Sue Foley is a GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-award-winning blues guitarist and singer/songwriter known for her fiery Texas blues style and refined acoustic touch. A five-time consecutive Blues Music Award winner for Traditional Female Artist, and a JUNO recipient, she’s toured with legends like B.B. King and Buddy Guy and recently released One Guitar Woman– A Tribute to The Female Pioneers of Guitar. Also, a PhD in Musicology, Foley’s upcoming book Guitar Women explores the stories of groundbreaking female players.

Levi Platero is a “Navajo bluesman who grew up in a gospel circuit.” He started teaching himself guitar at the age of 9, was influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughn and ZZ Top, and toured the U.S. with his family band the Plateros as well as with the band Indigenous. He won a 2016 Native American Music Award for Best Blues with his song “Take Me Back” and has a unique style blending diverse cultural influences. 

Big Daddy D and the Dynamites was founded by lead guitarist Darryl Porras in Prescott in 1999.  They won the Arizona Blues Showdown in 2007 and are members of the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. This supergroup includes powerhouse vocalist Betty Jo Vachon, founder of the Northern Arizona Blues Alliance Dr. Bob Sellani on drums, International Blues Challenge Finalist Rick Mutter on the keyboard, longtime pro Scott Jeffy on bass and Rachel Romeo on sax.  Darryl and Rachel were in the band Cros when they took second place in the International Blues Challenge in 2022.

Heather “Lil Mama” Hardy has been a Tucson favorite since she hit the scene with bluesman Sam Taylor in 1990, and she somehow looks and sounds better every year! She started playing the piano at age 6 and the violin at age 9, attended the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, and has gone on to tour internationally, play on a Blues Cruise, and get inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame in 2000.  Heather regularly knocks the socks off audiences coast to coast, draws the best musicians into her band, and writes original songs full of love and light. 

The Xcelerators are a fairly new name in Tucson, but they are a group of seasoned professionals from across the U.S. with a remarkable depth of talent. This ensemble brings over 250 years of musical experience from many genres together to create what they like to call “Gritty, Sophisticated Blues”. They include Tom Albanese on Harmonica, Jimmy Crimmins on lead Guitar, Thomas DeGasperis on Bass, Ken Saydak on Keyboards, andLes Merrihew on Drums.

Nico Barberan is a fascinating musician, born in Chile, yet steeped in Chicago blues as well the Latin American music of his homeland. He was a songwriting finalist at the 2022 Tucson Folk Festival, played for the Phoenix Blues Society in 2023, and has released a new CD “Away Blues” which was recommended to the national Blues Foundation in the original music category.

Garrett James and the Wanders are a young Rock’ n Roll/Blues Rock band that blends the soulful tunes of classic Vinyl-Era blues with the raw energy of Cassette-Era rock ‘n’ roll. The band’s music is an influential combination of rock, bluesy licks, stirring riffs, and heart-inspiring lyrics that resonate with the dedicated passion of years gone by. They play like old souls with teenage energy – I dare you to try and sit still when they take the stage!