The Cardells
Overview
A performance by The Cardells is rock and roll heaven. They have four terrific shows. Their most popular is "The Greatest Hits of Rock and Rock". From Chuck Berry to The Beatles, from Elvis to The Eagles, The Cardells do it all and they do it all incredibly well. Their other three family-friendly shows are 'Rockabilly Revival', 'The Best of the Beatles', and 'Hippie Heaven'. The highest praise The Cardells receive is that the vast majority of their gigs are repeat performances. Almost everyone that hires The Cardells rehires them. As if a great mix of songs and an amazing sound isn't enough, they also have an incredible light show. Ranked #1 on ReverbNation every month for over 10 years.
Reviews
8 reviews
Brittany R.
June 3, 2025Great and amazing for Festivals
The Cardells did amazing at our Arts festival people really enjoyed there music you could see kids and adults alike dance and having a good laugh.
Hired as: 1950s Era Entertainment, 1960s Era Entertainment, 1970s Era Entertainment
The Cardells
Brittany was great to work with, the audience was terrific, and we had a blast!
Lindsay T.
March 16, 2025Had a great time
The Cardells put on a great show for my Dads 80th birthday. Everyone enjoyed it and had a great time!
Hired as: 1950s Era Entertainment
The Cardells
Lindsey and her family were gracious hosts, the audience was wonderful, and we had a great time!
Terri S.
October 11, 2015Fantastic!!
What a great experience for all of our guests. Great presentation and wonderful music.
We plan to have them next year at our fall party.
Hired as: Classic Rock Band, Oldies Music
The Cardells
Terri made us feel very welcome, and her guests were an appreciative audience. We had a great time!
Carolyn B.
March 21, 2022They love what they do
We enjoyed having The Cardells for our rally entertainment. They did a wide variety of songs and got us onto the dance floor—which was our main requirement.
Hired as: Oldies Music
Diane E.
November 18, 2019The Cardell's made our wedding a real success!
We hired the Cardell's to entertain at our wedding. They were a great hit with everyone of all ages. Their music & singing were so good that they not only got the young guests dancing but the older guests too. We were really hoping for that so were totally pleased. The Cardell's were totally professional arriving even early to set up all their equipment & were so nice personally to work with. I would highly recommend for anyone to hire them to make their event successful like they made ours. We are grateful we got to have them.
Hired as: 1950s Era Entertainment, 1960s Era Entertainment, 1970s Era Entertainment, Classic Rock Band, Wedding Band
Booking information
Price range: Contact for rates
Gig length: 120 - 300 minutes
Insurance: Yes
About
The Cardells, Doug and Shay, are both talented and versatile musicians, vocalists, writers and composers. In addition to "The Greatest Hits of Rock and Roll", The Cardells add some wonderful original songs that sound like they belong with those greatest hits. They are two time winners of the American Song Festival Award for "excellence in creative writing, originality, technical skill and talent in composition." Their original lyrics have been lauded by the late, legendary writer Sammy Cahn . He described their song "Ghost Life" by saying, "Now, this is the way to write lyrics." and their song "I Wish that You Could Be Me" as "Wonderful, absolutely wonderful." Big Fish Music's Chuck Tennin says, "Strong, commercial, material." and "It's excellent"; "New, refreshing", says Ray Roberts of RCI Records, and Fred Kelly from Frebar Music says, "Their writing is unusually good, particularly the melodies." Their song "Ghost Life" was produced by Bob Harrington, former exec with Private Stock, RCA, GRC, Chelsea Records and the Wes Farrell Organization and working with him helped The Cardells hone their craft.
The San Manuel Miner reviewed a recent performance at Central Arizona College's Fall Festival and said, "The live music, performed by The Cardells was outstanding - familiar oldies that most of us could sing along to."
Doug and Shay each have decades of experience and have played together for more than thirty years. Doug and Shay each play several instruments and in their act they employ guitars, keyboards, harmonica, flute, violin and more. They record their own backing tracks so they can insure a quality show. On these backing tracks Doug and Shay play drums, bass, and many other instruments as well as singing backing vocals. The result is a stunning show. We asked why they used recorded backing tracks and Doug replied, "We live in a rural area where the pool of musicians is limited and distance makes practicing difficult. Besides, backing tracks always show up on time, they know their parts and they don't get drunk and fall off the stage." We asked what sets The Cardells apart from other acts and Shay responded, "We love this music and we want make it sound great, but more than that when we step onto that stage it's not about us, it's about the audience. Our goal is to share as much joy with them as they can handle. If everyone in the audience leaves feeling better than when they came, we've succeeded."
Because the Cardells are a duo that sounds like a five or six piece band you get all the sound for a lot less money.
