The Tucson Folk Festival celebrates a variety of styles that have shaped Tucson’s music scene, including Americana, bluegrass, jazz, rock, blues, country, mariachi, Zydeco, Celtic and Latin genres.
This year, the event will run from Friday, March 31, to Sunday, April 2.
In its 38th year, the festival is organized by the Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, in partnership with the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance.
On Saturday and Sunday, there will be more than 125 performances on six stages.
Board member and PR lead Jonathan Frahm said the festival tries to broaden listeners’ perception of folk music.
“A lot of people think back to singer-songwriters in a smoky room, Bob Dylan in the 1960s or string-band style music,” Frahm said.
“Our festival encompasses all matters of roots music…It’s one of my favorite parts of the folk festival. You don’t quite know what you’re walking into, but you know it’s going to be high quality and something that brings people together.”
Board president Matt Rolland said the festival started as a way to provide a space for acoustic musicians to showcase their craft but has really come to highlight what makes Tucson’s musical community unique.
“The Tucson Folk Festival really reflects the music and people of Tucson. That’s part of the reason that you see such a wide range of music included,” Rolland said.
Along with music, the festival will also have a community marketplace with vendors selling items such as visual and fabric art and jewelry, a beer garden and a musical instrument petting zoo.
Food vendors will offer festival fare, barbecue and vegetarian cuisine.
A raffle will have prizes such as musical instruments, tickets to local attractions and a handmade quilt.
The festival showcases a mix of local talent and national headliners.
There are also out-of-state performers, from places such as Nashville, Los Angeles and New York, who will perform in regular performance slots throughout the weekend.
The festival’s mainstage, also known as the Plaza Stage, will spotlight eight headliners, as well as the winner and runner-up from the songwriting competition.
Among this year’s national headliners are the Grammy-nominated Americana duo Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, the Fretless Canadian folk string quartet, roots/R&B/rock/folk artist Kyshona and country blues duo Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar.
Performances on the Plaza Stage will be broadcast online.
The Plaza Stage lineup will also feature Ramsey Roberson, a Phoenix-based duo made up of Robby Roberson and Eric Ramsey. Ramsey won the 2022 International Blues Challenge in the solo/duo category.
The outdoor North Church Stage will offer bands and dancing.
Frahm said this stage really caters to Tucson’s vibrant dance community.
The Presidio Museum Stage, located inside the courtyard of Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum, will serve a mix of bands, duos and trios.
The Court Stage will feature mostly duos and soloists, as well as a few trios.
Rolland said the festival is a great place to discover new artists and groups.
“There is so much good music to be seen,” Rolland said.
“My advice is to pick out a couple acts that you want to go and see and then just go to be surprised and find some new acts, some new favorites.”
New this year is the indoor Roy Place Stage, located inside the Roy Place Building, which will offer more of a listening-room experience.
Frahm said this space was designed to highlight soloists and duos.
“We haven’t in the festival’s long history had an indoor listening-room style stage. It is about creating the right atmosphere to attentively listen to singer-songwriter sessions,” Frahm said.
This space will also have workshops, which are coming back to the festival after a pandemic-dictated hiatus. They will be offered from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
In the past, performers have led workshops on topics such as the history of the banjo and fingerpicking styles on the guitar.
“We are really excited to have those back and part of the festival because education is an aspect of the festival’s mission,” Rolland said.
On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, musicians can take part in a song circle inside the workshop space.
“It’s an impromptu, casual folk festival tradition where you bring your instrument. You bring your voice, and you share songs with a circle of folks that are there,” Frahm said.
The Wildflower Stage will be home to the Roger Mikulas Young Artist Showcase, which will feature up-and-coming youth performers.
As part of a Family Show at this stage, Hans Mayer will headline at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Ron Pandy, a musician who runs the Wildflower Stage and is on the TKMA board, has played at the festival every year since it started 38 years ago. During his first festival, he performed as a duo with his singing dog.
The festival will kick off with the Stefan George Memorial Songwriting Contest on Friday evening at the Plaza Stage. This contest will be broadcast online.
Following the songwriting contest, national headliner the Brother Brothers, a twin brother acoustic duo from Brooklyn, will perform. The competition will open with a performance by Chris Baron, the previous winner.
This year, 80 musicians competed for 10 spots in the finals. This included local and out-of-state artists.
A panel of judges, made up of Tucson songwriters, decides on the first, second and third-place finishers.
“The judges are going to be looking at factors such as originality, lyrical and musical content in the finalists’ songs as well as their stage presence, how they present themselves as an artist onstage during their set,” Frahm said.
Raveis Kole
One of the new groups performing at this year’s folk festival, Raveis Kole, is an electric acoustic singer-songwriter duo from Bellingham, Washington, made up of wife and husband Laurie Raveis and Dennis Kole.
They will perform on the Court Stage at Court Avenue and Washington Street at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 2.
They are also playing at Monterey Court on Thursday, March 30, at 5:40 during an acoustic showcase featuring other festival artists.
The duo was drawn to the Tucson Folk Festival because of its reputation.
“We were hoping to come and immerse ourselves. We are always on the lookout for communities within music. We feel like it’s going to be a great experience for us to share our music, meet other people like ourselves, and hopefully meet some new friends,” Raveis said.
They are planning to release their new full-length LP “In the Moment” Friday, April 28.
This album features songs that span different emotions and genres, including the more whimsical “Sticky and Sweet” and the comedic marriage duet, “Kismet.”
They have written a mixture of meditative, thought-provoking songs as well as more upbeat, uplifting songs.
“It’s been done with a lot of thought, intention and love. This is something that means something to us. We hope it will mean something to you,” Kole said.
When writing, the two were inspired by nature around them in Bellingham and surrounding areas. They live on a lake and are within a short drive of mountains, the ocean and volcanoes.
For their new album, Raveis and Kole play every instrument on the record, including the banjo, the ukulele, the lap steel and harp guitars, the cavaquinho, foot drums, the tambourine and shakers.
They wanted to create a stripped-down album where the acoustic instruments they play on the album can be performed live.
“If you listen to the album, and you come see us live, it’s almost the same thing. We really tried to keep it pure, where we didn’t add anything that we can’t do in a live show,” Raveis said.
They also mimicked horned instruments such as the trumpet and trombone with their voices, and Raveis whistled and did a word solo/rap on the album.
The couple met during a guitar workshop in Montana about a decade ago. Early on, they found they had a strong personal connection and musical chemistry.
“What was immediately apparent to me was Laurie had a really wonderful sense of humor and sense of playfulness, and it shows in her music. That was what was the instant attraction,” Kole said.
Tucson Folk Festival
WHEN: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, March 31; noon to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 1; 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 2
WHERE: Jacome Plaza, 101 N. Stone Avenue, Tucson
COST: Free admission
INFO: tucsonfolkfest.org
Tucson Folk Festival Acoustic Showcase
WHEN: 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 30
WHERE: Monterey Court, 505 W. Miracle Mile, Tucson
COST: Free admission
INFO: tucsonfolkfest.org