Legendary bluesman Wilson returns for Tucson’s ‘Wintertime Blues Bash’

This year’s event on Dec. 3, its third since launching the wintertime concert in 2018, brings back headliner Kim Wilson of Fabulous Thunderbirds fame. Wilson headlined the last one in 2019.

“Kim’s one of our favorites,” said Jeb Schoonover, who organized the event with Marty Kool for the Blues Foundation.

Wilson, who comes here with his 2020 release “Take Me Back: The Bigtone Sessions,” has been a regular on Tucson blues stages since he did the Tucson All Stars Blues Review in 1989.

“Kim, I think, as both a vocalist and harp player, is one of the greatest blues players out there,” Schoonover said.

Wilson’s album, released on M.C. Records and co-produced by rising bluesman Big Jon Atkinson, came out during the pandemic and pays homage to the blues singer/songwriter and harmonica player’s blues heroes from the genre’s golden age. Over 16 tracks, Wilson delivers a mix of his own songs, old and new, with classic gems from Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Nolan, Larry Williams and others in an album that is being widely praised for its vintage vibe “that never sound dated,” according to No Depression.