Nolan McKelvey + Jesse Valenzuela(of Gin Blossoms)
2026-02-13 19:30 (America/Phoenix) | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Over the course of his thirty-year career, Nolan McKelvey has covered nearly every corner of the country and traversed all roads of Americana. From the pavement of alt-country, to the dusty trails of bluegrass, to the gravel roads of classic-country, to the interstate highway of rock-n-roll. Nolan has received critical acclaim along the way from magazines like No Depression, Country Standard Time, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, and Performer Magazine among many others.
Nolan has opened for luminaries of Americana like Greg Brown, Peter Rowan, Odetta, Fred Eaglesmith, Los Lobos, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, and Leon Russell. He has also opened for contemporary artists like Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, Cowboy Junkies, Gregory Alan Isakov, Jack Johnson, Infamous Stringdusters, Jeffrey Foucault, Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Son Volt, Josh Ritter, David Grisman and the list goes on and on…
Nolan performed in several bands in Boston, including The Benders, The Resophonics, with Kris Delmhorst, Ry Cavanaugh, The Vinyl Avenue String Band, Jabe, Bow Thayer, and his own 33. He was dubbed “Central to the (Boston) roots-rock revival” by WBUR radio. His bands won two Boston Music Awards (BMA) and were nominated for BMA’s 7 times in his 5 years in the city. Since returning to Arizona, Nolan was named “Best Musician” by the readers of the Arizona Daily Sun and has been dubbed “One of the best songwriters in the southwest,” and “Flagstaff’s Poet Laureate.” (FlagLive)
Nolan’s studio credits include recording with grammy-winner Levon Helm (The Band), Dana Colley and Billy Conway (Morphine), Paul Q. Koldrie (Pixies, PJ Harvey, Radiohead and more), Jennifer Kimball (The Story, Wayfaring Strangers) among many others. Nolan’s songs have appeared on 21 cds to date, he released five solo albums, five albums with The Benders, six with Muskellunge, four with former band Onus B. Johnson and a duo disc with Dave Desmelik. Nolan’s work as a bass player and harmony singer pushes the release list over 75 recordings.
Nolan’s latest release is How Small We Are, recorded at the Tone Kitchen in Tempe, Arizona. Produced by the core band of PH Naffah (Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers), Jeff Lusby-Breault (Enormodome), and Nolan. The record includes appearances from some of the most talented musicians in the Phoenix area including Jesse Valenzuela (Gin Blossoms on 2 & 9), Jon Rauhouse (Neko Case, Old 97’s, Sunpunchers on 2 & 10), Nick Sterling (Wyves on 6, 7, & 9), and Stephanie Groot (Mark Zubia Trio, Dusty Ramblers on violin on 4 & 7). Nolan imported old friend, Mandy Fer (Sway Wild) for the vocal duet “Anam Cara” (3), and longtime friend and former bandmate Tim Kelly (The Benders, The Resophonics) to play dobro (7 & 8). McKelvey penned all 10 tracks, played all upright and electric bass, acoustic guitar, and performed all lead and harmony vocals. How Small We Are builds on the momentum of Forward, about which Americana Highways wrote, “His voice is inspired and his reliance on poignancy is admirable.” Rootstime compared him to singersongwriters such as David Gray, Ryan Adams, and Damien Rice. Blaskans Vanner stated, “Somehow these songs glide away towards the forest and meadows of beauty.”
To put it as succinctly as possible, Jesse Valenzuela loves music.
“Ever since I was a kid, music has had a hold on me – and one of the great blessings of my life is that I’ve been able to keep a hold on music.”
And then some.
As a founding member of Tempe, Arizona’s melodic, melancholic Gin Blossoms, Jesse Valenzuela has climbed a musical mountain.
For more than three decades, Jesse has provided the multi-platinum group with hit songs (“Til I Hear It From You,” “Follow You Down,” “Mrs. Rita”), masterful guitar playing and exquisite harmony singing. And, historically, the Gin Blossoms have been true road warriors, often playing more than 150 shows a year.
But for Jesse Valenzuela, music isn’t just a career, it’s a calling.
Solo artist, producer, session musician, film and television composer — all part of answering music’s call.
On those rare nights when the Gin Blossoms aren’t on the road, you might find Jesse playing in a Phoenix-area pub, delighting audiences with Gin Blossoms classics and dipping into his deep bag of rock, folk, country, blues and flamenco favorites. Chances are you may hear him covering the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer,” and confiding: “This is my sister’s favorite song.”
An artist in love with music.
The road stretches out and the beat goes on.
As Jesse once wrote: “Some rides don’t have much of a finish/That’s the ride I took.”

