HocoFest Homecoming fetes Tucson’s legacy, future

Musicians have long influenced Tucson’s soundtrack.

The annual HocoFest Homecoming celebrates Tucson’s past and present as well as the variety of music styles that have and continue to shape the local scene.

Featuring 60 bands, the finale is Thursday, Aug. 31, to Monday, Sept. 4. It will kick off on Thursday with a Hola Hoca pre-party on the Plaza stage, which will spotlight young up-and-coming Latin bands.

A two-day film festival, an art show, a record fair and daytime parties and lounges complement the music. Most of the events are at Hotel Congress. The film festival screenings are housed in the Screening Room and Loft Cinema, and guests will swim at Hotel McCoy.

Hotel Congress Entertainment Director David Slates said the festival offers listening experiences for a range of musical tastes.

“On Friday, we have a big heavy show in the club, and then we have this desert rock show with all of those bands from Tucson history,” Slates said.

“Then, we have this big band thing doing Linda Ronstadt stuff in the Century Room. It’s a big variety. And then, the next night, we have the Dusty Chaps, which has been around for over 50 years and is doing a great country rock/country western swing thing, and then inside, we have hip-hop.

“The whole mission of this festival is to expose everyone to many different styles and the richness of the Tucson music scene.”

In its 18th year, HocoFest will return to its roots this year with a focus on Tucson music. This is considered the finale for this version of the music festival. The event was founded to celebrate Club Congress’ 20th anniversary.

“My theory was that Club Congress is the place for live music. It just is but why is it? It’s because of all of these great artists. And it’s all of these different kinds of artists,” Slates said.

“Back in 2005, we said why don’t we just bring back all of these artists, and we had all of these reunions and 40 bands. It was wonderful and became a thing.”

Slates said choosing artists was a challenge, but he really wanted to bring in ones that represent the different time periods and music genres of Tucson.

“I could do twice as many days and twice as many acts and still not capture all the good stuff,” Slates said.

“You really have to think about the representation of Tucson music. You find bands that you really think could represent certain parts, that are really quality artists. I had to get the Dusty Chaps. They were signed to Capitol Records. They were the quintessential Tucson band, only behind Linda Ronstadt in enduring popularity. And then, you get someone like Murs, who is probably our greatest hip-hop performer who came out and did great national things.

“I had to have certain acts to represent…. Some of the best new acts, I wanted to show how those ties went from one era to the next.”

Tucson-founded new wave group Gentlemen Afterdark, which features Tucson Weekly columnist Brian Smith, recently had its music featured on season three of TV show “Stranger Things.” They will perform Friday night on the Plaza Stage.

The festival lineup will also include notable Arizona-based acts such as Gatecreeper, Orkesta Mendoza, Giant Sand, the Sidewinders and Angie Bowie.

During the festival, attendees will see Tucson’s emerging youth talent.

“So much of this relies on the nostalgia and representing eras, but it wouldn’t make any sense if we didn’t tie it to some of the younger hopefuls that we have coming up and some of this great creative talent that is emerging in Tucson,” Slates said.

Slates said because the festival has such a range of music, it attracts people of all generations.

“We are all enjoying this one great part of our culture. It’s something we don’t celebrate enough. Tucson has such a rich musical history. Check it out. You get a great snapshot of all of it,” Slates said.

On Sunday, a daytime Metal Mass event will feature heavy metal and hard rock acts on one stage.

The Ambient Lounge — also on Sunday and 100 feet away from the metal concert — will feature artistic and ambient musical experiences from Steve Roach and Karima Walker, among others.

As part of the art show, there will be classic poster art from Club Congress shows as well as other memorabilia on display.

Linda Ronstadt

This year, the festival will celebrate one of Tucson’s biggest icons, Linda Ronstadt.

She has crisscrossed genres in her career, including rock, country, jazz, Latin, opera, Broadway and Americana.

Ronstadt has sung on more than 120 albums and had over 30 gold and platinum records. She is best known for the hits “You’re No Good,” “Blue Bayou,” “Somewhere Out There” with James Ingram and “Don’t Know Much” with Aaron Neville.

The singer has been recognized for her work with numerous awards, including 11 Grammy Awards. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and honored by President Barack Obama with the National Medal of the Arts in 2014.

Each day of the festival will highlight a different era of Ronstadt’s career.

On Friday in the Century Room, Katherine Byrnes and Jeff Haskell will perform music from the artist’s jazz/big-band Nelson Riddle albums.

Liz Cerapenya and Pete Ronstadt, her cousin, will also share classic music and stories from the legendary singer’s career on the Plaza Stage on Saturday.

On Sunday at the Plaza Stage, Los Cenzontles will perform music from her Spanish language album “Canciones de Mi Padre.”

As part of the film festival, there will be Saturday showings at the Screening Room of “Linda and the Mockingbirds” and “The Pirates of Penzance.” The Loft Cinema will host a Sunday showing of “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice.”

The art festival showcases a curated photographic and historic exhibition dedicated to Ronstadt.

On Sept. 8, Ronstadt’s album “Canciones de Mi Padre” will be re-released in vinyl for the first time since the initial release more than 35 years ago. The album won a 1987 Grammy for Best Mexican American Album and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021.

The vinyl re-release will be available to HocoFest attendees.

Within her music, Ronstadt always embraced and honored her Mexican heritage. The album features interpretations of mariachi classics.

New film screening

On Sunday, Sept. 3, at the Screening Room, audiences will also get another glimpse into Tucson history with a screening of Chris Carlone’s new documentary, “A Tale of Two Houses.”

The film looks at two party houses located next door to each other in the ’80s. They were an important part of the Tucson DIY music scene.

“It’s about a couple of houses that became the bedrock foundation for a lot of the kids that eventually became the core of the music community in Tucson,” Slates said.

“It’s these two little houses that the UA rented out. There were always shows every weekend.”

Local and national acts played in these two houses. Within these spaces, young people found their own identities and communities outside of mainstream culture.

The film incorporates live performance footage as well as music from Tucson artists such as River Roses, the Phantom Limbs, Rainer, Los Hamsters, Naim Amor and Al Perry.

The filmmaker will do a post-film Q&A following the screening.