Hans Olson’s Arizona Troubadour: Inside Arizona’s Music Scene
People talk about the Arizona music scene as if it has always existed as one clearly defined thing.
It has not.
Music scenes are built gradually. They come from venues willing to take a chance on musicians, radio stations willing to play something different, performers sitting in with one another, strange nights on the road, and hundreds of small decisions that nobody realizes are important until decades later.
That became clear during our Desert Vibe conversation with legendary Arizona singer-songwriter Hans Olson, whose new autobiographical book, Arizona Troubadour, looks back on more than 50 years in music.
Hans has been performing professionally in Arizona since the late 1960s and has become one of the state's best-known blues and roots musicians. His official biography describes a career built around amplified acoustic guitar, harmonica, songwriting, and a range of influences stretching from Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Tom Waits.
But one of the most interesting things about talking with Hans is that calling him a "blues musician" only tells part of the story.
Hans Olson Arrives in the Arizona Music Scene
Hans arrived in Phoenix in 1969.
One of his earliest surprises was the radio.
Today, when almost every song imaginable is available instantly, it is easy to forget how much local radio once shaped someone's understanding of a city.
Hans remembers arriving in Phoenix and hearing music that immediately challenged his expectations.
In a previous interview about his 50 years in Arizona, he recalled turning on the radio the night he arrived and hearing the extended version of Buffalo Springfield's "Bluebird," followed by Isaac Hayes' unusually long version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." The free-form programming came from KRUX and DJ Bill Compton.
That mattered.
Phoenix suddenly did not seem like some cultural wasteland in the desert. There were people here willing to take chances.
Hans eventually auditioned for Compton and received an hour of uninterrupted radio exposure before most people in Phoenix even knew who he was.
Think about what that can do for a young musician.
One person at a radio station deciding to give a local artist some time can change who hears him, where he gets booked, and which musicians he meets next.
That is how a music scene starts taking shape.
Was Hans Olson a Folk Singer or a Blues Musician?
One of my favorite discussions in the episode was about genre.
Hans told us he originally thought of himself primarily as a folk singer.
His definition of folk music was wonderfully simple. He learned from all kinds of folks.
That meant bluegrass, country, blues, and whatever else caught his ear.
Then something interesting happened.
Hans played blues.
There were not nearly as many people playing blues around Phoenix at the time, so blues fans started showing up.
They wanted more.
Promoters noticed.
Festival opportunities followed.
Before long, Hans Olson was increasingly known as a blues musician.
There is a useful lesson here for working artists.
Sometimes you choose a genre.
Sometimes the audience helps choose it for you.
The instrument you play can influence it too. Hans became particularly recognizable for playing acoustic guitar while simultaneously using a harmonica mounted in a neck rack.
Over time, that sound became closely associated with his identity.
Hans's official biography now describes him as a musician capable of moving from mellow folk ballads into aggressive boogie blues, and his recording career includes more than 100 original songs across 17 releases.
The label was not necessarily wrong.
It just was not complete.
That distinction matters.
A genre can help people discover you without having to define everything you are capable of doing.
Phoenix Blues History Was Built by People Who Showed Up
Hans did more than participate in the Phoenix blues scene.
He helped build some of its infrastructure.
Over the years he performed at long-gone Arizona venues, worked with local musicians, promoted shows, and helped establish organizations including the Phoenix Blues Society and Arizona Blues Hall of Fame. He was also involved in the Sun Club, an influential Tempe venue that became part of the city's emerging music culture.
Looking backward, people sometimes talk about famous local scenes as though they appeared naturally.
They did not.
Someone booked the room, found the bands, printed the flyers, convinced people to come out on a Tuesday night, lost money, and tried again.
The Arizona music scene Hans remembers was filled with those kinds of people, along with enough unusual personalities to fill a book.
Which brings us to Arizona Troubadour.
Arizona Troubadour Turns Music History Into Human Stories
Arizona Troubadour is Hans Olson's autobiographical look back at his life in music. His official website currently features the book, and publication listings date the paperback to September 2025.
What interested me most during our conversation was not simply the list of musicians Hans has encountered.
It was the stories.
Music history becomes more interesting when you stop treating it as a résumé.
Hans remembers the people who were funny, strange, brilliant, difficult, generous, and occasionally completely ridiculous.
The Cosmo Topper story may be the best example.
I am not sure how many musicians can say they were given someone's toenail painted gold as a farewell gift.
Hans can.
I am also not sure anybody needs to recreate that particular tradition.
But stories like that are why musicians' memoirs can tell us things that a list of albums and tour dates never will.
They show what life around the music actually felt like.
Playing With Brownie McGhee
Other memories carry considerably more musical weight.
Hans told us about opening for legendary blues duo Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and eventually getting the opportunity to play with McGhee.
Terry and McGhee became one of the most influential acoustic blues partnerships of the 20th century, combining Piedmont blues, folk music, ballads, guitar, and Terry's distinctive harmonica playing. The pair were named National Heritage Fellows in 1982.
Hans's connection eventually went beyond sharing a bill. Historical coverage of his career notes that he toured internationally with Brownie McGhee, and Hans later recorded a duet with McGhee on "Come On If You're Coming."
For a musician so closely associated with acoustic guitar and harmonica, there is an obvious connection.
But what struck me about hearing Hans tell these stories is how naturally major musical history becomes part of everyday working life.
You open the show.
You meet somebody.
You get invited to play.
One relationship leads to another.
Again, scenes are built through participation.