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

Mama's Broke
2026-02-14 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Mama’s Broke have spent the past ten years in a near-constant state of transience, pounding the transatlantic tour trail. They’ve brought their dark, fiery folk-without-borders sound to major festivals and DIY punk houses alike, absorbing traditions from their maritime home in Eastern Canada all the way to Ireland and Indonesia. Nowhere is the duo’s art-in-motion approach more apparent than on their long-awaited sophomore record Narrow Line (May 13, 2022 on Free Dirt Records); it’s the sound of nowhere in particular, yet woven with a rich synthesis of influences that knows no borders. It earned them a JUNO nomination for Traditional Roots Album of the Year 2022. The eleven songs on Narrow Line burrow deeply, with close harmony duets, commanding vocals, and poignant contemplations on cycles of life, including birth and death. Tinges of Americana stand side-by-side with the ghosts of Eastern European fiddle tunes and ancient a cappella ballad singing, melding into an unusually accessible dark-folk sound. A careful listen of Narrow Line invokes an ephemeral sense of place—whether real or imagined—inviting us to take comfort in the infinite possibilities of life, whether or not we ever choose to settle down.
For a group defined by constant touring, it’s not surprising that the two artists that make up Mama’s Broke, Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler, met on the road. As Lisa remembers it, “Amy was driving her old Mercedes from Montreal to Nova Scotia and I was looking for a ride. We spent the 17 hours in the car talking almost exclusively about music. By the time we reached Halifax we started playing together, and within a week or two became a band.” Both coming out of traveling communities that are focused on music and protest, the two owe the way in which they move through the world to the integrated and self-sustaining nature of DIY culture and activism. It was a busy life that took them on a roundabout annual touring schedule running between Canada, the United States, Ireland, the UK, and Europe. In each country, they built grassroots DIY communities to support their music or moved along the pathways of communal organizing that sustained other touring artists.
The driving force behind this band is – and has always been – the commitment to challenge borders between people, places, and traditions; while encouraging freedom of expression and community through music.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

Greenhouse Productions Presents: An Evening with Bruce Cockburn
2026-03-01 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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One of Canada’s finest artists, Bruce Cockburn has enjoyed an illustrious career shaped by politics, spirituality, and musical diversity. The Ottawa-born artist remains deeply respected for his activism on issues from native rights and land mines to the environment and Third World debt, working for organizations such as Oxfam, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Friends of the Earth. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, rock, and worldbeat styles while travelling to such far-flung places as Guatemala, Mali, Mozambique, and Nepal, and writing memorable songs about his ever-expanding world of wonders.

