There is only one thing on Sons of the Pioneers trail boss Luther Nallie's absolutely-cannot-miss Tucson to-do list:
Slip into the south-side's longtime Bamboo Terrace Mandarin & Cantonese Cuisine restaurant for the house special lo mein.
"I love their lo mein and their won ton soups," Nallie said of the restaurant, which celebrates its 27th anniversary this month.
The Sons' Tucson ties are about as long. They started spending their winters in Tucson a year before Bamboo Terrace opened, performing nightly supper shows at the famed Triple C Chuckwagon. When that closed in 2003, the Sons moved across town to the Hidden Valley Inn, where they played their final full Tucson season in 2004. Hidden Valley Inn closed in early 2006.
On Friday, the Sons will have their first Tucson performance here in almost five years.
"It's like coming home," said Nallie, 76, who lives full-time in Branson, Mo. "I wish we could go back. I loved playing winters there. I miss Tucson so much."
Four of the band's six members live in Branson, where the group performs nearly nightly from early May to the end of October. Two live in Texas.
The seminal Western group's long-awaited Tucson encore - a benefit gig with Tohono Chul Park - will pick up exactly where they left off, Nallie said. There will be plenty of folksy humor and an overwhelming feeling that you're sitting on the band's back porch as they play those ubiquitous gems - "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "Cool Water," "Song of the Pioneers," "Westward Ho" - using the Lloyd Perryman arrangements that define the Pioneers sound.
"We're not going to change what makes the sound," said Nallie, who took over as trail boss when Dale Warren died in 2008.
Sons of the Pioneers formed in 1933. Tucsonan Bob Nolan, a founding member, penned the bulk of their early hits. The group has endured dozens of lineup changes, even though members clock in decades before they leave.
Nallie is now the group's oldest and longest-serving (42 years) musician. Most of the members are in their 40s, he added.
"We've got some good guys. I'm really proud of the group. We work hard to sing really well," he said.
He is hoping the Tohono Chul show will be the first of many for the Sons.
"Maybe in the future, if we can find another place, maybe we can get something started again," he said in a softly worn drawl. "I miss Tucson terribly."
If you go
• What: Tohono Chul Fall Fiesta featuring Sons of the Pioneers.
• When: 5 p.m. Friday.
• Where: Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte.
• Tickets: $99 in advance at the park. Price includes dinner prepared by Chef Albert Hall, drinks including prickly pear margaritas and local keg beer, and music from the legendary Western band.
• Details: 742-6455.
