Nada Surf, Supergrass carry tradition of poppy power Long ago, “pop” music literally meant “popular” music, and everything from Perry Como to Elvis Presley fit into the category. The Beatles changed that. The band's distinctive sound, combined with their massive popularity, created what's now known as “pop,” a genre that since the early '60s has been defined by catchy melodies and vocal harmonies layered on top of straight-ahead rock and roll, all wrapped up in a tidy three-minute blast. » READ MORE Updated February 18, 2006
Willie Nelson's American music lesson delights sold-out Dodge Theatre There are American music icons, and then there is Willie Nelson. A hall of fame singer and songwriter who has published more than 2,500 songs, earned several Grammys and acted in many films — most recently playing Uncle Jesse in the remake of the '70s TV hit “The Dukes of Hazzard” — the 72-year-old Nelson practically bleeds red, white and blue, and the singer/songwriter delivered a performance at the sold-out Dodge Theatre Friday night that was as American as hot dogs and apple pie.
» READ MORE Updated February 11, 2006
Keep an eye out for these Valley artists in 2006 Little more than a decade ago, the East Valley music scene was being hailed as the “next Seattle,” a region set to explode with a plethora of talented bands.
» READ MORE Updated February 9, 2006
Venice makes a home in Queen Creek The life of a professional musician is often like that of a vagabond, where countless shows in countless cities make it hard to plant roots in any one place, but Venice Maki has found a quiet, out-of-the-rat-race place to settle down. Time permitting.
» READ MORE Updated February 9, 2006
New name, new album have The Blackmoods thinking big When a popular band changes their name, it usually means they've been contacted by the lawyer of a band with the same name, or that a Google search turned up a slew of groups that all “came up with the name first.”
» READ MORE Updated February 2, 2006
Christian artist Wahba sings God's praises with alternative rock Ask most rock musicians about their live shows, and they'll usually talk about stage moves or pyrotechnics and light shows. But ask Tempe-based Christian rocker wahba about his performances, and he thoughtfully rewords the question. » READ MORE Updated January 26, 2006
Tempe-based Skybox brings big sound to debut CD Go big or go home. These are words Tempe band Skybox lives by.
The group is known for larger-than-life live performances, which include hand puppets, a banjo, a xylophone and a chaos pad (a special effects controller).
» READ MORE Updated January 26, 2006
Fivespeed celebrates long-awaited Virgin Records debut Nearly three years after signing with Virgin Records, Peoria band Fivespeed finally released their major-label debut album, “Morning Over Midnight,” Tuesday.
» READ MORE Updated January 26, 2006
Longtime Tempe musician Phil Cardone finally forms a band of his own Since the early '90s, bassist Paul Cardone has been known as “The Mayor of Mill Avenue,” a gregarious fixture in the Tempe music scene who, on any given night, when he wasn't playing in bands such as B. Strange, Satellite and Los Guys, could be seen cruising in his Cadillac limo.
» READ MORE Updated January 19, 2006
Musical genre that thrived before grunge comes back strong Chicago metal band Disturbed sold out Sunday and Monday shows at the Marquee Theatre in a matter of hours. Granted, the Tempe venue only holds about 1,000 fans, but with the success of the Ozzfest tours year after year — and Disturbed and other metal bands such as Staind getting airplay on Valley hard rock station KUPD (97.9 FM) as well as alternative rock station KEDJ (103.9 FM) — heavy metal is going through another revival after early-'90s grunge nearly knocked it out of the mainstream.
» READ MORE Updated January 12, 2006
Tempe's Loveblisters evoke lush orchestrations of baroque pop If one were to pigeonhole the Loveblisters — guitarists Rob Kroehler and Ryan Casey, keyboardists Jessica Stanley and Christian Martin, bassist Lou Kummerer and drummer Ethan Hillis — on their name alone, you'd think they were a hard-core punk outfit instead of a group that writes gorgeous “baroque pop,” a term the Tempe band just learned.
» READ MORE Updated January 5, 2006
Riopelle in the round When a relatively unknown singer/songwriter from L.A. stepped onstage to headline a 1975 New Year’s Eve bash at Phoenix’s Celebrity Theatre, otherwise known as "The Round," he had no way of knowing that it would become one of the Valley’s most treasured traditions.
» READ MORE Updated December 29, 2005
Riopelle in the round When Link Wray walked into a recording studio in 1958 and cut “Rumble” with a busted tube amp, the rockabilly guitarist unwittingly invented two things: Power chords and psychobilly. » READ MORE Updated December 22, 2005
Valley country-bluegrass combo the Nitpickers come together again A recent thread on a popular local music bulletin board asked readers which former Valley bands they'd like to see reunite. One voter pined for bluegrass-country greats the Nitpickers, who last played a show in the Valley in 2003.
