Granola-rific folk siren Joanna Newsom is one of indie music’s few commercially successful singer-harpists. “Few” in this case being interchangeable with “otherwise nonexistent.” The California-bred performer fell in love with the instrument at age 4 and never looked back. (Okay, yes, she briefly dated an oboe in high school and…
A Perfect Circle doesn’t have a new record to support, but that hasn’t stopped the supergroup (featuring Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Billy Howerdel) from selling out all 15 of its dates in a five-city, West Coast tour. Sure, the venues are on the small side, but it’s still…
The decision regarding how to present songs in recorded form can be a tricky one for some bands. That’s especially true for acts like Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, a Indiana chamber-pop band that can’t even decide what to put on its records. Margot and Co. had a…
Elton John has been a superstar for decades. His latest collaborator, Leon Russell, on the other hand, has been something of an obscurity for most of his 40-something-year career, which started as a session musician and featured one semi-hit album, 1972’s Carney, and a few other charting records before his…
Spanish electronic rockers Delorean have to be feeling pretty good about their name right now. With the recent re-release of Robert Zemeckis’ brilliant Back to the Future trilogy, the public’s odd fascination with the car that made time travel possible — and possibly fueled by the pure Colombian cocaine smuggled…
There was plenty of after-hours activity taking place across the Valley over Halloween weekend, including plenty of freaky late-night fetes and fiestas that went down past the midnight hour. Over at Afterlife in Scottsdale, costumed craziness was ensuing during the club’s Seven Sexy Sins Bash.Over the course of the evening (and…
In a recently taped interview with Matt Lauer, George W. Bush claimed that Kanye West’s candid outburst on the September 2, 2005 Concert for Hurricane Relief telethon — “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” — was the “worst moment” of his presidency. The worst. Bush has a new book, Decision…
Tennessee pop rockers Kings of Leon were what people wanted most this week at Zia Records Chandler.Indie hipsters Steel Train’s self-titled album from earlier this year was a hot item. The album Lil Wayne wrote from prison was in pretty high demand as well. The latest release from the hardcore…
Foxy Shazam front man Eric Nally made a very interesting point about the private lives of rock stars when I spoke to him last week. He brought up the factor of their ambiguity and how they were considered to be characters that all their fans wanted to know everything about…
Thank gosh Katy Perry chose to release something meaningful for her third single, not just a song about Daisy Dukes or losing your virginity. No, her current single, “Firework,” is a very inspirational track that her fans really need to hear. It’s a song all about believing in yourself and…
Title: Children of FortuneBasics: More shitty pop punk? No. Some countrified rock about fictional outlaws? No sir. Then what, pray tell, exactly is Nowhere Man And A Whiskey Girl? Just some super mellow, twangy folk music. Derrick and Amy Ross comprise the duo — she sings and plays piano while…
Get in the Halloween spirit by taking a gander at this flier for The Creepy Crawl Ball this Sunday, October 31 at The Underground at in Mesa.The poster depicts a giant Frankenstein trying to capture a very scared woman, giving viewers a spooky taste of what to expect at the…
It’s always been easy to mistake Gov’t Mule for a travel-size version of the Allman Brothers Band. Formed in 1994 by ABB regulars Warren Haynes and Allen Woody, Gov’t Mule featured some of the same personnel as its larger, more famous cousin and hails from the same Southern blues-rock sound…
Kid Rock described Lady Antebellum as a “hillbilly Fleetwood Mac, except I suspect they don’t do drugs or sleep with each other.” Hmm? Like a lot of today’s country stars, Lady Antebellum traffics in heartache. But aside from the lyrics, there is little to suggest the band is hurting in…
Lynyrd Skynyrd has endured a lot in their nearly 45 years of existence — withstanding allegations of racism over “Sweet Home Alabama,” the 1977 plane crash that claimed the life of three band members (including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant), their song “Free Bird” becoming a ubiquitous gag during encores…
Remember MySpace? It was this ugly website where kids went to reveal too much about themselves, sometimes in musical form, occasionally in a way that sprouted into a career. Harmony Tour co-headliners The Maine and Never Shout Never — the former Tempe-based, the latter the professional handle of 20-year-old Missouri…
When a band has a quick and steep rise to success — and doesn’t come from a town with much indie cred (read: New York or L.A.) — it appears to easily let go of its hometown as an important aspect of its identity. Phoenix is lucky that Jimmy Eat…
Apparently Boston’s in Tempe isn’t just for gourmet pizza anymore. Black Eyed Saint clothing took over the sports bar/pizzeria Friday night for its Evil Ball/fashion show/hot rod and bike show and New Times was there to chew bubblegum and kick ass. Feast your eyes on our slideshow…
A 10″ record of “Coming to the Mountain” by Bruce Haack topped the chart at Eastside Records this week.Music lovers were also really into buying albums that mention rabbits. TunaBunny’s self-titled album slipped into the mix, and No Bunny’s “First Blood” LP did as well.The unique audio graphic novel by…
Chris BrownLet’s just get this out of the way: Chris Brown is in no way unexcused for his violent behavior toward Rihanna. Domestic abuse is wrong, plain and simple.That being said: Brown’s latest single, “Deuces,” is a hot track. Who knows if he is talking about Rihanna in the song,…
Artist: Shane HuntTitle: Another Awkward Silence Between Friends EPBasics: I’ll admit that I chuckled upon seeing the name of this particular EP. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s perhaps one of the most ingenious, cleverly-titled EPs I have received thus far, so bonus points for making me smile,…
Lindsay TripodisField Trip at The Rogue BarNo, this isn’t a flier for the latest Star Trek convention.Rather, this eye-catching poster advertises one of the most eclectic live shows you can sink your teeth into this weekend. That’s because there are all types of genres represented at the concert, from indie,…
