Tucson Day Trip - Hear the Desert Sons at the Arizona Folklore Preserve
Close your eyes and imagine yourself, camping for the evening and resting after a day of riding and roping and working the cattle. It's easy to do when you're listening to the soothing sounds of the Desert Sons, Tucson's great Western quartet. John Ryberg (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Benny Young (fiddle, harmony vocals) have been together since 1989. Their usual bass player is Bill Ronstadt and the usual lead guitarist is Bill Ganz, both of Tucson. Both also sing harmony vocals, and both usually sing lead vocals on one song during a program. This is 3-and 4-part harmony at its best. Listen to some of the clips on their Web site and you'll know what I mean!
This weekend, a former configuration of the group will be at the Arizona Folklore Preserve, just south of Sierra Vista, with Slim Tighe on bass and Skelly Boyd on lead guitar. Either way, the group is fabulous and a real crowd-pleaser.
They'll be presenting a dinner show on Saturday and a matinee performance on Sunday.
The Arizona Folklore Preserve itself is quite a destination. It's a non-profit cultural and entertainment venue, founded by Dolan Ellis, Arizona's Official State Balladeer since 1966. Dolan was an original member of the Grammy-winning New Christy Minstrels, and is now (as I write this) on tour with them again in California and Oregon. Dolan is still artist-in-residence, and performs there about one weekend a month. The Preserve is now owned and operated by the University of Arizona South.
Words are inadequate to describe the beauty of the Preserve itself and Ramsey Canyon in which it is located. So please take some time to page through some of the pages about the location and the New Folklore Center. Another pertinent Web page to this weekend is one about some of the past appearances at the Preserve by the Desert Sons.
To make your reservations for the shows, call 520-378-6165 or send an email to folklore@email.arizona.edu.
Getting there: There's a map posted on the AFP site. From the Tucson city center, it's about an 80-mile trip. You will be climbing more than 3,000 feet, to an elevation of about 5,300 feet. The weather is cooler in general, and the huge trees make it seem even cooler.
NOTE: Ramsey Canyon Preserve is only .25 miles farther down Ramsey Canyon Road, so you may want to leave earlier and plan to spend some time hiking or at least enjoying a nature walk and watching the wildlife and the many varieties of hummingbirds. Other possible side trips: Fort Huachuca museums, the old mining town of Bisbee, the old Western town of Tombstone, or a quick trip across the border to Naco, Sonora (just a short distance from Bisbee).
