It's high noon in Tucson. The sun is bright. The tumbleweeds are rolling through. Somewhere, there's a train off in the distance steaming down the tracks.

When Selena Littler was 9 years old, she was let loose in the high desert north of the Catalinas.

Even when he’s not playing World of Warcraft for an audience of several thousand dedicated internet fans, Tucsonan Josh Lujan still treats his body like he’s a character in a roleplaying game. 

The sixth annual Tucson Jazz Festival will be the first without the guidance of festival artistic director Yvonne Ervin, who passed away Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. But rather than ending on a sour note, the Jazz Fest is honoring her legacy by staying strong as ever, featuring international ar…

To David Sanborn, Jazz is the  “spirit of adventure.”And for him, it’s been one hell of an adventure. 

There are a lot of words to describe Tucson, but boring sure isn’t one of them. For a comparatively small city, there seems to be art bursting out of every crevice and cactus. Picking my favorite albums to come out of Tucson this year was difficult enough, keeping track of all of them is dow…

The annual Tucson Jazz Festival is always a wonderful way to celebrate a new year of live music during a month when the pickings are notoriously slim. As ever, a stellar lineup of talent across the jazz spectrum has been assembled, kicking off with Maceo Parker & his Big Band at Centenni…

Guests at the Tucson Mall may now hear classical musical echoing through the corridors, but it won’t come from the loudspeakers. Catalyst, the new “makerspace” of the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance, now serves as a practice area for the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, a gal…

1. Listen to Emmy Award-winners The Texas Tenors: Deep in the Heart of Christmas with a heart-warming holiday concert accompanied by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21; 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22; Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave.; $35-$105; ticketmaster.com.

Eric Smith’s lifelong dream came true in front of a studio audience in Culver City earlier this month. 

The Great Cover Up is celebrating its 21st anniversary much in the same way it always has: getting dozens of local musicians to cover the songs of big-name acts like The Clash, Dolly Parton, Guns & Roses and The Doors. But just because the format is the same doesn’t mean the show is any …

The Christmas season is here whether you like it or not. But a quick trip to the Gaslight Theatre’s newest holiday show of “The Secret Santa” will ensure you are, indeed, excited about the frosty season.

After spending five years in Poznań, Poland and falling in love with the people, the culture and the food, Lois Britton’s friends call her the country’s best ambassador. 

At a Nov. 5 council meeting, the Town of Marana approved the design of a public art project that aims to represent the community and also allows high school students to contribute their artistic skills.

One of downtown Tucson’s most popular pizzerias is coming to the northwest after the family behind Reilly Craft Pizza decided to open a second location near the intersection of West Ina and North Oracle roads.

During his countless trips to Oaxaca, Mexico, Exo Roast and Exo Bar founder Doug Smith realized the variety of mezcal—and therefore what there is to learn about mezcal—is almost limitless. This depth is the reason behind two new changes at Exo Bar: a name change to El Crisol and a new series…

This month, UT Press is publishing “America’s Most Alarming Writer,” a collection of essays remembering longtime Tucson reporter and author Chuck Bowden, who died in 2014. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jack Dykinga was a frequent collaborator with Bowden and brings us his memories in t…

The sophomore slump seems to be nowhere in sight for Tap & Bottle’s second annual Invitational Beer Festival. Not only will the event host multiple local brewers, but breweries from multiple other states will attend as well. And brand new this year, whiskey and wine will be on the roster. 

After a successful “Three for Free” preview to launch the season, the Opera Guild of Southern Arizona is bringing the vocal arts back to Oro Valley with another free event.

At a grueling rehearsal last week at the Ballet Tucson studios, four dancers were practicing a demanding and unusual dance: it combined ballet and modern into one piece. 

For the real horror aficionado, October is the merriest time of year. It’s a season to look forward to, where a love of jumpscares, slashers, monsters and ghosts just makes you festive. It’s a rare time where you can turn to just about any stranger and find a friend of Freddy Krueger, an adm…

Thousands of people in Arizona took part in a summer-long reading event that, in return, gave nearly 6,000 books back into the community.

A Golder Ranch firefighter is giving back to the organization that once gave to him, in the form of intricate metal crosses. 

Early in the brilliant play “The Royale” at Arizona Theatre Company, we learn just how determined a boxer named Jay is. 

American architect Frank Lloyd Wright spent seven decades becoming one of the most iconic and interesting figures to ever build in the 20th century. From houses to offices, churches to schools, high-rises and plenty more, Wright’s work can be found throughout the country, including Arizona. 

