When rap was coming into the national consciousness in the ’80s, there was a pretty lame joke going around that went something like “Did you hear about the guy who crossed country with rap? They call it crap.” It may have taken almost 30 years, but a former professional golfer…
Timothy B. Schmit always felt like “the new kid in town” in The Eagles, but that’s because he pretty much is. Schmit played on only one pre-reunion Eagles record, The Long Run, but he made his presence known with the stellar, blue-eyed soul number, “I Can’t Tell You Why.” He’s…
David Taylor, better known by his dance-floor-packing name Switch, comes to Phoenix packing serious credentials. He’s worked with M.I.A., Santigold, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé, not to mention crafting the dancehall/electro project Major Lazer with Diplo. The production duo’s debut, Guns Don’t Kill People . . . Lazers Do, indulged their…
Alt-country hero Dale Watson has a tune called “Nashville Rash,” in which he bemoans the pop crossover changes in Music City and sings “I’m too country now for country, just like Johnny Cash / Help me, Merle, I’m breakin’ out in a Nashville rash.” The condition has begun to afflict…
Meet Jon Tate. He’s from the future. Jon is a genius infatuated with robotics and a blond, buxom beauty named Sandy. He’s building an army of robots in hopes of ending a war that is gripping the world. It’s an army that eventually will turn on him, culminating in an…
Christmas music is weird stuff. Sure, grandmas like it, but for poor souls folks manning the boards at 99.9 KEZ FM, it’s less the music of holly jollies and more a nightmare of tunes played long before (and even a little after) Christmas. DJ Fresh, who’s spinning funky breaks as…
There ain’t many things the Valley that pack as much old school cool as the Furious Styles Crew, as the renowned b-boy troupe has been kickin’ around town since the heyday of gangsta rap back in the early ’90s. Ditto for Pete “Supermix” Salaz and Senbad, who are both widely…
Creative noisemakers Former Friends Of Young Americans are sprinting to the end of the year. They’ve been gigging extensively, with shows lined up this week and next month in the midst of their latest album, estas diluculo. You can stream the full album from the band’s website or download it…
Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly feature, Sound Off, in which Jason P. Woodbury is joined by a different guest each week to listen to and discuss three tracks from local Phoenix artists. If you would like your songs to be considered for future Sound Off columns, please…
It’s all about giving thanks for local music, which means local music lovers and Sail Inn regulars should definitely get in on this.What Laura Says, Gospel Claws, Banana Gun, The Smith Family Band, and Sister Cities will be performing. Get stoked!It’s all going down on Wednesday, November 23. Doors open…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. Since his solo debut, DC guitar whiz Tosin Abasi has enlisted the help of a second guitarist in Javier Reyes and drummer…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. Renowned for moving narcocorridos as quick as rounds through an AK-47, Las Korajudas Discoteca isn’t that much different from other Latin music…
Everlast is like Kid Rock for the indie set, a onetime rapper who’s embraced roots music and proved to be an evocative performer. His gruff baritone has been his calling card going back to his days in House of Pain, during which his admonition to “Jump Around” spoke to a…
Mark Sultan is an accomplished, unique songwriter, so it may seem wrong to reduce him to the more outrageous aspects of his persona. Unfortunately, we can’t help it. The man (who travels under such aliases as Von Needles and Blortz) wears both a turban and dashiki onstage; he has gone…
When did you first think Sting was a pompous twit? The love-me-I’m-tortured artistry of “King of Pain?” The way he sang “the bitter sting of tears” with a straight face on “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” The way he withheld new songs for a 1986 Police reunion, resulting only in…
Let’s face it. “Jamming” is little more than musician code for one great big circle jerk. Each player is just waiting for his solo, and that’s cool, because being at the center of the circle so totally rocks. But when a jam session turns into a “jam band,” it’s a…
Robert “Fun Bobby” Birmingham was a fixture behind the bar at Hollywood Alley for over a decade — a talkative, friendly dude with a serious musical yen for the bonkers rock music of Japanese rockers Melt Banana. He’s been booking the band for over 16 years — at places like…
Few things that were fresh and fly in 1993 are still cool these days, save for Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and the Phoenix’s Furious Styles Crew. The local b-boy collective has stuck around for almost two decades now and isn’t slowing down. You can catch the FSC busting out with…
This flier struck me as a mix between the album covers of Yellow Submarine by the Beatles and Kona Town by Pepper. If that doesn’t stand out, then nothing does. Sigma’s flier makes me excited to get down and rock out. It will certainly be a special evening since it’s…
Barney’s Boathouse’s move from University Drive to Old Town Scottsdale was wise. The bar is no longer walking distance from ASU, but it now attracts a chill Scottsdale clientele. Plus, the bar upgraded its small Tempe location to a massive three-story party. We checked out Barney’s new location on Friday,…
It never hurts to have sex appeal on your side, and The Sounds have the act down pat. The band’s new wave energy is sassy and sexy. It also helps to have Maja Ivarsson, the “Hottest Woman of Rock,” according to Blender magazine, around. (You can thank Sweden’s liberated ideas…
When you’re born with the surname Kongos, you’re destined to become a musician. Not just because it brings to mind the conga drum, but because it probably means you actually are related to a South African singer-songwriter, John Kongos. Father Kongos scored a hit with “He’s Gonna Step on You…