Upcoming booked events
June 2026
20
Saturday
Birthday Party
6:00pm - 8:00pm
•
Marana, AZ
Past booked events
May 2025
31
Saturday
Festival
4:00pm - 7:00pm
•
Willcox, AZ
March 2025
15
Saturday
Birthday Party
2:00pm - 4:00pm
•
Gilbert, AZ
April 2023
23
Sunday
Birthday Party
1:00pm - 4:00pm
•
Tucson, AZ
March 2022
18
Friday
Concert
7:00pm - 8:30pm
•
Tucson, AZ
December 2021
31
Friday
New Year's Party
8:00pm - 12:00am (Sat)
•
Tucson, AZ
May 2017
24
Wednesday
Corporate Event
9:00am - 11:00am
•
Tucson, AZ
February 2017
11
Saturday
Festival
3:00pm - 6:00pm
•
Scottsdale, AZ
October 2015
10
Saturday
House Party
6:00pm - 9:30pm
•
Oro Valley, AZ
Team
Set list
Act Naturally
All I Have to Do Is Dream
All My Loving
All Shook Up
All You Need Is Love
American Pie
And I Love Her
Apache
At the Hop
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Be-Bop-a-Lula
Because
Best of My Love
Birthday
Blue Bayou
Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Suede Shoes
Boogie Blues (an original)
Born to Be Wild
Boys
Brown Eyed Girl
Build Me Up, Buttercup
Burning Love
Bye, Bye, Love
California Girls
Call Me
Can't Buy Me Love
Can't Help Falling in Love
Chantilly Lace
Come On, Let's Go
Come Together
Count on Me (an original)
Country Roads
Crazy
Crocodile Rock
Da Doo Ron Ron
Dancing in the Street
Dancing Queen
Daydream Believer
A Day in the Life
Desperado
Devoted to You
Do You Love Me
Do You Wanna Dance
Don't Be Cruel
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'
Downtown
Dreams
Eight Days a Week
Elvira
Everything's Aces with You (an original)
Feline Lady (an original)
Fever
Folsom Prison Blues
The Gambler
Get Back
Getting Better
Ghost Life (an original)
Ghost Riders in the Sky
Gimme Some Lovin'
God Bless the USA
Good Hearted Woman
Good Golly Miss Molly
Good Lovin'
Great Balls of Fire
Hang On Sloopy
Happy Together
Hard Days Night
Hard Headed Woman
Heartbreak Hotel
Heartbreaker
Heatwave
Help!
Here Comes the Sun
Hey, Good Lookin'
Hey Jude
Hold On, Hold On (an original)
Honey Don't
Hotel California
Hound Dog
House of the Rising Sun
I Can't Stop Loving You
I Got You Babe
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
I Saw Her Standing There
I Walk the Line
I Wanna Dance with You
I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Wish That You Could Be Me (an original)
If You Ever Hear of Johnny (an original)
I'm a Believer
I'm Down
I'm Loving the Dream (an original)
Imagine
It's My Party
It's So Easy
Jailhouse Rock
Jambalaya
Jingle Bell Rock
Johnny B Goode
Joy to the World
Kicks
La Bamba
Last Kiss
Let Me Be There
Let's Twist Again
The Letter
Light My Fire
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Lipstick on Your Collar
The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)
Loco-motion
Lollipop
Lonely People (an original)
Long Tall Sally
Long Tall Texan
Lookin' For Love
Louie, Louie
Love Me Tender
Love Potion No. 9
Lucille
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Lyin' Eyes
Mack the Knife
Maggie May
Makin' Love in the Mountains (an original)
Margaritaville
Matchbox
Me and Bobby McGee
Mellow Yellow
Memphis
Money
Monster Mash
Mony Mony
Mr. Tambourine Man
Mustang Sally
My Guy
New Orleans
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Nobody Does It Better
Nowhere Man
Obladi Oblada
Old Time Rock and Roll
Peaceful Easy Feelin'
Peggy Sue
Pipeline
Please Please Me
Pretty Woman
Proud Mary
Purple People Eater
Rain
Respect
Return to Sender
Rhiannon
Ring of Fire
Rock Around the Clock
Rock 'n' Roll Music
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Rockin' Robin
Roll Over Beethoven
Runaround Sue
Runaway
San Francisco
Satisfaction
Secret Agent Man
Seesaw Baby (an original)
See Ya Later Alligator
Sgt. Peppers (Reprise)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
She Loves You
She's Leaving Home
Silver Wings
Singing the Blues
Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay
Sixteen Tons
Shout
Somebody to Love
Something
Sounds of Silence
Splish Splash
Straight, Fast, and Easy (an original)
A Summer Song
Summertime Blues
Surfin' U.S.A.
Suspicious Minds
Sweet Caroline
Sweet Dreams
Sweet Home Alabama
Take It Easy
Talk to My Machine (an original)
Teddy Bear
Tequila
Tequila Sunrise
That'll Be The Day
That's All Right
Tennessee Waltz
These Boots Are Made For Walking
Ticket to Ride
Till There Was You
Tough (an original)
Tutti Fruitti
The Twist
Twist and Shout
Unchained Melody
Venus
Wagon Wheel
Walking After Midnight
Walk Don't Run
Waterloo
What a Wonderful World
When I'm 64
When Will I Be Loved
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
Wildwood Flower
Will You Love Me Tomorrow
Wipe Out
Witch Doctor
With a Little Help from My Friends
Wooly Bully
The World Rocks (an original)
Yesterday
You Light Up My Life
You Really Got Me
You're Sixteen
You're So Vain
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
Setup requirements
We can setup in a minimum of 12' x 6', 16' x 8 preferred.