Bruce Cockburn has written more than 400 songs on 35 albums over a career spanning more than 50 years, of which 23 have received gold or platinum certification. His guitar playing, both acoustic and electric, has placed him in the company of the world’s top instrumentalists. He has sold more than nine-million albums worldwide, and has been honoured with 13 JUNO Awards, an induction into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, as well as the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, and he has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

His commitment to growth has made Bruce Cockburn both an exemplary citizen and a legendary artist whose prized songbook will be celebrated for many years to come. In 2020 Cockburn celebrated his 50-year anniversary as a recording artist. As his producer-friend Colin Linden says: “Like the great blues players he admires, Bruce just gets better with age.”
Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

Chicken Wire Empire
2026-03-13 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Chicken Wire Empire is a Wisconsin-based bluegrass band known for their dynamic musicality, thorough arrangements, and true-to-life songwriting. The band emerged in 2016 with their debut self-titled album and have since released a prolific catalogue of studio projects and live performances. Their sixth and latest album, Growing Pains, releases June 1 and is a veritable culmination of the band’s growth through the past decade.
CWE continuously captivates audiences with thoughtful, energetic performances. Their high-level musicality turns up a fresh conversation with each show, like a brainstorm of creative musical substance. Americana Highways writes “These musicians must enjoy what they do because their joy translates through their instruments. The energy, fingering techniques are all proponents that deliver substance with a modicum of joy. There aren’t any low points, missteps, loss of heat in any of these melodies.”
The band has been recognized worldwide for their performances and recorded works, with Americana UK calling their latest album “a variety which transcends genre and rewards careful listening.” Capturing the ever-evolving sights and sounds of the road through the lens of their Midwestern roots, the band’s catalog of songs is ever-growing and CWE continues to be acknowledged for their pensive attention to detail in writing and crafting deeply engaging songs.
Chicken Wire Empire has partnered with dozens of artists from all corners of the bluegrass genre, from Sam Bush and Peter Rowan to Vince Herman and Keller Williams. Their forthcoming album features guest appearances from Grammy-winning artists Jerry Douglas and Kyle Tuttle. The long list of collaborators has lent a lifetime of taste and knowledge to CWE’s musical journey while the band has grown into its identifiably authentic yet original sound.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

Alash
2026-03-17 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time.

Alash are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. What distinguishes this group from earlier generations of Tuvan throat singers is the subtle infusion of modern influences into their traditional music. One can find complex harmonies, western instruments, and contemporary song forms in Alash’s music, but its overall sound and spirit remain decidedly Tuvan.
Trained in traditional Tuvan music since childhood, the Alash musicians studied at Kyzyl Arts College just as Tuva was beginning to open up to the West. They formed a traditional ensemble and won multiple awards for traditional throat singing
in international xöömei competitions, both as an ensemble and as individuals. At the same time, they paid close attention to new trends coming out of the West. They have borrowed newideas that mesh well with the sound and feel of traditional
Tuvan music, but they have never sacrificed the integrity of their own heritage in an effort to make their music more hip.
Alash first toured the U.S. under the sponsorship of the OpenWorld Leadership program of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Arts. Since then they have returned many times, to the delight of American audiences. The Washington Post described their music as “utterly stunning,” quipping that after the performance“audience members picked their jaws up off the floor.”
Alash enjoys collaborating with musicians of all stripes. Since their early partnership with the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, they have joined forces with musicians across the spectrum—from country to classical to jazz to beatboxing. Alash appeared as guest artists on Béla Fleck & the Flecktones’ Grammy-winning holiday CD Jingle All the Way (2008). They joined Chicago’s innovative Fifth House Ensemble in a groundbreaking concert series called Sonic Meditations, and later were part of a “global jam band” which recorded the soundtrack for the video game The Pathless. Most recently, Bady-Dorzhu Ondar teamed up with beatboxer Shodekeh in a live recording of original Tuvan songs filtered through the creative artistry of hip hop musicians.
Beyond performing, Alash has a passion for teaching and promoting understanding between cultures. Their tours often include workshops in which they introduce Tuvan music to students in primary, middle and high schools, colleges, universities, and music conservatories. Children as young as 8 and 9 have learned to throat-sing. One inspired student exclaimed, “Alash opened my eyes to a whole new world!”
Alash albums: Alash Live at the Enchanted Garden (2006), Alash (2007), Buura (2011), Achai (2015, re-released on Smithsonian Folkways in 2017), Meni Mana (2020), Embodiments by Bady-Dorzhu Ondar with Shodekeh and hip hop artists (2022).
Members of Alash:
Bady-Dorzhu Ondar: vocals, igil, guitar, bayan (accordion). Kyzyl Arts College, East Siberia State Academy of Culture and Art. Best soloist, 2005 All-Russian Festival of traditional ensembles and orchestras. Best in Maxim Dakpai xöömei competition, 2006. Named People’s Xöömeizhi of Tuva, 2007. Grand prize, International Xöömei Symposium, 2008.
Ayan-ool Sam: vocals, doshpuluur, igil, xomus. Republic School of the Arts, Kyzyl Arts College, Moscow State Pedagogical University. First prize, International Xöömei Symposium, 2008. Named People’s Xöömeizhi of Tuva, 2015.
Ayan Shirizhik: vocals, kengirge, shyngyrash, shoor, xomus. Kyzyl Arts College, East Siberia State Academy of Culture and Art. Second prize, International Xöömei Symposium, 2008. Distinguished Artist of Tuva, 2009. Named People’s Xöömeizhi of Tuva, 2021.
Kang-Khüler Saaia: vocals, byzaanchy, chadagan. Kyzyl Arts College, founding member of Tuvan National Orchestra.
Sean Quirk: manager, interpreter. Studied music in Tuva on Fulbright fellowship. Named Distinguished Artist of Tuva, 2008.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