From living in a cabin in the woods to moving to Tucson, Brandon Shimoda may have lost sight of various issues, but one thing always on his mind is to question and understand history, how it is being interpreted and what we are doing with it. As a Tucson-based poet and author, he has publish…

With sculpted eyebrows, a well-fitted suit and a Mid-Atlantic accent perfect for radio, The Gaslight Theatre’s David Fanning leads the way with a suave touch (and plenty of humor) in the company’s newest production, “009 Licence to Thrill.”

After Ted DeGrazia married his wife, Marion, in the jungles of Oaxaca, Mexico in 1947, he returned from their honeymoon with dozens of fresh paintings. The tropical flora and fauna inspired his impressionist art style, as did the small chapel where their wedding took place. 

More than 250 people squeezed into the Gaslight Music Hall last Sunday evening to watch the finale of the Oro Valley’s Got Talent competition. For the second year in a row, the family-owned theater put out a call for all talented Tucsonans ages 8 and up to show off their best singing, dancin…

For Hotel Congress’ 100th anniversary, HOCO Fest is returning to Tucson with more than 100 performers and artists. What was once a weekend celebration at Hotel Congress is now expanding all throughout the downtown area, and at no point has it grown more than this year. In 2018, HOCO Fest hos…

The Pima County Public Library is hosting a new series of film screenings aimed at better understanding and appreciating Native American cultures. But sometimes, just watching a film isn’t enough; that’s where the “Many Nations” team comes in. 

The first time Jack Dykinga saw the Grand Canyon he was a “typical, motorized tourist in a long line of cars driving from viewpoint to viewpoint,” he writes in the introduction to his new book, “Grand Canyon: A Photographer’s Favorite Viewpoints.”

You have amnesia so badly you can’t even remember your name. You have no idea who you are or how to regain your memory. No one will even try to help you. You wind up in a care home for people with similar issues: mental breaks and complicated personalities. It is here, at Paradise Found Care…

There’s a certain sense of discomfort that can arise when people are speaking in front of you in a language you can’t understand. Chances are, what they’re saying is perfectly nice. But the unease comes from never being sure. This feeling permeates “Midsommar,” certainly one of the strangest…

Prepare to raise a glass (or a few) and celebrate the culinary spirit of Southern Arizona, the World Margarita Championship returns to Tucson next month.

THEATER

In the 22 years since Kimi Eisele came to Tucson to get a master’s in geography from the University of Arizona, she’s accomplished more than most of us do in a lifetime. 

Pinball was originally outlawed in the ’30s and ’40s because it was viewed as an “illegal game of chance” no different than gambling. It wasn’t until the ’70s, when pinball aficionados testified it was a game of skill, that the ban began to lift across the country. 

When Chef David Solorzano bought tickets to Guadalajara, he almost didn’t come back. 

Tucson is such a literary city it manages to surprise both the authors and the hopefuls. While many locals may be surprised to know the Pima County Public Library hosts a “Writer in Residence” program, it is the writers in residence themselves who are surprised by the writing talent of those…

Long before musicians recorded in Tucson, the dust was here. But ever since locals began fusing folk, mariachi, rock and tejano music onto tapes and vinyl records, that same dust has had the chance to (quite literally) become part of the music. 

The Sonoran Desert’s yearly monsoons lost the race into Tucson by a different kind of monsoon: those on the Joe Pagac’s largest mural yet. Pagac, a local muralist known for his massive artworks all throughout downtown Tucson, is nearing completion on a new mural at the corner of Grant and Ca…

If you’ve read this column for the past few years, you know that some of my fellow food writers and I get together each spring for the Tucson Food Media Barbecue Throwdown.

In a city of many talented cuisiniers, there can be only one Iron Chef. The competition heats up at Casino Del Sol for a night of fire and fury as Chef Wendy Gauthier attempts to knock standing champion Chef Brian Smith from the throne. 

Prepare your palate, Oro Valley. Tacos are coming.

By the end of July, The Loft Cinema will boast a new marquee, though the updates may actually look old to longtime residents. With the new “Light Up the Loft” fundraising campaign, The Loft Cinema plans to restore their marquee to its former, taller size, while still maintaining a retro aesthetic. 

Burritos are amazing. That is general knowledge. But is it possible to improve a burrito? How about making it enormous, and wrapping it in bacon? Could it possibly get any better? Make it one of over 20 different dishes available at a festival celebrating all things Mexican food, and it’s su…