then made a long musical journey from classical to jazz and onward to bluegrass. Bob Frankot, on fiddle, has been steeped in bluegrass all his life and has played with the popular California bluegrass band “Hot Off the Press” through the 1980s before coming to the Old Pueblo.

Liz & Pete
2026-04-18 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-19 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-23 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-24 14:00 - 16:00
She’s Liz, he’s Pete, they are Liz & Pete. Liz Cerepanya and Peter Dalton Ronstadt join musical forces to explore material old and new. Liz’s heartfelt voice with Pete’s haunting harmonies and rich guitar arrangements captivate the mind and tug at the heart. After a few passing introductions in their shared music scene, Liz Cerepanya joined Peter Dalton Ronstadt on stage at Monterey Court in Tucson in the fall of 2019. They had had a brief opportunity to work up a couple of songs, including Rodney Crowell’s “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”, and an instant musical match was realized. The decision to make a record together was easy, and quickly Liz and Pete began exploring material including the timeless songs of Alan Garr, songs of their favorite songwriters and singers, new and old compositions by Pete as well as classic songs from his father Michael Joseph Ronstadt’s repertoire. Liz and Pete’s natural element is just the two of them on stage accompanied by an acoustic guitar and the Pennsylvania Stompbox.

Randy Huston
2026-04-25 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-26 14:00 - 16:00
Singer, songwriter, cowboy — Randy Huston writes and sings about the modern-day lifestyle of the cowboy. He is a fourth-generation livestock producer and partners with his father on their ranch in New Mexico. He started breaking horses for wages at the age of 14 and spent many years in rodeo arenas through high school and college. He’s written some of the most widely recognized contemporary cowboy music, and his songs have been recorded by some of the “stars” of this genre. Huston was voted one of the top five male entertainers in 2007 by the Academy of Western Artists and was 2010 Academy of Western Artists male vocalist of the year. In 2022 he was honored as Male Performer of the Year by the International Western Music Association. He is also a multiple Wrangler Award Recipient.
Doors open at 1 p.m., performances begin at 2:00 p.m. Reservations are preferred; however, walk-ins will be seated if space permits.

Mule Boys
2026-05-02 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-03 14:00 - 16:00
Scott Muhleman, namesake of this duo, blows a mean harp. He’s been bending notes and playing the blues since the sixties. LA, Waikiki in ’68, Alaska, San Francisco, to Bisbee, Arizona. He came to Bisbee the first time while touring with DC Miner and Blues on the Move. Jon Messenger’s story has been a journey through, away from, and back again to the American West. A musical journey through the west. And the Everglades. And Cornwall-on-Hudson. Always some guitar player willing to be patient with him, indulge him with some music and “communicate to me how to play.” Scott and Jon met at a campout at Parker Canyon Lake in 1992. Assembled with like minds in fine surroundings, music was made. Music continued to happen and will happen again this weekend!

Jim Jones and Mariam Funke
2026-05-09 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-10 14:00 - 16:00
Jim Jones and Mariam Funke are award-winning musicians from New Mexico, and are two-thirds of the band, The Cowboy Way. As a group they have been named Western Group of the Year four times by the International Western Music Association, and have taken home numerous individual awards from the IWMA, the Writers of America, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Academy of Western Artists. Their music captures the spirit of the West…the past, the present, and the future, as well as the values, challenges, and allure, while their lively shows feature tight harmonies, high energy and smokin’ instruments. They honor traditional cowboy songs and then bowl you over with their dynamic contemporary original Western tunes.

Dry Wash Anglers
2026-05-16 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-17 14:00 - 16:00
Originally from back East, the Dry Wash Anglers grew out of a mutual need for more fishing, bluegrass and George Jones in 2022. With guitarist/vocalist Joel Leland, songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Hank Abbey, Katy Colville on bass, and Corrine Gary on fiddle, the Anglers channel the harmonies and hot flatpicking of a pantheon of heroes; Carter Stanley, Larry Sparks, Billy Joe Shaver and more. Stem to stern, Abbey, Leland and Colville nurture a respect for the familiar sound that shaped them but aren’t shy of the deeper waters of their own original music.

Mark Stuart
2026-05-30 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-05-31 14:00 - 16:00
Mark Stuart spends every year as a full-time working artist and musician. Mostly performing his own unique shows, doing singer-songwriter concerts, he can be witnessed excelling as a band guitarist at hometown Nashville, Tennessee gigs or sessions, too.
Stuart has toured extensively in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe. Notable artists such as Freddy Fender, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, and Steve Forbert have employed him for his musicianship. In a duo act with his artist wife, Stacey Earle, he spent thousands of days on tour through the years. That duo would release many albums on their own independent label, Gearle Records.
Whether it be Cambridge Folk Festival, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, MTV, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, Stan Rogers Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, Merlefest, or countless small festivals and theaters, Stuart’s storytelling, guitar playing, vocals, or songs have caught the attention of music lovers.
When asked to define Mark Stuart’s music it is virtually impossible, as his versatility screams out loud. Rock, blues, folk, country, and more are evident in his performance. Electric, acoustic, slide guitar-all make up his musical toolbox. Travis-style, Chicago blues, honky tonk country, finger-style folk-all are there when you hear him. His songs are oftentimes autobiographic pieces, but, can be constructed from the viewpoint of a lifelong troubadour who is paying attention to the world he sees around him. He could, at any given time, toss a Paul McCartney or John Fogerty or Woodie Guthrie song into his set.