Greenhouse Productions Presents: Stillhouse Junkies
2026-03-21 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Acoustic adventurers Stillhouse Junkies explore the worlds between roots, bluegrass, Texas swing, blues, and rock. Their free-flowing musical interplay and improvisation make every show unique as they weave their way through high-energy, intricately composed original songs, never taking the same path twice. Based in the Southwestern Colorado town of Durango, the trio consists of founder Fred Kosak on guitar and mandolin, longtime member Alissa Wolf on fiddle, and Jeanette Adams on upright bass. Formed in 2017, Stillhouse Junkies have released four full-length albums. Their most recent effort, 2025’s The Ballad of Charlie Avalon, is an ambitious concept album featuring narration by newgrass icon Sam Bush. The band has also released a series of singles featuring collaborations with the legendary Tim O’Brien, renowned fiddler Ross Holmes, and popular songwriter Rachel Baiman. As they tour relentlessly across the United States and abroad, Stillhouse Junkies are gaining a reputation as one of the most exciting bands in the acoustic music scene. They have played such beloved festivals as Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Rockygrass, MerleFest, and ROMP, and their busy schedule has seen them supporting Willi Carlisle, The Lil Smokies, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Asleep at the Wheel. Their prolific songwriting, tight vocal harmonies, and blistering instrumentals earned them the prestigious International Bluegrass Music Association’s “Momentum Band of the Year” award in 2021. Join us in this Americana experiment and be the one to say you booked Stillhouse Junkies before they were huge. From festivals to performing arts centers – Stillhouse Junkies will deliver a one-of-a-kind experience!

Whoa Nelly! is Arizona’s newest band of three seasoned performers, Julie Sullivan Brace on guitar and vocals, Julie Cline on mandolin and vocals and Rachel Paietta on upright bass and vocals. Their unique repertoire reflects a deep appreciation for traditional bluegrass and oldtime country classics, peppered with blues, swing and contemporary material sure to delight audiences who enjoy the many facets of what Bluegrass encompasses today. The sum of their parts creates a powerful and playful synergy expressed through tight harmonies and toe-tapping instrumentation.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