Hans Olson’s Acoustic Guitar Technique Started With Bad Gear
The episode also turned into an unexpected mini masterclass for guitar players.
Hans learned on a guitar with high action, meaning the strings sat relatively far away from the fretboard.
Normally, guitarists complain about that.
Hans could not afford a nicer instrument, so he learned to play what he had.
It turned out to have an advantage.
Higher action allows a player to attack the strings harder before they begin buzzing against the frets.
Over time, Hans developed an unusually powerful right hand and a highly percussive acoustic style.
That led us into a conversation about something guitar players can obsess over forever: picks.
Hans uses extremely thin picks, but he bends them to change the stiffness and response.
That may sound like a tiny detail, but little adjustments like that can completely change how a guitar feels under your hand.
We also talked about volume.
When amplification is doing more of the work, your hands do not have to.
Playing louder through the sound system can actually allow a musician to attack the instrument less aggressively while still creating a powerful sound.
For guitarists, that is an important distinction.
Volume and intensity are not the same thing.
Sometimes playing harder gives you the sound you want.
Sometimes it only creates tension.
Understanding that difference is part of learning your instrument.
When “Tennessee Waltz” Goes Very Wrong
Of course, not every lesson comes from a great performance.
Hans also shared one of his less enjoyable musical memories involving "Tennessee Waltz," the wrong key, and a stage containing far too many fiddles to make the mistake easy to hide.
Every performing musician eventually has one of those moments.
The key is wrong.
Someone misunderstands the arrangement.
You realize there is absolutely no graceful way out.
And somehow the song still has several minutes left.
They are miserable when they happen.
Decades later, they usually become the stories everybody wants to hear.
That may be one of the benefits of surviving a long career in music.
Eventually, even the disasters become material.
Adapting After Losing Sight in One Eye
Hans also talked about a childhood injury that left him with vision in only one eye.
The change affected his depth perception, which forced him to adapt to things most people never consciously think about.
I appreciated the way that story fit into the larger conversation because it did not become a dramatic tale about overcoming adversity.
It was practical.
Something changed.
Hans adapted.
Then he kept going.
That same mentality seems to appear throughout his musical career.
The gear was not ideal, so he learned how to make it work.
People called him a blues musician, so he benefited from the blues audience without giving up everything else he played.
The music business changed, so he changed with it.
Adaptation may be one of the least glamorous but most important skills a musician develops.
Hans Olson’s Advice for Working Musicians
Toward the end of our conversation, Hans gave advice that cuts through a lot of modern music-industry noise.
Do not make music because you expect it to make you rich. Make music because you love making music.
That does not mean musicians should not be paid.
Working artists deserve to be compensated.
The point is that money is a poor foundation for a lifelong relationship with music.
There are easier ways to earn money than hauling equipment, practicing for years, driving to gigs, dealing with unpredictable venues, and playing songs while somebody in the back of the room loudly discusses their dinner.
Joy has to be somewhere underneath it.
That may be why Hans is still part of the Arizona music community more than half a century after arriving here.
A Simple Takeaway From Walt’s Wisdom
We closed with one simple idea worth keeping.
If you are stressed or overwhelmed, try humming a song you love.
Do not worry about whether it sounds good.
The point is to give yourself a familiar melody, breathe, and spend a moment doing something musical without performing for anybody.
Sometimes music does not need an audience.
Arizona Music History Is Really a Collection of People
The biggest thing I took away from talking with Hans Olson is that Arizona music history is not really about buildings, festivals, or famous names.
It is about people.
The DJ who decided to put a young unknown musician on the radio.
The club owner who gave somebody a stage.
The musicians who shared bills.
The audience that kept asking for more blues.
The people who created organizations because the infrastructure did not exist yet.
And occasionally, apparently, the bandleader who gives you a gold-painted toenail.
Hans has spent more than 50 years collecting those stories.
Fortunately, he finally wrote some of them down.
You can learn more about Hans Olson and Arizona Troubadour through Hans Olson's official website.
And if you want to hear more stories from the people who helped build Arizona music, follow The Desert Vibe Podcast as we continue documenting what has been, and what is still, vibin' in the desert.
About the Authors: Emma & James Mattison
James Mattison is an Arizona guitarist, musician, and blog writer for the Desert Vibe Podcast. He is one half of Emma & James Music, a husband-and-wife Arizona music duo performing original music and select covers while exploring the people and places that make up the state's independent music community.
Emma Mattison is the other half of Emma & James Music and manages the Desert Vibe website, social media, marketing, promotion, and online distribution. Her work behind the scenes is the reason Desert Vibe has an internet presence and can be discovered across podcast streaming platforms.
Together, Emma & James use the Desert Vibe Podcast to document Arizona musicians, venues, open mics, music history, and the people keeping the state's creative community moving forward.
REFERENCES
Hans Olson Official Website. Biography, career history, recordings, and Arizona Troubadour information.
Phoenix New Times. “Arizona’s Troubadour Hans Olson Reflects on 50 Years.” Background on Olson's 1969 arrival in Phoenix and early Arizona radio experiences.
Phoenix New Times. Career history covering Olson's performances, touring, Phoenix Blues Society involvement, Arizona Blues Hall of Fame involvement, and the Sun Club.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Historical background on Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and their contributions to American blues and folk music.
National Endowment for the Arts. Brownie McGhee biography and history of his partnership with Sonny Terry.
Goodreads. Publication listing for Hans Olson's Arizona Troubadour.
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