Sedona (Arizona)

Former Guns N' Roses Manager Launches Arizona Record Label

Usually people move from places like the middle of nowhere to big industry cities like New York and Los Angeles to find musical success, and stay there. Not the other way around. But for former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven and his wife Heather Vincent-Niven, finding solace in Arizona's godfors ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend in Phoenix

When people ask what kind of music I like, I'm tempted to say "Good music." I understand the need for musical terminology, but there's really too much good stuff to limit what you listen to. It's a lesson Zero Zero teaches well. Nicole Laurenne and Michael Johnny Walker have the garage rock thing lo ... More >>

Valley Fever's 12 Most Popular Arizona News Stories of 2012

It seems like every year there's one local story that defines the news more than others. Last year, it was the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson (which we got a horrific reminder of with the recent mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary). This year, as far as actual readership g ... More >>

Sedona Vortex Jumper Peter Gersten Wanders Home After Vortex Fails to Open

Sedona resident Peter Gersten was left high and dry last night after a vortex failed to open at the base of Bell Rock, the popular red rock hiking spot. Gersten had been planning to leap into the "portal" last night. Instead, he apparently wandered home in an anticlimactic ending to his Doomsday stu ... More >>

Peter Gersten's at Bell Rock, but Says He's Only Jumping if Vortex Opens

The man who has been planning on taking a "leap of faith" off Bell Rock in Sedona today is out there waiting for his "portal" to open, but it does not appear that he plans on blindly jumping off the tall rock.Despite the fact that Gersten previously acknowledged many people would think his December ... More >>

Lonely Planet Names Winecentric Verde Valley One of the Top 10 U.S. Travel Destinations for 2013

The Verde Valley -- encompassing Sedona, Jerome, Cottonwood, and Camp Verde -- is going to experience an influx of visitors in the next year because Lonely Planet just named the Arizona vacation spot as one of the Top 10 U.S. Travel Destinations for 2013. The big draw? Not only are the red rocks bea ... More >>

Five Bands to Catch at Apache Lake Music Festival

Apache Lake Music Festival has grown leaps and bounds since its launch in 2010. The festival now spans three days and features nearly twice as many bands as last year's installment, Arizona's beloved local music fest has continued to expand in size and scope in no time at all. See also: Phoenix Mus ... More >>

Maynard James Keenan: These Are The "End of Days"

See also: Maynard James Keenan: Up on the Sun's New Columnist See also: Maynard James Keenan (Puscifer, Tool, A Perfect Circle) on The Importance of Keeping It Local See also: Can Maynard James Keenan Put Arizona Wine on the Map? See also: New Film Queens of Country Has a Bizarre Vibe That Is Distin ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows This Week

Curious about what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend.

Five Must-See Shows This Weekend

Curious what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend.

75: Carl Seacat

From now 'til we publish the 2012 edition of Best of Phoenix, New Times and Chow Bella present 100 Tastemakers -- Valley residents who make the cut in our culinary scene. Some you'll know; for others, it'll be a first introduction (but likely not the last). While you're here, check out our 100 Creat ... More >>

Ten Favorite Arizona Summer Festivals and Adventures for Food, Wine, and Beer Lovers

Summer travel season is here -- so we've made you a list of food and drink adventures. It might be stretching it a bit to call them all day trips -- if you do attempt them, be sure to bring along a designated driver! Cheesemaking Class at The Fossil Creek Creamery, Pine -- Just north of Payson ( ... More >>

Arizona Medical-Marijuana Dispensary Applications Trickle In; 15 Submitted on First Day

The state opened the door for medical-marijuana dispensary applications yesterday, receiving 15 by the end of the day. Hopeful pot-shop owners will have until 5 p.m. on May 25 to submit the applications. Besides paying a $5,000 application fee, weed-trepeneurs must include a business plan and detai ... More >>

Uwe Boer of SunUp Brewing Co., the Jolliest Man in Brewing

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Brewing Down South with Barrio Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

What's with the Monkeys? An Interview with Nimbus Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Barrel-Aged Beers, Experimentation and Randamonium with Four Peaks Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Chow Bella Rides With Mother Road Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Chow Bella Hates on Fruit Beers With Lumberyard Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Chow Bella Prepares for the Coming Achocalypse with Prescott Brewing Company

Who hasn't wanted to spend a few minutes chatting up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight ... More >>

Chow Bella Chills Out in the Fridge at Papago Brewing Company

Who hasn't wanted to spend a few minutes chatting up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. The catch? We only got about three minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an ... More >>

The Century Club

Season Two of Check, Please! Premieres January 5

​Season two of Check, Please! Arizona on KPBS premieres at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 5 with Chef/Host Robert McGrath at the head of the table, once again. Read on for a sneak preview of some of the restaurants featured this season...

