Why next March might be Carvin Jones' last show in Phoenix

Editor's note: This article first appeared in Sun Life Magazine, a Daily Independent publication.

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Wait, wait, wait. It can’t be.

The Valley without blues whiz Carvin Jones? Yep, it may just be what it be.

Jones has been a fixture on the Valley music scene since he moved to Phoenix back in 1989 from the small town of Lufkin in east Texas.

“I needed a big city,” he said.

Local fans get no limit of seeing Jones perform. He zigzags across venues throughout the West Valley, East Valley and Phoenix seemingly every night in between U.S. tours and plenty of gigs abroad.

Perhaps even more importantly Jones is renown for his work in the community, particularly during the COVID pandemic. During what became unprecedented downtime for him and everyone else, Jones spent that time using his name recognition to raise money and then go shopping for groceries – and hand deliver them – for elderly residents who couldn’t safely leave their homes. And he’s always been a regular sponsor of city basketball leagues for kids. He even coaches and plays himself.

Don’t look now but his website has a pretty straightforward update.

He is billing his show next spring, March 30 at Celebrity Theatre, as his “final major concert setting performance in Phoenix.”

Wait, what??

Schedule-wise, it does seem to be the case.

He has 12 dates on the books this month all over Brazil and Argentina. After the holidays Carvin has a February gig in Bullhead City, some California dates, then he’s off to Europe for shows in Paris and Rome. At the end of March, he’ll be back in Arizona for a show in Tucson before the March date at Celebrity Theatre.

After that, Jones performs in Bisbee and Payson before he hits New Mexico, Texas, and several other states throughout July – including some May dates in Australia. He’s even headlining a blues festival in Fresno, California, in August of 2025. And all with his beloved 1962 Stratocaster that he has played – and bumped and scraped in all the right places – for almost 40 years.

All told, there’s nothing on the schedule back in Phoenix.

The man who plays with the explosive urgency of Stevie Ray Vaughan and with the bent strings of his hero B.B. King explained what’s going on before a small October show in Scottsdale.

“That’s the last major concert that people will see Carvin Jones,” Jones himself said. “After the Celebrity Theatre I have so many tours and new world tours: Sydney, Australia; Melbourne, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Tokyo, Japan; Rome, Italy; France, Spain, England. By the time I come back in the year 2095 I’ll be too damned old to play.”

Whether he holds true to no more Valley shows or not, Jones sure isn’t bittersweet about it.

“I done paid over 35 years of dues. Hell naww it ain’t bittersweet,” he laughed. “No matter what I’m going out on top. For me that’s the most important thing. To go out on my terms on top. Go out and leaving them wanting more.”

Jones has no plans to stop playing. On the contrary, the growing appetite for his live shows across this country and others is too much to pass up.

Whatever that special thing is, it still happens every time he puts on his signature black hat.

“I’m always excited because this is never boring,” he said, moments before he opened his Scottsdale gig in October with the classic Willie Dixon-penned “I’m Ready.” “I’m always in preparation for some big event coming up. Always.”