Ted Ramirez


Ted Ramírez is Tucson's official troubadour as proclaimed by Tucson's Mayor and Council on December 17, 2001. The event was well attended, most notably by Arizona folk music legends Travis Edmonson and Dolan Ellis. Ted is the recipient of the prestigious Arizona Culture Keeper Award presented in 2004 and currently is the Artist-in-Residence at the Tubac Presidio Historic Park located close to the US/Mexico Border in Southern Arizona.
Ted was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Ted is a native of the Southwest, a direct descendant of southwest indigenous peoples and the first Spanish families who settled in what is now the State of Arizona in 1752 when it was still under Spanish rule.
Ted is a folksinger, storyteller and songwriter performing authentic folk songs from Mexico and the American Southwest. He is a solo performer, and the founder of the celebrated Santa Cruz River Band. He created and hosted the very popular statewide folk music radio program entitled the "Sounds of Arizona", the program aired for ten years on KSAZ 580AM. Currently, Ted is actively recording and performing.
Ted popularized the term "Southwestern Folk Music" folk music by using the term to describe his musical presentations as authentic folk music from the Southwest. The key elements of Southwest Folk Music style are indigenous Mexican styles, i.e. son, huapango and corrido, and American cowboy era ballads, poetry and indigenous chants and songs. This music style is performed by solo performers and musical groups using traditional Mexican folk instruments, i.e., the guitar, drum, mandolin, jarana, accordion, vihuela, guitarron, requinto, flute, harmonica, the Mexican harp and violins.
Many of Ted's original compositions reflect Southwestern culture, they include:
My Beloved Tucson, Look To Baboquivari, El Presidio, Red-tailed Hawk, Living on a Plain, Viva Tucson, Billy Stiles, Refugee Children, La Doña Del Pueblo, Across the Border, and Northern Star, aka.