About the Event

Free Sunday concerts return to the newly renovated outdoor spaces at Scottsdale Civic Center! Experience the best local music in a laid-back, family-friendly atmosphere, featuring unique artist vendors, cold drinks at the bar, and plenty of good company. Bring your pup and lawn chair for some fun in the sun! 

This show will feature AJ Odneal’s purposeful and personal indie folk and The Sugar Thieves’ eclectic brand of Americana that moves between blues, country, folk, gospel, rock ’n’ roll, and jazz. 

AJ Odneal: noon to 1:30 p.m. 

Singer/songwriter AJ Odneal has been making up songs from a young age, but her songwriting quickly found a purpose. “In middle school, I started writing songs for the purpose of processing what I was feeling,” Odneal says. “And that’s what songwriting has really become for me.” Odneal’s indie folk style music is heavily influenced by pop and jazz. She uses both the guitar and ukulele to accompany her smooth vocals and clever lyrics. 

Odneal’s latest EP is No One Is a Constellation By Themself. She says the bubbly and hummable title track is about community. “It’s about knowing that we’re all pretty cool, and we’re much cooler when we’re with other people and supporting each other.” Other songs are more somber, like when she speaks about the challenging relationship with her late grandmother. “It wasn’t until she had dementia that she cared about me,” Odneal says. “She told me she loved me for the first time as she was dying.” Songwriting helped Odneal come to peace with the complicated emotions surrounding this experience, inspiring the song “Didn’t Know My Name.” Another track, “Better This Way,” is a melancholy yet upbeat song about leaving and moving on. An overall theme for the EP is “coming to peace.” “Everyone’s a star, but you can’t be a constellation by yourself,” she says.  

Follow this artist:

Instagram: @AJOdneal

Facebook: @AjOdnealMusic 

X: @AJOdneal 

The Sugar Thieves: 2:30 to 4 p.m. 

The Sugar Thieves have been winning over fans worldwide with their high-energy, soulful live shows since 2006. Over the years, they have honed their brand of American roots music, creating a unique sound that moves between blues, country, folk, gospel, rock ’n’ roll, and elements of jazz, freely honoring the traditions that make American music so great. On any given night, the band will mix original songs with American covers spanning the last 120 years. 

The Sugar Thieves call Phoenix home, but over the past eight years, they have made their presence known across the United States and throughout Mexico and Europe, sharing bills with Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, The Flaming Lips, The Blues Brothers, Lucinda Williams, Robert Cray, and more. They’ve recorded and produced five albums, each containing a mix of original music and old songs reinvented. Their rendition of “Santa Baby” was featured on Putamayo’s Acoustic Christmas album in 2013. 

The Sugar Thieves started as a duo in 2006, consisting of Meridith Moore’s deep and colorful vocals and Mikel Lander’s gritty and gutsy guitar-picking style and vocal approach. Today, they are backed by Todd Chuba on drums; Shea Marshall on a variety of instruments, including keys, sax, harmonica, and even railroad spikes; and Jeff Naylor on upright and electric bass.