Co-founded by Phoenix musicians Pandy Raye and Rhonda Hitchcock, the inaugural Chicks with Picks Music Fest — featuring Sedona-bred popster Michelle Branch, singer-songwriter (and Waylon Jennings’ widow) Jessi Colter, country newcomer Sarah Buxton, and 70 other female performers — will take place Saturday, March 21, at Tempe Beach Park. We…
There was a time when hearing a boyish and manicured voice like Conner Cecil’s alongside a willowy pedal steel wasn’t uncommon in country music. That time is long gone, though, and hearing Conner — a Globe native whose voice matches his cherubic face — on his debut EP, Conner, is…
THURSDAY 19 Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cherry Lounge: Scandalous Thursday with DJ Juan Rocha (house, electronica) Club Red: The Blunt Club with Tricky T, Pickster Uno, DJ Element, more (hip-hop) Copper State Tavern: DJ Kavi, & guests (hip-hop) Cream Stereo Lounge: Blush Thursdays (Top 40, hip-hop, mash-ups) Homme: So Paid!!!…
Not so long ago, Mill Avenue was the center of the universe for local bands trying to break into the music industry. Almost every band signed out of the Tempe scene in the ’90s made it via the conventional route, cutting their teeth in the nightclubs along the strip, winning…
Over the years, instrumental rock has earned a (mostly deserved) reputation for being self-indulgent, pretentious, and unnecessarily intricate. On their early albums and EPs, Chicago instru-metal quartet Pelican certainly fit that mold, crafting dense, multilayered songs that frequently exceeded the 10-minute mark. But their latest release, 2007’s City of Echoes,…
In a town struggling to hold onto indie cred by the hair of its collective chinny-chin-chin, a hometown concert of a successful indie rock band is like a big “HA!” to the rest of the country. Enter Tempe’s own musical underdogs, The Maine. Sure, their stylists seem to be part…
What is there not to like about Paul Wall? First of all, his name is an absolute blast to say — especially in his trademark Houston drawl. He always rocks his beloved grills, allowing the world to see that he has both fine taste in mouth jewelry and a big…
The Yucca Tap Room has long been a haven for local bands, but the venue rarely hosts national touring acts (we’re guessing that whole “never a cover” policy might have something to do with it). Thus, it will be a rarity when Los Angeles hardcore punk outfit The Bronx plays…
Local punks Johnny Volume and Tyler King are making like The Jeffersons. More specifically, they’re taking their long-running punk rock weekly, BANNED, and “movin’ on up” to Jugheads, 5110 East McDowell Road, starting on Thursday, March 19. The night debuted in late 2006 at Stray Cat Bar & Grill as…
The Valley saw green on March 17, 2009 as everyone and their blarney stones came out in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. PHX folks were Dublin their fun all night at bars and clubs across the Valley with green outfits, goofy-ass hats, and plenty of Guinness. We checked out the…
The music portion of SxSW starts today, but the interactive portion finished yesterday. One of the big stories out of interactive this past weekend was how ill-prepared AT&T was for the influx of iPhone-wielding hipsters and geeks descending on Austin. Tens of thousands of attendees are using their phones far more than…
Last month Neba, Underwater Getdown, Kinch, Black Carl, Kirkwood Dellinger, and Lisa Savidge all donated their time to the grassroots, DIY, volunteer-based, non-profit organization that is beginning to fill a void that Phoenicians so desperately crave. They call it Radio Phoenix, the only community-based radio station in town. Radio Phoenix’s…
Former Polyphonic Spree member Annie Clark, better known to the world as St. Vincent, will be bringing her fantastic brand of dark, melodic indie pop to the Valley this May. The former member of Sufjan Stevens’ band will release her new album, Actor, on May 5 as a follow-up to 2007’s remarkable…
Tomorrow is one of the biggest drinking/partying holidays of the year and definitely don’t wanna be unprepared. So if you’re looking for a place to suck down a little (or a lot) or green beer and sport a funky green hat, make sure to peep our exhaustive St. Patrick’s Day…
Not too many acts have as streaky a career as Nine Inch Nails. One tour they’re playing the Marquee, the next they’re headlining at Cricket Wireless Pavilion with Jane’s Addiction, as they will in May. The bands are joined by Tom Morello’s new band Street Sweeper. That show is just…
Beware the “Brides” of March Riding on the heels of December’s “Santarchy,” “The Brides of March,” is the latest whacky social gathering created by Arizona Cacophony Society, the same people responsible for the Idiotarod. Their goal: total inebriation while sporting dresses usually reserved only for days of matrimonial solidification…full story…
Former Poison frontman — and the pride of Mechanicsburg, PA — Bret Michaels is set to release a tell-all book this June. You heard correct, folks: Christmas is coming early this year. Roses and Thorns: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy to My Reality will prove to set itself apart from…
Last week I told you about a story in the Wall Street Journal about Artist approved scalping. Well over the weekend Trent Reznor of NIN posted in the NIN forum on his website a long explanation of the current situation from the perspective of some one in the middle of…
We consider ourselves to be seasoned SMoCA Nights attendees and we must say, this time around, the organizers really kicked it up a notch (click here for the slideshow). The night started out with a lovely live performance by Phoenix cooly-cool band, Back Ted N-Ted. The fashion show felt super…
My name is Benjamin Leatherman and I’m a former Shizzaholic. Back in 2004, local music message board The Shizz was practically the center of my universe. I used to regularly check the site several times a day to catch up on the most recent gossip and goings-on of the downtown…
Nearly two years after dissapearing from the Valley music scene, Mink Rebellion is staging a one-night reunion on Friday, March 20, at the Clubhouse Music Venue. The alt-rock/power-pop fivesome made something of a splash during 2005/2006, landing relatively high-profile gigs opening for Rooney and Dramarama, as well as getting shopped…
Girls Do What They Want Tempe kiddie rockers The Maine released a new video via their MySpace yesterday. The video shows the band, which is on the cover of this month’s Alternative Press, doing typical band stuff: hanging out on the tour bus, rocking, hanging out on the tour bus,…