Timberline Cowboys
2026-06-06 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-06-07 14:00 - 16:00
Timberline Cowboys
Both award-winning singer-songwriter J. Michael Mullins and multi-instrument aficionado Geary Parsons have, in one way or another, been in the music industry for the majority of their lives. After playing and singing together at the Durango’s Cowboy Church for a year, they decided to perform as a duo at the 2021 Durango Cowboy Poetry Gathering. They were an immediate hit and discovered they had an unmistakable chemistry, and an innate ability to connect with audiences. The Timberline Cowboys were born. Most of what they do is original music, dealing with the ranching and farming life prevalent in and around where they reside in the Four Corners area. Their music is basic, honest, and forthright. Two guitars and vocals, they are just at home around a campfire as they are in an arena or concert hall. Through lyrical ballads and up-tempo comedy songs, they give the audience a first-hand look at what life is like for the still proud, but dwindling numbers of ranchers, farmers, cowboys and cowgirls in the great Southwest. While in high demand in and around Durango, their music has been featured on numerous streaming and radio shows in the United States, Canada, Germany, France and England. Basically homebodies, they still enjoy hitting the road (on occasion) to play at cowboy gatherings and select out-of-town venues. They have produced four albums in four years, the second of which spent nine months on the IWMA Western Music Charts. They are hoping for the same level of success with their latest album, Watercolor Skies, released in July 2025. A new album is in the works for 2026. Mike’s original song, “Drivin’ This Herd to the Rail” took home the award for 2024 International Western Music Association Working Cowboy Song of the Year. Both are active IWMA members, and Geary is the current president of the IWMA Colorado Chapter. www.thetimberlinecowboys.com

Belinda Gail
2026-06-13 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-06-14 14:00 - 16:00
Belinda Gail, “America’s Western Sweetheart,” was raised on ranches in Nevada’s Carson Valley and in the California Sierra Nevada foothills near Sequoia National Park. Her rich ranching heritage and love of the West runs deep in her music and evoke the character of the people, as well as the beauty, majesty, and deep connection to the land that only those who have lived the ranch life can truly capture. Ranching and the ‘cowboy life’ are very much part of the essence of this dynamic Western Performer.
Belinda is honored and humbled to not only be counted among the top female Western Music performers of this era, but she was recently listed as one of the top 50 Country and Western Entertainers of all time by American Cowboy Magazine in their collector edition entitled “Legends”. She has committed her full-time effort to this music for nearly two decades and crisscrosses this country taking her special brand of Western Music to the masses.

IWMA Youth Chapter
2026-06-20 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-06-21 14:00 - 16:00
The Arizona Folklore Preserve is delighted to introduce the next bright stars in the western music genre for your listening pleasure this weekend. Those participating are: Venessa Carpenter, Jack George, Birdie Nichols, and Kailer Hedden. The AFP is proud to be a sponsor of the IWMA Youth Chapter, which helps young performers hone their talents by providing scholarships and other assistance as the youngsters strive for careers in western music. Please join us in welcoming the IWMA Youth Chapter to the AFP stage!

Allan Chapman and Rodeo Kate
2026-06-27 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-06-28 14:00 - 16:00
Western music fans are sure to enjoy this weekend’s performances by Allan Chapman and Rodeo Kate. Both have deep roots in the western music scene. Kate was instrumentalist of the Year in 2006 for the International Western Music Association (IWMA) and is a past member of The Texas Trailhands, Daughters of the Purple Sage, and KG & the Ranger. Allan is a three-time Grammy nominee, with songwriting credits for performers like Kenny Rodgers, The Oak Ridge Boys, George Jones, and Diana Ross. He has been a multi-time finalist for IWMA and Association of Western Music Song of the Year, IWMA Western Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year …and the list goes on! Allan and Kate have been working hard to finish their new mini-album CD “Thistles & Thorns” that includes their new single to be released in mid-May “West Texas Blues”.
Together Allan and Kate live in rural Wise County, Texas, where they continue to practice their ranching tradition.

Jean Prescott, Jon Messenger, Michael Grande
2026-07-04 14:00 - 16:00
It’s a Patriotic Weekend at the AFP
Join us at the Arizona Folklore Preserve this weekend! Old Glory will wave free and proud when Jean Prescott, an award-winning western singer/songwriter and daughter of a World War II veteran, performs with two outstanding local musicians, Michael Grande and Jon Messenger, who also happen to be former Marines. But this won’t be a typical 4th of July musical performance. There will be some sing-a-longs to “America the Beautiful” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” of course, but mostly this show will be about the personal stories of the performers, their families, and why they love America. Come and celebrate America with us!
