Catch acoustic duo Ryanhood in Tucson this holiday season

Tucson acoustic duo Ryanhood is coming back to their hometown this weekend to share a little holiday cheer.

Ryan Green and Cameron Hood will perform two back-to-back shows at Hotel Congress Plaza, 311 E. Congress St., on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 3 and 4. Saturday’s show will pull from the duo’s folk rock albums with burning guitar licks and big harmonies.

On Sunday, the pair kicks off their ninth Christmas show, “A Winter’s Evening with Ryanhood,” which they’ve performed in eight other cities.

Doors for both all-ages shows open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $23.18 through hotelcongress.com.

In “A Winter Evening with Ryanhood,” the pair will slip rocking holiday standards in between original songs from their album, “On Christmas.”

“We create a narrative over the course of the show with songs and stories that connect our experience of Christmas and winter growing up,” Hood said.

The two hope to display their 20-year friendship with the audience by incorporating a little gift exchange with each other halfway through the show. Hood says it’s a fun way for them to explore each town they play by finding gifts that are unique to that city. The idea behind the exchange is that the audience can feel safe, welcome and more connected to the band.

“Our first ever Winter’s Evening show was at the Rialto Theatre,” Green said. “I envisioned it almost like a television holiday special … or a variety show.”

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Being rooted in Tucson, Hood and Green also shared their appreciation for the different things to do close to home during the holiday season.

“We have a holiday tradition of watching ‘Home Alone’ with our neighborhood in the park on a big inflatable screen every year,” Green said.

Hood said his favorite holiday activities are the Winterhaven Festival of Lights and attending a Christmas Eve service.

“Every year on Christmas Eve, my brother makes a big Mexican food feast and that’s how we celebrate,” he added.

A hallmark of a Ryanhood show is storytelling, about their lives and the world around them.

“There’s a theme that runs through a lot of Ryanhood music that’s like, how do we push through the hardest things and find the bright light,” Hood said.