Jeb Schoonover
Jeb Schoonover has been at the forefront of promoting music in Tucson for the past thirty four years. Starting at KXCI Community Radio in 1984, he created his weekly radio show called the Country Crossroads. Schoonover was soon hired on as their first Promotions Director where his duties included producing the infamous monthly “House Rockin’ Concert Series” at El Casino Ballroom. The list of bands that he promoted was impressive, and included such legendary Blues acts as Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Lonnie Mack, Lazy Lester, John Mayall, James Cotton, and Canned Heat.
Schoonover later teamed up with KXCI founder Paul Bear, and the duo set out to purchase and restore the Rialto Theatre in 1995. For ten years Schoonover helped produce over 750 concerts and events bringing over one million people downtown. Concerts featured such great blues acts as Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Johnny Lang, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
It was this drive to promote downtown that led Schoonover to create Club Crawl, Tucson’s largest music festival from 1994-2012. The event covered 8 blocks including Congress Street and 4th Avenue, and featured twenty-five stages with over 100 bands drawing 15,000 people biannually.
In 1990 Schoonover also formed his own company for booking and managing national Blues and Americana touring acts which he still operates today. Schoonover has handled dozens of bands including The Paladins, Candye Kane, The Hacienda Brothers, The Tailgators, Bacon & the Forbidden Pigs, The Weary Boys, and The Derailers.