James McCartney has some fond memories of Tucson.
His mom and dad, Linda and Paul McCartney, were residents here in the late 1970s and although James McCartney was born and raised in England, he says Tucson and the Southwestern United States are among his favorite spots in the U.S.
"I love the Southwest, especially Tucson, because my mom loved it there so much," he said in an email interview to chat about his U.S. tour that brings him to Club Congress on Friday, May 27. It's his first show in Tucson since he played Congress in 2013.
McCartney, 38, proved to be a man of few words in the email interview. We asked him about his show and he promised it would be "a lovely experience." But in a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone magazine at Coachella, McCartney opened up about his music and his family.
McCartney told Rolling Stone that his late start in music โ his first concert was in 2009 โ was for different reasons, but a big one was coping with his mother's death.ย
"My mom's death ย was a big part of it, just grieving. I was heavily into Nirvana and I still am, but when I was 23 I got disillusioned by music," he told the magazine. "Then I just focused more on myself and gave up music for a while. It was definitely inside me. I was writing songs, I was doing artwork."ย
In our email interview with him this week, McCartney said he was looking forward to getting back to the U.S. His tour, to promote his weeks-old album "Blackberry Train," takes him from California to Oklahoma through late June. He's ย mostly doing small venues like Congress.ย
"Every audience is different, whether a different city, state or country," he said. "I love connecting with them."
He also is a big fan of American vegan fare and said he looks forward to "sampling all the great vegan places around the country" and seeing old friends he's made along the way.ย
