Tucson Rain - Meet the Band

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Liz comes from a musical family and has been singing in and around Birmingham, AL for thirty+ years. She plays rhythm guitar in other projects, but for this one she lends her voice as the lead singer covering the songs of Linda Ronstadt. She grew up in the small town of Talladega and was blessed to have access to her big brother's record collection which included all of Linda Ronstadt albums of that time. Whenever she could, she would listen to those records over and over. She sang in award-winning choirs through high school and college. After raising three kids, she has devoted herself fulltime to playing in and managing several local music projects. 

 John Jackson is one of the most sought-after musicians in the region. Originally from Nashville, TN., his dad was a symphony bassist and music educator. He began playing at the tender age of eleven, and the classic soul and R & B music he heard on the AM radio of the late 60’s was his greatest inspiration. He began playing semi-professionally in 1976. He does studio session work and has decades of experience playing in bands such as Dick’s Hat Band, Kingfish, The Cast, and the Negotiators. When it comes to his playing, he is a perfectionist and simultaneously plays with feeling and precision.

Jim Murray grew up playing guitar with his dad in honky-tonks starting at the age of eleven. His aptitude on acoustic and electric guitar is incredible cementing his reputation as one of the best musicians in Birmingham. As such, he has never NOT played music and honed his craft playing with many different local bands including The Pistons, The Wringers, DreamCatcher, and Liz & The Grand Tour. He's even backed The Drifters and a world-renowned Elvis Impersonator! 

He's also a great singer and provides not only harmony, but the J.D. Souther and Aaron Neville parts on famous duets they did with Linda Ronstadt.  

Pete Nice is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed on stages large

and small for 50 years. In his early days he pursued a career in music as a singer songwriter in various duos and trios playing mainly

acoustic guitar and singing original material regionally throughout the south. As time went on, he became enamored with traditional country music and added pedal steel, lap steel and mandolin to his bag of

tricks. More adventures led on to bigger and better gigs sharing the bill with the likes of Susanne Vega, Bonnie Raitt, Nanci Griffith, Dwight

Yoakum and others. 

John was raised in Birmingham, AL in a musical household. His mother was a singer, choir director, and church organist. He sang in choirs under his mother's tutelage and then he discovered the Beatles and the drums. From that point on, he never stopped playing! He has been blessed to play with many groups and artists over the years including Hotel, White Heat Swing Orchestra, Cleve Eaton, Ellis Marsalis, and many more. When he's not playing the drums, you can find him teaching his craft to kids. 

Mike started out playing not only piano, but the trombone. He spent his early years playing Jazz and Pop standards with local combos in and around his hometown of Albertville, AL and went on tour with the horn band, Cross. After moving to Tuscaloosa to do engineering and management work at local hospitals, he became a key member of local rock/Pop bands including Oasis, Cloud, the Blades, and The Tuscaloosa Nite Spots. His work with Liz & The Grand Tour expanded his repertoire to Country music. He resides in Birmingham with his wife Judith and stays incredibly active in the local music scene.   

Julia also comes from a musical family and is, in fact, the daughter of Liz and Jim.  Her voice is indispensable as the backup singer for Tucson Rain. If you've ever heard the term, "Blood harmony," it is a real thing, and the tight harmony of this band is due to her contributions. She has considerable experience in choral music and has been in choirs under the direction of John McLelland (IPC), musical director Michael King, and Dr. Gary Anderson while she was in college in Lexington, KY. 

She is crucial to recreating the harmonies that Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton provided Linda Ronstadt in their decades-long collaborations.