Arizona Songbirds: The life stories of Marty Robbins and Linda Ronstadt – Kingman

These two Arizonans were blessed with beautiful and unforgettable singing voices and had more hits than the Arizona Diamondbacks. Songs like El Paso, Big Iron, Yellow Roses for Robbins and Different Drum, Blue Bayou and Skylark for Ronstadt. Marty was a little bit country and Linda was a little bit rock and roll. Both of them grew up in Arizona and put Arizona musical influences on our national cultural map. Robbins was an early lover of NASCAR and helped to solidify and popularize Western music. Ronstadt  was an early female rocker who helped bring back the Big Band standards.  This presentation will explore and reveal the lives and careers of these two popular music giants.

Steve Renzi, a University of Arizona graduate with a degree in history, believes that every generation must learn about who and what came before them or else the lessons learned are lost. As a writer and photographer with a teacher’s certificate in secondary education, Renzi is always searching for new ways of exploring our history. He has written and been published in over 200 magazine and newspaper articles and is currently a writing and photography teacher, as well as a basketball coach.  Although he derives great satisfaction from his professional pursuits, his proudest moment was the birth of his twin sons.