» READ MORE Updated December 15, 2005
Hillgrass Bluebilly duo make a Valley scene for rockabilly and bluegrass When asked about the roots music scene in the Valley, the guys behind new concert promotion company Hillgrass Bluebilly Entertainment exchange puzzled looks.
“Huh?” laughs Ryan (last names are not used at Hillgrass Bluebilly, where everyone — the company and the bands they promote — is on a first-name basis). “Where's the roots at?”
» READ MORE Updated December 8, 2005
Scottsdale clubs host world-renowned DJs It's been nearly two years since the dance music died at Tempe's Club Freedom. But the pulsating house and hip-hop beats live on at Axis/Radius and Myst, which have picked up where the former all-ages club left off. Just as Freedom was famous for doing, the downtown Scottsdale clubs are showcasing world-class turntable talent.
» READ MORE Updated December 1, 2005
The Rolling Stones find fountain of youth at Glendale Arena Let the Geritol jokes, the Depends quips and the Metamucil gags stop right now. The members of The Rolling Stones may be eligible to join the AARP and would be welcome to buy a home in the retirement mecca of Sun City, but as a sold-out Glendale Arena crowd witnessed Sunday night, the self-proclaimed "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World" is gathering no moss as they head into their fifth decade together.
» READ MORE Updated November 28, 2005
Depeche Mode enliven their moody music at Glendale Arena Throughout their 25-year career, Britain’s Depeche Mode have been known for their dreary anthems — melodic yet morose songs with titles such as “Never Let Me Down Again” and “World Full of Nothing.”
» READ MORE Updated November 26, 2005
Sir Paul is all rock 'n' roll at Glendale Arena Seeing Paul McCartney play live is kind of like what it would have been like to see Shakespeare himself play King Lear — you've heard all of the lines before, you know them by heart, but there is something truly majestic about seeing their creator perform them.
» READ MORE Updated November 24, 2005
Keith Richards didn't invent the 'riff,' he just improved it From the moment Chuck Berry's “Maybelline” roared out of tinny radios in the mid-'50s, the best rock 'n' roll has been built on riffs, those catchy combinations of notes that announce a song's presence with authority. » READ MORE Updated November 24, 2005
Mesa's Jim Adkins keeps busy with Go Big Casino Jim Adkins has been on the road nearly nonstop since his band, Mesa's own Jimmy Eat World, exploded on a national level in 2001 with their self-titled, multiplatinum-selling disc.
» READ MORE Updated November 17, 2005
Marc Norman kicks his muse into overdrive Marc Norman knows he looks like Christopher Knight. The Tempe singer/songwriter is a dead ringer for the former “Brady Bunch” kid and current reality-TV boob, and he doesn't exactly discourage the mistaken identity. He was seen accepting compliments at a wedding in Malibu, Calif., recently, although he declined to discuss his “former acting career” with the guests assembled, citing a “difficult childhood” for not dishing on his fellow “Brady” kids.
» READ MORE Updated November 10, 2005
Local legends Flathead re-release "Old Stock," prepare for new album Since the early '90s, a maxim among bands in Tempe is: “Don't let Flathead open a show for you — they'll blow you off the stage.”
So when notorious Texas hillbilly swing crooner Wayne Hancock was overheard talking to Flathead frontman/guitarist Greg Swanholm in the parking lot of the Rhythm Room last August, he expressed the same concern.
» READ MORE Updated October 27, 2005
Nashville offers up kinder, gentler outlaws Waylon Jennings was a trailblazer. Sick of being under the thumb of Nashville and its long-standing credo that singers get absolutely no artistic control, Jennings left the home of the Grand Ole Opry in the early ’70s, hooked up with another ex-Nashville bad-ass, Willie Nelson, in Austin, Texas, performed for cowboys, bikers and hippies, then moved back to Nashville and demanded unprecedented artistic control.
» READ MORE Updated October 20, 2005
Roger Clyne introduces his own brand of tequila Jimmy Buffett has one. So does Sammy Hagar.
And now Tempe's Roger Clyne has his own brand of tequila.
“It's been a dream for a long time, like ‘Wow, wouldn't it be cool if?’” » READ MORE Updated October 13, 2005
Green Day goes all out for AWA crowd Ten years ago, Green Day was a punk/pop trio with a monster-selling album, “Dookie,” that was mostly bought up by disaffected youth enjoying punk rock's resurgence. » READ MORE Updated October 6, 2005
Let Go uses Apple gadget to flesh out live sound Ask any musician who's ever been in a band that's imploded what the cause of the bust-up was, and more often than not you'll get an answer — often peppered with profanity — of how somebody in the band was an (expletive). » READ MORE Updated October 6, 2005
DJ AM brings beats to Scottsdale for club show Getting DJ AM — otherwise known as the soon-to-be Mr. Nicole Richie — to talk about his famous fiancee is like pulling teeth.
