Heather “Lil Mama” Hardy Band

($10-$15 tickets | 6pm doors / 7pm show) Club Congress presents Heather “Lil Mama” Hardy Band.

**Heather Hardy**

A mainstay of the Tucson music scene, Heather Hardy was given the nickname “Lil’ Mama” by legendary bluesman Sam Taylor when she first joined his band after arriving in Tucson in 1990. Heather studied piano and violin at the Manhattan School of Music but was drawn to busking in the NYC subways and began to explore improvisation on the violin with different blues and rock musicians. She worked for many New York bands in the 80’s and most notably toured nationally and internationally with the False Prophets as well as playing for Allen Ginsberg. To date, she has appeared on over 200 records. After arriving in Tucson, Heather began a 24 year run as a member of the Sam Taylor blues band. Heather and Sam did a great deal of playing internationally and among other awards, won the 1995 Arizona Blues Showdown. At the encouragement of Sam, she formed her own Lil’ Mama Band and was inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame in 200 and the Tucson Musicians Museum in 2018. Her home base has been Tucson for the past 20 years, but she maintains a steady performance schedule in the New York area for about 3 months each year. In addition to touring internationally, Heather works with the Amity Foundation to bring music to prisons and their therapeutic communities throughout Arizona, New Mexico and California. She is joined by legendary guitarist, Alvin Blaine, Larry Lee Lerma – long time member of the Blues Brothers – on bass, and Justin Donaldson on drums.