David Huckfelt & Keith Secola
2026-04-03 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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David Huckfelt is a singer/ lyricist /activist and founding frontman of Minneapolis indie-folk cult favorites The Pines. An Iowa native and former theology student, Huckfelt attended the Iowa Writers Workshop before turning his attention to songwriting and performing. With improvisational mastery, Huckfelt’s shows and songs of no-spiritual-surrender have earned him a devoted following from small-town opera houses & theaters to national festival stages like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Edmonton and Calgary Folk Fests, and the legendary First Avenue mainroom, sharing stages with Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, Bon Iver, Calexico, Trampled By Turtles & more. An early encounter and collaboration with radical Native American poet John Trudell introduced Huckfelt as friend & partner to an array of Indigenous artists & activists including Winona LaDuke, Louise Erdrich, & Keith Secola, working for climate justice and tribal sovereignty under the banner of music + resistance. With roots in the same fertile Midwestern soil that produced legendary folk singers like John Prine and Greg Brown, David’s new solo work preserves a rugged optimism that blasts through layers of dark in real time with songs that speak volumes, soft & clear.
Keith Secola is an icon and ambassador of Native music. He is one of the most influential artists in the field today. Rising from the grassroots of North America, he is a songwriter of the people. Critics have dubbed him as the Native versions of both Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. NDN Kars (Indian cars), his most popular song is considered the contemporary Native American anthem, achieving legendary status and earning him a well deserved cult following. It has been the number one requested song on tribal radio since the 1992. In 2011, he joined the ranks of Jimmy Hendrix, Hank Williams, Crystal Gale, and Richie Valens, and was inducted into the Native Music Hall of Fame.
Born in 1957 in Cook, Minnesota, Secola is affiliated with the Anishinabe tribe. He graduated from Mesabi Community College with a degree in Public Service in 1979, and completed a BA in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota in 1982. He is married and has two children.
Secola is an accomplished artist, garnering awards and accolades as a musician, a singer, a songwriter, a composer and a producer. He is highly skilled with the guitar, flute, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and piano, and has played in venues from the halls of the Chicago Urban Indian Centre, to the walls of the bottom of the Grand Canyon. He has also performed at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and Salt Lake City 2002, and toured Europe several times. Among his numerous appearances he has graced the stages of the Rockslide Festival in Denmark, the Grand Opening Gala of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, The Kennedy Center and the SXSW in Austin, TX, and is a staple at the Grassroots Festival in Upstate New York, North Carolina and Florida.
A seven-time Native American Music Award winner, Secola has earned NAMMYs not only for his music, but also his abilities as a producer, to include The Best Linguistic Recording for producing ANISHINABEMOIN (2007). A well respected musician, he has worked with music legends such as Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Secola has also teamed with academics like author Dr. Tom Venum of the Smithsonian Folklife Institute, collaborating on the CD, AMERICAN WARRIORS: SONGS FOR INDIAN VETERANS, and with elders such as Karen Drift, a speaker of Anishenabemoin.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

Tow'rs
2026-04-10 19:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
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Tow’rs is an indie folk rock band from Northern Arizona. At the heart of the band is duo Kyle and Gretta Miller. They’ve spent the last eleven years making music in their backyard studio and touring the country with their band and two kids. The music translates their memories, questions, heartbreak, and hope into raw, honest indie-folk-rock songs, driven by an alternative singer-songwriter pulse. The group is set to release their eighth studio album this coming March 2026. An intentional collection of poems made into songs meant as reminders and hopes in the quiet of morning or reflection of evening. The album will be celebrated in a series of shows along the West coast of the U.S in mid march 2026.

Save 10% with membership! Use unique member number at checkout. Household members receive two tickets at a discount and individual members receive one. To learn more about membership and how to find your discount code, visit: https://www.coconinoarts.org/member-discount

NAU Middle East Ensemble
2026-04-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Presented by Northern Arizona University and Coconino Center for the Arts

Founded in 2023, the NAU Middle East Ensemble is a group of twenty Northern Arizona University students, faculty, and Flagstaff community members, directed by Dr. Lillie Gordon. The ensemble performs music from throughout the Middle East. Join us for an evening of lively classic and popular songs and instrumental pieces from Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and more. For this performance, our repertoire focuses on the concepts of love and wind, two words with a close relationship in Arabic poetry and song lyrics. We are pleased to be joined by world-class guest dancer Carrie Konyha for an extended set.
This performance is supported by NAU’s Honors College, Kitt School of Music, and College of Arts and Letters, as well as the Coconino Center for the Arts managed by Creative Flagstaff.

