KXCI’s 13th Annual House Rockin’ Blues Review Benefit Concert
The Paladins with special guest Alex Flores
plus The Xcelerators featuring Ken Saydak
Friday, August 7th at El Casino Ballroom 437 E. 26th St. Tucson, AZ 85713
Promoter Contact: Jeb Schoonover
520-730-7870, [email protected]
KXCI Media Contact: Amanda Shauger
[email protected]
Doors at 6:30 pm, show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $25 advance for KXCI Members, $30 advance general, $35 door
Limited Individual Reserved Seating: $75
Limited Reserved High-Tops for 4 people: $320
KXCI Community Radio welcomes The Paladins to Tucson to headline their 13th Annual House Rockin’ Blues Review at historic El Casino Ballroom. This preeminent rockabilly blues band helped kick off the station’s legendary House Rockin’ Series at El Casino Ballroom back in the 80s.
Founded by guitarist Dave Gonzalez and bass player Thomas Yearsley, The Paladins recorded nine full-length studio records and three live albums. Along the way, they built a solid reputation as one of America’s hardest-working and best live bands. The Paladins last performed in Tucson at El Casino Ballroom in 2018. For this special return show, they will feature Arizona Blues Hall of Fame saxophonist Alex Flores.
Opening the show will be one of Tucson’s fastest rising blues bands, The Xcelerators. This ensemble brings decades of experience from many genres to create what they like to call “Gritty, Sophisticated Blues.”
Doors are at 6:30, show at 7:30. Advance tickets start at $25 for KXCI Members and $30 for the general public at kxci.org and all Bookmans locations, or $35 at the door.
A limited number of individual reserved seats and 4-seat high-tops are also available through KXCI. As always, the show will be hosted by KXCI’s own Marty Kool, host of the Blues Review.
Food will be available for purchase from The Parish. KXCI Executive Director Elva De La Torre welcomes all to attend, “We’re thrilled to have folks back at El Casino for another great KXCI show featuring The Paladins and The Xcelerators. Grab your friends and join us for a special night of incredible music, food, and community. See you there!”
All proceeds benefit KXCI’s mission to connect the communities of Tucson and Southern Arizona to each other and the world with educational, informative, and creative community-based programming.
More About the Bands
The Paladins first LP, The Paladins, was released in 1986 and was produced by Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. They followed that up with Years Since Yesterday, released on Alligator Records in 1989 and produced by Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin and Mark Linnet. When Let’s Buzz came out in 1990, the band was firmly planted as a headliner in showcase music clubs across the country and in Europe. The band also established itself at numerous festivals, sharing bills with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Blasters, and Los Lobos. Let’s Buzz, “an invigorating blend of rockabilly, blues, rhythm-and-blues, and country,” was recorded in the Los Angeles studio of 1970s soul star Leon Haywood, and is their largest-selling record to date. Since that time, six more critically acclaimed albums have come out, most notably, their 1996 live album Million Mile Club. This fittingly marked the band’s millionth mile traveled on the roads of the USA.
The Xcelerators are an accomplished five-piece band featuring keyboardist and Chicago transplant Ken Saydak. He’s recorded and toured with Otis Rush, Koko Taylor, and Johnny Winter, to name a few, and has appeared on more than sixty-five recordings, including five Grammy-nominated releases and solo works on Delmark and Evidence Records. Les Merrihew is a veteran of the Seattle blues scene and a sought-after drummer here in Tucson. His resume includes stints with Little Milton, Charlie Musselwhite, and Albert Collins. Guitarist Jimmy Crimmins, who is originally from Madison, has played alongside greats such as Pinetop Perkins and Albert King. Rounding out the group is skilled bassist Russel Sacks and another Chicago transplant, harmonica player Tom Albanese, who for decades played with Johnny Littlejohn, Sam Lay, and Eddie Clearwater. These five not only bring skill and expertise but a high level of joy to every gig they play.