TUCSON MUSICIANS CARE
Hotel Congress to Host October Event to Benefit Unhoused Initiative (Tucson, AZ)
Hotel Congress and VIBZ-Arizona are teaming up for Tucson Musicians Care. This charity event features a baker’s dozen of Tucson’s finest musical acts putting on a downtown musical extravaganza to benefit Southern Arizona’s homeless population. The event will take place at Hotel Congress on October 1, 2023, and will feature live bands on both their Plaza stage and their indoor Club Congress stage. All proceeds from this event will benefit “Hard Hitters,” a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to help homeless people in Southern Arizona.
Specifically, “Hard Hitters” hopes to purchase a trailer to convert into a mobile shower facility. Danny Ayala, president of Hard Hitters explained, “We’re working with a vendor that offers several different designs. Some have showers, while other designs include space for changing clothes, getting haircuts – even medical and dental treatment.” “It’s hard for homeless people to get the kind of jobs that would improve their situation, when they can’t even take a shower to go to a job interview,” Ayala added.
It’s also hard to come up with the nearly $60,000 that it will take to put such a mobile facility on Tucson’s streets. That’s where Danny’s longtime friend and coworker, Jeff Daniels comes in. Daniels is the bass player for, and a founding member of, longtime local blues band Black Cat Bones. Having come up with the idea of holding a multi-band fundraising event, Ayala and Daniels reached out to local promoter Jim Travis of VIBZ-Arizona for help in organizing the event. Travis contacted David Slutes at Hotel Congress and the rest, as they say, is history – or will be, soon!
“I’ve known Danny for ten years,” Daniels explains. “We’ve come together a few times to try to help different people that we’ve encountered over the years who are down on their luck. I always try to do what I can, when I can – but Danny has taken it to a whole different level. Now, I just want to help him help as many people as he can.” Ayala and his crew don’t expect to be able to solve the problem of homelessness by themselves, but they’re fiercely committed to doing whatever they can to help. “This isn’t just something we do,” he says. “It’s who we are.”
“Homelessness is a growing concern for our community,” said David Slutes, director of entertainment for Hotel Congress. “There are no simple solutions here, but whenever there is an opportunity to help we will, and we know the extraordinary Tucson music community will always throw their weight behind an effort like this. It truly makes doing events like this special”
The show begins at 2:30 with local Blues legend Heather Hardy on the outdoor Plaza stage, followed by Min-2-Min, Mark Insley and the Broken Arrows, longtime Tucson Blues band Black Cat Bones – then Latin bands Santa Pachita, The Festival Band, and Chalako the Band. The indoor Club Congress stage opens at 4:00 with another local Blues legend, Tom Wallbank, followed by rockers Crown Syndicate, Paisley Pine, Znora, and Harmony Punks. DJ Jahmar Anthony will be pumping out beats between acts.
“We wanted to bring in as many different musical genres as possible,” VIBZ-AZ’s Jim Travis explained. That way, we can reach as many people as possible. Danny Ayala agrees: “Nothing brings people together like good food and good music – even if they don’t like each other,” he laughs.
Hard Hitters for the Kingdom Inc. is a 501(c)(3) voluntary organization dedicated to helping some 3,000+ homeless people annually, by providing clothing, socks, shoes, and other items to homeless people living on the streets. They also provide transportation to job interviews, medical appointments, etc.
Vibzaz.com is an on-line community that aims to provide a one-stop guide for discovering live music in Arizona from performance venues and restaurants, to music festivals across the state. In addition to promoting live music events, VIBZ-AZ offers up-to-date listings of events at a wide variety of venues, plus soundbites and other info on musicians.
The Hotel Congress is a longtime Tucson landmark and federally recognized historic building, located in downtown Tucson. “HoCo,” as it’s colloquially known, features vintage guest rooms, a cafe called “The Cup,” and “Club Congress,” a multi-stage venue and club in downtown Tucson with nightly events, live music, DJs, and drink specials – widely considered to be downtown Tucson’s best nightclub and live music venue.
Black Cat Bones Tucson, one of the local bands slated to perform at the event, has been entertaining audiences throughout Southern Arizona for nearly 20 years with a mixture of original music and an eclectic selection of cover songs – all in the tradition of rockin’ Chicago blues.
