Jeniffer Zimmerman is a native Tucsonan with a varied palate for music. She was the music journalist for Cannabis Culture magazine, and her music photography has been published in Spin and the Tucson Weekly. Zimmerman hosts the Wednesday afternoon Music Mix on KXCI FM 91.3 and studies music therapy as part of her graduate work. She also teaches at the downtown Yoga Oasis.
What was the first concert you ever saw?
Billy Idol in Phoenix with my dad; I was 13, and he rushed the stage with me, fist-pumping and all.
What are you listening to these days?
First Aid Kit, Heartless Bastards, Nneka, Gillian Welch, The Roots, Poliça, Trevor Hall, Norah Jones, G. Love, Bronwin Rhodes, and The Green.
What was the first album you owned?
A lady I baby-sat for gave me an autographed Kiss album as trade. It opened as a trifold and had an application to join the Kiss Army inside.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone seem to love, but you just don't get?
Reggaeton. I love reggae, and I love Latin music, so I thought that it would be a winning combo ... but it just makes me feel agitated.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Bob Marley, live at the Roxy.
Musically speaking, what is your favorite guilty pleasure?
"I Got Five on It" by Luniz, and "Hell Yeah" by Dead Prez.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
"Helpless" by Neil Young, and "Natural Mystic" by Bob Marley.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
Bob Marley and the Wailers. I've interviewed several of his sons and traveled to Jamaica several times as a journalist to study his life, and in the process fell in love with the island and its people. ... I returned to work in the orphanages in Kingston.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Outside of Bob Marley, I have to say Tigerlily, by Natalie Merchant, because I put my sons to sleep to that album when they were little. When I hear it, I remember them as babies.
