Tucson Area Music Awards's Blog (10)

The period of time covered in voting for the 2009 TAMMIES was May 1, 2008, through April 30, 2009. Here's a look back at some significant events from that time span.

May 2008

The Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association presents the 23rd annual Tucson Folk Festival, featuring more than 100 acts, including a slew of local artists and national headliners Marley's Ghost, Ruthie Foster and Billy Jonas.

Metallica is signed to headline KFMA Day, then drops out when the station announc… Continue

Wonder for a moment what might have happened had Sergio Mendoza's band performed a Steely Dan set last December at The Great Cover-Up. Or Earth, Wind and Fire.

Those were the contenders before the band settled on the King of Mambo, Perez Prado. The rest is racing into history.

The Prado choice le… Continue

Ryan Green and Cameron Hood stop touring just long enough to get honored as the TAMMIES Band of the Year

These days, you're more likely to find Ryan Green and Cameron Hood, aka Ryanhood, performing in music halls, cafés and bars—and even occasionally on a stadium stage with performers like Jay-Z and Kelly Clarkson… Continue

It was about 13 years ago when Joey Burns and John Convertino, then the rhythm section for influential local act Giant Sand, put together a quiet little album of home recordings under the name Spoke. That self-titled album was released by a small German label.

Soon, though, the group changed its name to Calexico—and… Continue

The Big Stuff

Band/Musician of the Year
Ryanhood (R), 39.3 percent Runners up:
2. Golden Boots (C), 25.4 percent
3. Cosmic Slop (R), 21.6 percent
4. Fourkiller Flats (C), 13.6 percent Up-and-Coming Artist(s) of the Year
Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta (C), 33.1 percent Runners up:
2. Race You There (R), 24.9 percent
3. Triple Double Band (R), 24.1 percent
4.… Continue

As an oft-repeated legend has it, one of the most successful partnerships in Tucson music occurred almost by accident.

Once upon a time--actually, it was 1985--a college kid named David Slutes surreptitiously added his vocals to some rough demo recordings by an acquaintance, former Peace C… Continue

Let it never be said that the Tucson Area Music Award for Up-and-Coming Artist of the Year isn't an accurate harbinger. For proof, look no further than The Wyatts, who took that honor in 2005, and this year brought home their third consecutive TAMMIES honor for Band or Artist of the Year--no small f… Continue

The Ed Mitchell Clinic, the Tucson trio Mostly Bears' debut album on local label Funzalo, and the 2008 TAMMIES Best New Release, is named after the sixth man on the moon, astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

He was the lunar-module pilot on Apollo 14, and his moon experience, while not a… Continue

The history of audio recording only goes about 100 years back. Before that, the only time you would hear music is when it was being performed live, in real time, and usually in close proximity to where you were.

This is the magical interaction from which the Dusty Buskers draw, pl… Continue

The Big Stuff Band/Musician of the Year The Wyatts (R), 41.4 percent Runners up: 2. Mostly Bears (C), 34.1 percent 3. Golden Boots (C), 24.5 percent Up-and-Coming Artist(s) of the Year The Dusty Buskers (R), 36.2 percent Runners up: 2. American Android (R), 26.5 percent 3. Digital Leather (C), 18.9 percent 4. The Hounds (R), 18.3 percent Best New Release (Since May 2007) Mostly Bears, The Ed Mitchell Clinic (C), 26.7 percent Runners up: 2. Greyhound Soul,… Continue