Tucson country singer Ned Sutton dies at 73 | Music

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“Ned was such a thoroughly cool Tucson,” said David Slutes of the Hotel Congress, former front man of the popular 1980s Tucson indie pop band Sidewinders. “He was so funny. You couldn’t call him an outlaw, but he had such an alternate streak and yet he made traditional country. … But his manner and attitude were just cooler. “

“I just loved hearing him sing,” said Tucson singer-songwriter / guitarist Peter McLaughlin, who has performed with Sutton occasionally. “He had the right feeling and the right way of harmonizing and he simply contributed to the entire stage presence. He just had that stage presence that your eyes would focus on. “

Mandolin player / singer Ric Volante and bassist Dan Sorenson, formerly The Mollys, were part of Sutton’s latest act, Ned Sutton & Last Dance, which he formed around 2012. The band started out as a group of four, but Sutton slowly added more players who bring steel peddles and drums for their Sunday standing gigs at The Boondocks.

“As a band leader, he wasn’t the most organized, but he was really able to connect with the audience on stage,” said Volante, a former investigative reporter for the Arizona Daily Star. “He had a certain charisma that was best shown in front of a lot of dancers and they could feel his passion.”

“His personality came through on stage and it was real,” Hawke added. “It’s difficult; rarely does anyone. When you have a personality big enough to be yourself and it carries over to an audience bigger than life in a way, that’s a special quality . And he had. “

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