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The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy
2026-05-02 19:30 - 21:00 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Presented as part of Flagstaff ARTx Festival: Art + Ideas Experience
NAU ensembles present an ecological concert in the stunning acoustic and gallery of Coconino Center of the Arts. Christopher Tin’s GRAMMY-nominated work The Lost Birds forms the centerpiece of this concert experience, with poetry by women writing during the Industrial Revolution. With music that pulls at our heartstrings, this experience invites us to engage with aviary beauty, the changing natural world around us, and our potential human response.
As part of Flagstaff’s ARTx Festival, this concert is offered FREE. Gallery doors open at 6:30 pm, and early arrival is recommended to enjoy the migration exhibit, “EVER PRESENT: Guillermo Galindo & José Luis Sotero, and to secure seating.
Presented as part of Flagstaff ARTx Festival: Art + Ideas Experience

Flagstaff Dance Festival
2026-05-06 19:30 - 20:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Isolated Incident Performance Group, Dewell Dance, Canyon Movement Company, and Human Nature Dance Theatre

Join Isolated Incident Performance Group/Dewell Dance, Canyon Movement Company, and Human Nature Dance Theatre for a shared evening blending dance, theatre, and live music.
IIPG/Dewell Dance will feature “The Peace They Found,” a throughline performance exploring themes of change, loss, hope, and peace. Live musicians: Ryan Biter, Andrea Graves, Clair Anna Rose, and Eric Walden.
CMC will show excerpts from “Flower Moon,” including: Brea Lengyel, Danika Rudd, and Madeline Tilley.
HNDT/Jayne Lee with Paul Moore.

S.E. Willis & Friends
2026-05-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
An evening of Flagstaff blues

Back in Flagstaff in 1969 musicians worked in just a few places: fraternity parties, high school dances and the Oddfellows Underground on Arrowhead, a teen dance hall in the basement. We all played there. (There were country bands at the Museum Club, but no love for teenage rockers)
My band was the Vanilla Doorknob, a psychedelic name for a pretty conservative small town dance band. The other band was the Sympler Form, with Donny Roberts on guitar and Isidro Padilla on vocals. They were the bad boys, south side characters who played a lot of underground material. They were covering the Velvet Underground’s Heroin for heaven’s sake!
Isidro moved on, lineups changed, but Donny and I were pals and 17 years old then. Word got out that there was a new singer in town, an older guy from New York City who had been in the Army in Germany. That was Frank Manhardt and I remember watching him at the Underground.
He stuck around, bands changed, and he and Donny became locally famous as Freaky Frank and the Pistons. Big crowds for them down at Shaky Jake’s, the Zanzucchi family’s bar on South San Francisco. Then they moved to Tucson and did really well there as Straight Shot and the Frank and Woody Show.
Donny moved to Nashville and became a top studio musician, working with Webb Wilder and, famously, playing guitar on Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road.
I’ve been trying to think of something different to try at Coconino Center for the Arts. November’s “An Evening of Flagstaff Blues” with Tommy Dukes, Bob Blasi, Dale Caddell, Roger Smith, Chuck Curry and Greg Varlotta was quite successful, selling out for standing room only. Plans are being made for a Fall repeat, but on May 9 Roger Smith and I will be hosting a smaller gathering with Frank Manhardt (Freaky Frank) and Donny Roberts. Other guests to be announced.
This show will be more eclectic, not so Blues focused, with more Americana and even Country elements. We’re having a party 60 years in the making! I know most folks in Northern Arizona weren’t around in 1969 or even ’76, but I’m inviting you to come out and see what a lifetime of experience playing American music can achieve! Let’s have some fun!