“That I don't really talk about,'' he says, referring to the “Simple Life” star. “That's personal stuff. It has nothing to do with music.'' » READ MORE Updated October 6, 2005
Ryan Adams shifts creativity into overdrive If anything, you've got to give singer/songwriter Ryan Adams credit for his chutzpah.
He doesn't care if people buy his records. He couldn't care less if critics savage his records. He kicks people out of his concerts if they ask him to play songs by Bryan Adams, an '80s rock singer known for his hit “Summer of '69.” » READ MORE Updated October 6, 2005
Legendary John Mayall brings British blues to the MAC It is said, only somewhat sarcastically, that the only things Americans invented are skyscrapers and the blues. » READ MORE Updated September 29, 2005
Jeordie blazes her own trail despite famous musical mom When people say they've grown up in a “musical family,” it usually means their dad messed around with the guitar a little bit, or maybe that their mom sang and played piano once in a while.
» READ MORE Updated September 22, 2005
If George Jones sings it, he owns it In today's cookie-cutter world of country music stars (Movie star looks? Check. Cowboy hat? Check. Bulging muscles courtesy of a personal trainer? Check.) it's easy to lose track of the genre's living legends. » READ MORE Updated September 22, 2005
Piano-driven Tori Amos looks to the news for inspiration In a musical career in which she's become known for intensely personal lyrics in hits such as "Silent All These Years," singer/songwriter Tori Amos has taken to using the news as a muse.
» READ MORE Updated September 15, 2005
New generation discovers punk veterans Social D The latest Social Distortion CD, “Sex, Love and Rock ’n’ Roll,” comes eight years after the band’s previous studio album.
That 1996 release, “White Light, White Heat, White Trash,” arriving after the grunge scene had pushed alternative rock into the music mainstream, was portrayed as the best chance for this veteran punk band to enjoy a commercial breakthrough.
» READ MORE Updated September 15, 2005
Rich Hopkins looks back on 20 years of desert rock Labor Day weekend at Club Congress’ 20th anniversary bash in Tucson was like a high school reunion of sorts for some of the greatest bands in the Old Pueblo's storied rock history.
Rich Hopkins, one of Tucson rock's most famous sons, loved every minute of it. » READ MORE Updated September 15, 2005
Aural Fixations - Paul is not dead: McCartney’s ‘Chaos’ stirs Somewhere along the way, long after the demise of The Beatles and sometime after Wings, Paul McCartney lost it.
Lost it completely and totally. » READ MORE Updated September 15, 2005
32 leaves given a home for tough-to-define sound Not many high school bands ever graduate from the garage. Fewer still sign with a record label. Valley rockers 32 Leaves, featuring four members (out of five) who met as freshmen in high school, can boast that a label was created just for them. » READ MORE Updated September 1, 2005
John Fogerty helped make country cool for rockers In the late 1960s, country music was mostly relegated to the rough-and-tumble honky-tonks in what are now known as “red states,” and hippies — those bead-wearing denizens of love-ins — scoffed at the notion that country singers like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard could influence one of their own. » READ MORE Updated September 1, 2005
Rock legends Pop, Cooper never say die Two recently released discs this summer should have fans of primitive garage-punk reaching for the air guitar, as proto-punk legend Iggy Pop has a new career retrospective on shelves, and the Valley's own Alice Cooper has just released a collection of new songs. » READ MORE Updated August 25 2005
What is it about true love that seems to end in terrible music? Shakespeare wrote “If music be the food of love, play on!,” but for many high-profile artists over the years it's been more like, “If music be the food of love, make your worst records.” » READ MORE Updated August 18 2005
Metal mayhem is back in the Valley It has been 10 years since Ozzy Osbourne's brain trust (essentially his wife, Sharon) organized the first Ozzfest tour, amassing a slew of contemporary heavy-metal bands to tour with the aging rock icon in hopes of introducing young metal fans to the magic that is Ozzy. » READ MORE Updated August 18 2005
Valley favorite Heather Rae relocates to Austin It isn't exactly a line one would think would spawn a marriage and ultimately one of the best bands the Valley has seen in recent years, but it worked on Shannon Marino. » READ MORE Updated August 11 2005
Important moments in the evolution of surf music Hootie and the Blowfish
‘Looking for Lucky’ Listening to “Looking for Lucky” is like hearing Hootie and the Blowfish let out a collective sigh — it's the band's first album without Atlantic Records since 1994’s “Cracked Rear View.”
» READ MORE Updated August 11 2005
