The Jelly Roll Journal

10/31/2025

Vancouver, Canada's Petunia & The Vipers will be making three Arizona stops on their US Tour next week! They'll be bringing guitarist Stephen Nikleva for the first time in a couple of years, along with a rare tour appearance by steel guitarist, Jimmy Roy, both founding members of the legendary rockabilly group, Ray Condo and his Richochets! The band is touring on their phenomenal new album release, Callin' Me Back. Don't miss out on what is sure to be a fantastic show! The Bisbee and Tucson shows will both feature opening sets by Aurelia Anne Cohen. The Phoenix show will feature openers Brea Burns and the Boleros.

Nov 3rd (Mon) BISBEE @ Bisbee Grand Hotel & Bar
https://www.facebook.com/events/789604617200209
Nov 4th (Tues) TUCSON @ club congress
https://www.facebook.com/events/25177100331928003
Nov 5th (Wed) PHOENIX @ THE DIRTY DRUMMER
https://www.facebook.com/events/1127353782397726

To hear Petunia's otherworldly voice, check out a video he made recently in Camp Verde, AZ at The Garage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mXCarayXpQ

10/03/2025

Dale Watson and his Lone Stars will be playing in Arizona three times over the next week! Don’t miss this legendary country artist and his terrific band!
3rd (Fri) PRESCOTT @ Elks Theatre
Their first ever show in Prescott!
7th (Tues) PHOENIX @ Rhythm Room
Dale’s birthday!
8th (Wed) TUCSON @ La Rosa
Pre-grand opening at Tucson’s newest venue!

www.dalewatson.com

09/22/2025

The great Martha Spencer from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, along with her fantastic band, The Wonderland Band, will be in Arizona for 6 nights starting tonight! Martha regularly tours the US, Europe and Australia. Make sure you catch them here in AZ, you will be moved by their authentic combination of old-time and classic country!
SEPTEMBER
22nd Cornville, AZ @ Brewha
23rd Phoenix, AZ @ THE DIRTY DRUMMER
24th Prescott, AZ @ Founding Fathers
25th Tucson, AZ @ Bar Crisol
26th Bisbee, AZ @ Bisbee Grand Hotel
27th Bisbee, AZ The Shady Dell

08/11/2025

Deke Dickerson and The Whippersnappers will start their 4-week US tour starting this Wednesday 8/13 at Rhythm Room in Phoenix! Don't miss them!!!
Tickets: https://wl.eventim.us/event/deke-dickerson-and-the-whippersnappers/650611?afflky=SouthwestMusicalArtsFoundation
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/671595422305698
Deke's website: https://dekedickerson.com

07/23/2025

Heads up! Poi Rogers will be making an Arizona stop on their upcoming tour! They’ll be at The Museum Club in Flagstaff, AZ on Monday, August 11th! 7:30pm, no cover.
https://facebook.com/events/1044340317856336/

06/26/2025

Good news for Arizona fans of Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives! While in the state opening for Chris Stapleton, they'll be playing a one-off show of their own on August 7th at the historic Fox Theatre in Tucson! Tickets available at https://foxtucson.com/event/marty-stuart-2025/

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a video we dug up of their opening song at a gig at The Museum Club in Flagstaff, AZ from Sept 3rd, 2013! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be9apcfAuBM

https://www.facebook.com/events/719365633746412

Country Boy Rock and Roll live

04/23/2025

The Dave Phillips Combo, January 1963, Elks on 7th Ave, Phoenix, Arizona.
Dave Phillips (sax), Duke Draper (vocalist), Fred Allen Murphy (holding drumsticks), "Big Boy Pete" aka Pete Cosey (in back smiling with guitar), and possibly Theodore Lane on electric bass.

Electric guitarist, Pete Cosey, (1943-2012) known for his work on both Muddy Waters’ and Howlin’ Wolf’s late-60’s psychedelic excursions on Chess Records, and as a member of Miles Davis’ mid-70’s band, grew up and began playing guitar in Phoenix, Arizona.
I recently discovered this photo (and advertisement, posted in comments) and assumed that the “Big Boy Pete” credited was Phoenix blues legend, Big Pete Pearson. I shared it with my PHX music history pals, John Dixon and Al Perry, as well as guitarist, Scotty Spenner, a longtime member of Big Pete Pearson’s band, and was soon alerted that this particular Big Pete was in fact, Pete Cosey, and what a history he has! Ends up this is the only known photo with Cosey in his Phoenix years. Pete was quite the guitarist. A simple search will lead you to many great articles regarding his history and experimental approach. His playing from this era, before he headed back to his hometown of Chicago, can be heard on a few cuts off the CD, "The Soul Side Of The Street" (Dionysus), a collection of Phoenix soul sides from the vaults of producer Hadley Murrell.

Singer Duke Draper performed in the Phoenix blues scene for decades. He can be heard on the CD, "Flyin' High" (Southwest Musical Arts), a collection of 1950-60's Phoenix rhythm & blues.

In-demand sax player Dave Phillips was also the first black quarterback at Phoenix College. Sadly, he died in 1966 at age 25 in an automobile accident.

Thanks to Elias Butler Photography for image restoration and to John Dixon, Al Perry, and Scotty Spenner for all the great info and for tipping me off to the significance of Pete Cosey!

Images from the Arizona Tribune archives.

03/31/2025

Dom Flemons is playing a free show at NAU in Flagstaff this Wednesday night!
Kitt Recital Hall, 7:30pm.

Join NAU alumnus, Dom Flemons on his American Songster Tour right here in Kitt Recital Hall! Enjoy the sounds of country, blues, folk, bluegrass and Americana as part of our alumni stories project highlighting CAL alum and the places they have gone with their NAU degrees!

Flemons is the grammy winning founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and four time GRAMMY nominee, Two-Time EMMY Nominee, International Acoustic Music Award Grand Prize Winner, and a United States Artists Fellow. He is a musician based in the Chicago area and he is known as "The American Songster®" because his repertoire covers over one hundred years of American roots music; including country, folk, bluegrass, Americana, and the blues.

Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music scholar, historian, actor, narrator, host, slam poet, record collector, podcaster, and the creator, host, and producer of the American Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville, TN. He is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife and rhythm bones.

This concert is free and open to the public, so get there early!

April 2, 2025, 7:30 pm

Kitt Recital Hall

01/08/2024

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys performed in Yuma, AZ at Fraternal Order Of Eagles #398 on two separate Sundays in 1951, on both February 11th and July 29th. Not sure when they first opened, but 73 years later the Eagles are still active in this building today. Look for our story later this year on nearly three dozen Bob Wills shows we’ve documented throughout Arizona from 1944-1968.

01/19/2023

Something we dug up about the great Lonnie Johnson.

Lonnie Johnson, one of the earliest and most influential guitar stars from the 1920's, came to Arizona in the fall of 1947 to play two weeks worth of shows in both Tucson and Phoenix.

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween!
(ad from 1948)

09/06/2022

HANK WILLIAMS IN ARIZONA
Country superstar Hank Williams performed 3 times in Arizona during his all too brief career. Read about it at:
www.joebakermusic.com/blog/hank-williams-in-arizona