The Dusty Buskers -

Old-timey/Celtic Revival and Nontraditional Traditional Music "A busker isn't a panhandler. Making people smile is a noble profession."

to pay the fiddler

1. (idiomatic) To face the consequences of one’s actions.

The three-day party had been a lot of fun, but now it was time to pay the fiddler.

2. (idiomatic) To contribute in order to participate.

If you want to dance, you’ve got to pay the fiddler.

The Dusty Buskers
P.O. Box 86134
Tucson, AZ 85754
United States
thedustybuskers@gmail.com

‎

"Upbeat, old-timey Celtic/bluegrass/folk with a rocking edge."

– Zocalo Tucson Magazine

"A rumpus-rousing, acoustic blend of bluegrass, Celtic, Americana and old-timey music."

– Tucson Weekly

THE STORY

The tale of The Dusty Buskers ("the band that fits on a bike") begins on New Year's Eve 2006, in an alcove on 4th Avenue in Tucson, AZ, when new friends sang songs to the revelers en route between the local taverns.

By summer of that year, Fiddlin' Uncle Phoenix and Dusty Squirrelfisher were performing "idiosyncratic" up-tempo old-timey bluegrass music for passersby on an almost daily basis. They honed their craft by playing for smiles and tips of all kinds.

Moving their act indoors to saloons and cafes across Southern Arizona and the Southwest, the Buskers humbly offer their unique arrangements of Americana and Irish tunes full of hobos, heartbreak, trains, and spirits - the kinds you drink from a bottle, the ones that haunt after death, and the sort that need lifting.

The Dusty Buskers may also still be found playing for pedestrians of all ages at street fairs, farmers markets and on sidewalks and street corners near you.

THE LATEST CHAPTER

Five-time TAMMIES (Tucson Area Music Awards) winners The Dusty Buskers, perhaps the most unique item to emerge from the Sonoran Desert since the crested saguaro, have released three albums on Old Bisbee Records, Southern Arizona's "beatific" record label of Western medicinal music.

As veteran street musicians and members of the little known 19th century "string band" genre which informed country, western and bluegrass music, The Dusty Buskers' latest effort (Buskin') adapts traditional folk songs with original lyrics to spin exploitative tales about the band. From debauchery to redemption, buskers Phoenix Michael (Fiddlin' Uncle Phoenix) and Stuart Oliver (Dusty Squirrelfisher) have lived it, and they harmonize timeless melodies with passion and conviction.

Buskin' contains an array of classic material by Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash and...The Dead Milkmen?!? This time around, The Dusty Buskers are pleased to welcome Four Corners States Banjo Championship winner Rudy Cortese of local act Cadillac Mountain as an album guest. The first single, "Maybelle," (written by Oliver) is a tender tale of finding love in the Tucson summer. Throw it on for a good time!

Having won the hearts of audiences in Tucson's saloons, taverns and cafes; captured the attention of passersby in backyards and on street corners in Tombstone, Willcox, Arivaca and Boulder, CO; performed in nightclubs in Austin, TX, Phoenix and Bisbee; and frolicked at venues in Silver City, Taos and Truth or Consequences, NM, the Dusty Buskers have defied the odds, overcome their personal struggles and shrugged away their inner demons to present the world with their happy-go-lucky, idiosyncratically melodic and infectious music. The Dusty Buskers is an act not to be missed.

The Dusty Buskers have shared the stage and held it down with noteworthy national acts such as Great American Taxi, The Devil Makes Three, Fishtank Ensemble, The Weary Boys, Leslie and The Badgers, Pine Leaf Boys, Green Mountain Grass, James Intveld, Young Dubliners and others.

"The secret ingredient in the Dusty Buskers' performances is a palpable energy and momentum. It's not as if they place traditional music as a static museum piece."

– Tucson Weekly

"A folk music that's the perfect fit for its time and place."

– Catfish Vegas

"A wild-assed punked-out group, one half Old Time Wild Man and the other half rowdy Irish Bar Band...If they played in a cemetery, even the ground would probably start rocking."

– Tucson Friends of Traditional Music News

"Foot-stomping fun that sounds great."

– Downtown Tucsonan

"A fun and funky trio, full of energy and enthusiasm."

– Silver City Sun-News

"Celtic-bluegrass tunes with a punk attitude and a subversive comedic slant."

– TucsonScene.com

"Love your preservation of our traditional music. Great job. Love your passion and talent."

– Vic Quinton

Booking:

thedustybuskers@gmail.com

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

UPCOMING SHOWS:

Friday, May 18, 7-9 pm: Feile Rince Tucson 2012, Holiday Inn Palo Verde, 4550 S. Palo Verde Rd., Tucson AZ, (520) 746-1161

Friday, June 1, 6-8 pm:

Food Conspiracy Co-op, 412 N. 4th Ave., Tucson AZ, (520) 624-4821

Thursday, June 7, 9:30 pm:

Plush, 340 E. 6th St., Tucson AZ, (520) 798-1298

Friday, June 8: TBA

Saturday, June 9:

J Six Rox, San Lorenzo NM

Sunday, June 10: TBA

Saturday, June 16, 1 pm:

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, 6230 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson AZ, (520) 748-9555

Wed.-Sun., July 4-8:

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

"The Dusty Buskers' renditions of traditional Irish songs have a rough authenticity. The Buskers sound almost as if one were in a Galway pub, seated at the next table over, listening to old music being played by old friends."

- TucsonSentinel.com