Flagstaff Folk Festival
2026-06-13 - 2026-06-15 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
Presented by Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music and Coconino Center for the Arts

The Flagstaff Folk Festival is a family-friendly, live music festival nestled under the Ponderosa Pines in Flagstaff, Arizona. Festival attendees will access more than 100 musical acts on five different stages, a full schedule of educational music-related workshops, a selection of tasty treats in our Food Court, and an Artisan Market offering one-of-a-kind creations by local artists. New festival features this year include: enhanced focus on performances by Teen musicians; a Route 66 Centennial Songwriting Competition; and a special tribute the late great cowboy poet Tony Norris. We’ll also introduce a new festival app that will allow greater connection between festival attendees and our artists, vendors and sponsors.
$20 for each indvidual day or a $35 full weekend pass
Free admission for youth 16 and under.

Full Moon Concert at Buffalo Park
2026-06-29 19:00 - 22:00 | Flagstaff
June 29, 2026
Seating: 7 pm | Performance: 7:45 pm
Buffalo Park | Free Event
Celebrate Flagstaff’s deep connection to the cosmos and experience the natural beauty of Buffalo Park in a whole new light. Join Dr. David Koerner for an evening of classical piano music, lunar meditations, and telescope viewing. This event is presented by Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition and supported by a City of Flagstaff Beautification in Action grant in celebration of Flagstaff’s 25th anniversary as the world’s first International Dark Sky City.

Nathan McEuen
2026-08-28 19:30 - 21:30 | Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, United States
New album “Time To Go Home” to be released, July 17th 2026

Nathan McEuen grew up surrounded by incredible music and talented musicians. By age five he started performing with his father, John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Nathan soon became a natural showman.
With over 40 years of touring, more than 3,000 shows, and appearances on American Idol, The Stagecoach Festival, the Grand Ole Opry, The Tonight Show, Music City Roots, and XM/Sirius Radio, his music has reached audiences around the world.
Held in the highest esteem by his musical colleagues, Nathan has shared the stage with an impressive lineup of artists, including Bon Jovi, Steve Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Kenny Loggins, Leon Russell, Mason Williams, Vassar Clements, Jay Leno, Billy Bob Thornton, John Carter Cash, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Albert Lee, David Grisman, The Dillards, Dwight Yoakam, Carlos Santana, Kiss, Dave Mason, Jim Messina, Gabriel Iglesias, John Denver, John Jorgenson, Michael Martin Murphey, Trisha Yearwood, David Crosby, Shawn Colvin, Colin Hay, Chris Stills, Richard Paige, Chris Issak, Jason Mraz, Steve Postell, Chris Hillman, Herb Peterson, John Oates, Kevin Nealon, John Hartford, Brett Dennen, Garfunkel & Oates, Jennifer Warnes, Blind Boys of Alabama, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Malcolm McDowell, Paul Williams, Abe Laboriel, Ann-Margret, Ronny Cox, Chris Thile, Van Dyke Parks, Laurie Lewis, Gary Morris, Gonzo the Muppet, Russi Taylor (Voice of Minnie Mouse) and Hanna-McEuen (w/ his brother Jonathan, and cousin Jaime Hanna).
Most recently, Nathan has collaborated on writing and composing music with legends like Mason Williams (Classical Gas, Smothers Brothers, SNL) and Chris Caswell (Daft Punk, Tron, The Muppets). Alongside his EP “My One and Only” for Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings, Nathan co-produced The McEuen Sessions – For All the Good for the label in 2011. He has also released several acclaimed albums through his independent label, Lint Records, including Grand Design, Festival, Scrapbook, McEuen Sessions, and Side by Side.
With a rich musical heritage, a lifelong passion for songwriting (200+ songs to date), and a love for storytelling, Nathan’s engaging performances showcase his artistry and dedication to his craft. Whether on stage or in the studio, his music continues to resonate with fans worldwide.
