Music briefs

Sons of Pioneers to play
Old Tucson on Jan. 30

Sons of the Pioneers are slipping into Tucson at the end of January for a show.

Old Tucson is a fitting locale for a band that’s so closely associated with the Old West. And it’s the perfect time of year — Jan. 30, right as their core audience of winter visitors is settling in for its annual three- or four-month stay.

There was a time years ago when Sons of the Pioneers settled in with their fans in Tucson as winter residents of the long-gone Western-themed restaurants Triple C Chuckwagon and Hidden Valley Inn. The group, known for its iconic Western songs “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Riders In the Sky” and “Cool Water,” spent 23 winters in residence here before leaving for good when Hidden Valley Inn closed in early 2006.

The band’s last Tucson show was in 2012, when it played a Rhythm and Roots show at the Berger Center.

Tickets for the Sons’ Jan. 30 dinner show at Old Tucson at $49.95 per person through Jan. 1 at tickets.oldtucson.com; it goes up to $55 on Jan. 2. The price includes a buffet dinner and the show.

The band is expected to perform two 45-minute sets.

Fox spreading spirit
of holidays this week

Fox Tucson Theatre is determined to put you in a holiday state of mind this week.

There are two shows that might do the trick:

• First up on Thursday, Dec. 17, is “Merry-Achi Christmas” with Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez. This is the ultimate Southwest inspired holiday show. It starts at 7:30 pm. and tickets are $22 to $56.
• On Saturday, “Sister’s Christmas Catechism,” the holiday installment of the popular comedy show “Late Nite Catechism,” takes us into the classroom as the tart-tongued nun gives her lesson on the story of the Nativity and enlists their help solving the greatest Christmas caper of all: the theft of the gold the three wise men gifted the Baby Jesus. Tickets are $35 to $55.

Get tickets for either show at the box office, 17 W. Congress St., or online at foxtucsontheatre.ticketforce.com Details: foxtucson.com

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Johnny Rivers heading to Desert Diamond

It almost seems like a cliché to call Grammy-winning pop singer-songwriter Johnny Rivers the “Secret Agent Man” singer.

Yes, that was his big hit, but what Rivers has done with his five-decade career goes so far beyond that big feather in his cap. His hit pop songs — both originals and covers — include “Poor Side of Town,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “Memphis,” “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.”

You can bet he’ll hit those highlights and more when he plays Desert Diamond Casino at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19. Tickets are $15 to $45 through startickets.com or at the casino, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road. Details: ddcaz.com

Meet The Socials
at Rialto holiday gig

The Socials, a gigantic R&B and soul revue band that includes a quartet of vocalists and a dynamic horn section, is wrapping St. Nick into its Rialto Theatre Christmas show on Saturday, Dec. 19.

“A Soulful Christmas” includes holiday music arranged for soul artists including James Brown, Jackson 5, Aaron Neville, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding and Earth, Wind & Fire. This is music firmly in The Socials’ wheelhouse; the band, regulars at the Gaslight Theatre’s Monday night concert series, includes some of Tucson’s hardest-working musicians:

• A trio of horn players: Kevin Shumaker, Salvador Lopez and Rick Peron.
• A towering band of music makers: Aaron Emery on drums, Sam Eagon on bass, Richard Katz on piano, percussionist Eric Hines and lead guitar Mike Blommer.
• A quartet of vocalists Rebecca Carlson, Charlie Hall, Genevieve Gaus and Alex Flores.

Saturday’s show starts at 8 p.m. at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St. Tickets are $16 to $20 at ticketfly.com

Also at the Rialto on Saturday, catch a matinee performance of Tucson’s take on “A Prairie Home Companion” when the Arizona Daily Star’s own cartoonist David Fitzsimmons hosts “The Old Pueblo Radio Show: Garrison Keillor Eat Your Heart Out.” The cast includes Jay Taylor, Lupita Murillo, Marty Bishop and The Arroyo Cafe Players.

The show starts at 1 p.m. and admission is $15 at the door, or $10 and a food donation. Proceeds go to Tu Nidito, Arizona Public Media and the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Tickets also are available online for $10 at ticketfly.com