Tucson's live music scene includes reggae, New Orleans cellist/singer

Tucson’s stages in the next week will include a bilingual singer-songwriter from New Orleans, an internationally celebrated electronica violinist and a reggae-pop band from California.

First up on Friday, Nov. 17, Helen Gillet, a bilingual composer, cellist and singer based in New Orleans, is performing a happy hour show at Che’s Lounge, 350 N. Fourth Ave., beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tucson’s Americana folk duo Sweet Ghosts — husband-and-wife Ryan Alfred and Katherine Byrnes — open the show.

In her bio, Gillet describes herself as “a singer-songwriter and surrealist-archeologist” who uses her cello to explore synthesized sounds, texture and rhythm. The core of her work uses live looping where she layers cello parts and vocal lines to create rhythmic figures through bowed or plucked ostinatos, repetitive musical phrases with varied pitches.

Gillet, known for her singular polyglot style, sings in a mix of French and English in a variety of styles from Belgian folk tunes, rock and punk in a haunting alto. Her original songs include her fan favorite, “Julien.”

Admission to Friday’s concert at Che’s is free.

Not far from Che’s on Congress, the California alternative reggae band Iration brings its fall tour to Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., on Friday. This is the band’s first Tucson show in three years, but more people might have an even longer memory of their 2016 KFMA Fall Ball show at Pima County Fairgrounds. That show before 8,000 fans was the perfect example of what the band does best: fuse rock, pop and reggae to create a high-energy freewheeling fun-fest.

Iration, which has been around since 2004, comes here weeks after the Oct. 6 release of their album “Daytrippin,” which the band said on its website was a return to the band’s roots.

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“We set out to strike a balance between polished studio production and the electrifying energy of a live show,” the band stated. “We leaned on our reggae and rock influences to find a natural evolution from earlier albums like ‘Time Bomb’ and ‘Hotting Up.’”

South Florida reggae band Artikal Sound System and California alternative rockers Cydeways open Friday’s show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50-$49.50 through rialtotheatre.com.

Then, on Wednesday, Nov. 22, electronica violin virtuoso Lindsey Stirling brings her “Snow Waltz Tour” to the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. It’s her first Tucson show since she played Centennial Hall in November 2016.

This will be the fourth Tucson concert for the Gilbert native, who launched her career off the success of YouTube videos. Stirling performs electronica dub-step violin and dances. Her shows are wildly and infectiously energetic.

Stirling goes on stage at Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave., at 8 p.m. Tickets are $56-$127 through tucsonmusichall.org, and $1 from every ticket sold will go to Stirling’s Upside Fund, a holiday initiative to help people pay off medical debts. To date, the fund has helped relieve more than $5 million in medical debt, according to organizers.