Pandemic doesn’t stop music from Tucson artists

Tucson singer-songwriter Katie Haverly had planned to host a CD release concert this weekend for her new studio album “Matter.”

But in the coronavirus age of social distancing and with every venue in the state closed, she dropped the album on Bandcamp last week, nearly two weeks ahead of the planned April 4 release date.

The Tucson Americana/folk duo Sweet Ghosts moved up the release date of their new CD “An Endless Blue” by two months, from May 23 to March 25. The album is available digitally through Bandcamp and, like Haverly’s record, proceeds from the download sales will benefit the GoFundMe Tucson Musicians Relief Fund, which was started by Haverly, Hannah Levin and Sweet Ghosts violinist Ben Nisbet.

The fund will benefit Tucson musicians impacted by the pandemic.

The doors may be closed for live performances by Tucson musicians, but many of them aren’t letting the coronavirus stop the music.

We found several musicians who have recently released new recordings that you can buy from the comfort of your isolation.

Here are a few. We’ll add more in the weeks to come.

If you’re a musician, email details about your album or new singles/videos to cburch@tucson.com

“Matter,” Katie Haverly, katiehaverly.bandcamp.com/album/matter

This is Haverly’s eighth studio album and arguably her most personal and most introspective, blending pop and rock with folk and jazz influences. This is a record you want to spend time with, listen to a few times to truly appreciate the magic of Haverly’s voice and the poetry in her lyrics.

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“An Endless Blue,” Sweet Ghosts, sweetghosts.bandcamp.com

The duo of Ryan Alfred and Katherine Byrnes plays pure and wonderful pop music that leans solidly adult contemporary, with gorgeous voices that are so beautifully matched it’s as if they musically finish one another’s sentences. “Back To Tucson” is worth the price of admission. It just sounds like the Old Pueblo, with a certain western feel with stand-up bass and piano and a kind of laid-back nostalgia.

“Miss Olivia & the Interlopers,” Miss Olivia & the Interlopers, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon.

It’s hard to believe this is the band’s debut EP, because in the three years since lead singer Olivia Reardon joined the Interlopers, they have become a regular fixture on Tucson stages.

They describe their music as “a pinch of Erykah Badu soul, a drop of the gospel-tinged blues of The Black Crowes and a mish-mash of everything that has helped to shape us over the years.” We couldn’t have said it better. The three-song EP is a like an appetizer that makes us eager to see what they will do with a full-fledge album.

“Fluid,” Bryan Thomas Parker, Spotify and other major streaming platforms

The Tucson singer-songwriter calls “Fluid” a starkly personal “deep dive into my life coming from a religious/rural background and being genderqueer.”

Parker’s rough-hewn baritone lends itself to almost bluesy, rockabilly songs, including the kiss-don’t-tell “Forbidden Love,” with a soulful, almost New Orleans-esque horn, and “Things I Learned Last Year,” with mariachi-influenced horns setting a deceivingly happy tone to the fairly depressing lyrics: “How do you live with that / How do you define yourself / Got so many problems and never a solution / How do you not kill yourself?”

Coming next week: In addition to new albums, several Tucson artists have released new videos and singles, some of them in reaction to our newfound temporary reality.