Carl Seacat Forages for Lobster Mushrooms

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/​We saw on Carl Seacat's Twitter feed (@SeacatGardens) that he was foraging for highly-prized, bright orange lobster mushrooms in Northern Arizona. We were so curious about his experience that we had to find out more. Seacat doesn't give away all his s ... More >>

James Reich of Sedona Hiking Adventures Sentenced to Jail and Probation for Illegal Guide Service

Image: www.sedonahikingadventures.comJames Reich, owner of Sedona Hiking Adventures, has been sentenced to two days in jail for running an illegal guide service on national forest lands.​ A Sedona-based hiking guide has been sentenced to two days in jail and is banned from national forests for ... More >>

Northern Arizona Brewery Tour; Escape the Heat with a Cold One

DesertDog @ Roadfood.com ​And now we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of August. There is no amount of ice cream, skinny cocktails, or boozy popsicles that will make the tail end of the Arizona summer bearable. Your best bet - grab a cooler and hit the road. Take a drive up to the ... More >>

The Elote Cafe Cookbook

​ Although he describes himself as an introvert, Jeff Smedstad has always been at ease when sharing his garnered wisdom of Mexican cuisine. At the original strip mall location of Los Sombreros in Scottsdale, a diner's question about ingredients could easily coax him out of the kitchen, and if a cu ... More >>

Double Visions

Rhonni Moffitt's Perfect Food Day

Rhonni Moffitt​Rhonni Moffitt describes her food philosophy in three words: It's all about fresh, local and creativity. She publishes Arizona Vines & Wines Magazine, an online and print mag about wine in Arizona with a special emphasis on the Arizona wine industry. She sits on Northern A ... More >>

Crystals and Fossils Worth Millions (and Sold for $1) Moved From Phoenix After Lawsuit Settlement; May be Auctioned

Image: The Panorama Prospector Richard Berger, shown here with a 500-pound pyrite cluster, sued Paradise Valley resident Gary Midzor last year after his mineral collection was moved to Phoenix. The lawsuit has been settled -- sort of. ​ An extraordinary collection of crystals and minerals a ... More >>

Five National Music Videos Shot in Arizona

Believe it or not, Arizona's a hot spot for shooting music videos -- and we don't just mean literally hot, but conceptually, too. I mean, where else could a pre-slutty Britney Spears pontificate on her virginity from a cliff top overlooking green waters or Paul McCartney pretend to be an unknown clu ... More >>

Phoenix Goddess Temple's "Sacred Sexuality" Is More Like New Age Prostitution

James Ray Death Lodge Trial: Jury Selection Under Way

​The manslaughter trial for "spiritual warrior"/snakeoil salesman James Arthur Ray, the Oprah-approved "self-help guru" charged with the deaths of three people in Sedona in 2009, is underway in a Yavapai County Courtroom, where prosecutors and Ray's attorneys are in the midst of jury selection ... More >>

Chocolate Festival at Chakra 4 Cafe

Carol Blonder Calio Confections​ We popped into Chakra 4 Café and Tea House Saturday to start off our Valentine weekend with a Chocolate Festival. Chocolate vendors Lisa Reinhardt, Wei of Chocolate, and Michelle Calio, Calio Confections were there to entice customers with their lines of or ... More >>

James Ray Trial: "Spiritual Warrior's" Attorneys Try to Keep Cult Expert From Testifying at Trial

Ray Stern​"Spiritual Warrior"/snake-oil salesman James Arthur Ray -- accused of manslaughter in the deaths of three participants in a 2009 sweat-lodge ceremony in Sedona -- doesn't want the jury in his upcoming trial to hear what two experts on cult behavior have to say about his "self- ... More >>

James Arthur Ray's Financial Status Not to Be Discussed at Sweat Lodge Trial, Judge Rules

​The Yavapai County Superior Court judge overseeing the manslaughter trial of snake-oil salesman James Arthur Ray ruled today that some important pieces of evidence may not be used by prosecutors during trial -- most notably, information about Ray's financial situation.Ray's probably lovin' Judge ... More >>

La Luz del Mundo: God May Not Live in a Material Church, But He's Building a Sweet Pad

James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Trial Vacated -- No New Date Set

​The trial for James Arthur Ray, the Oprah-approved "self-help" guru who organized a deadly sweat-lodge retreat in Sedona last year, won't begin on August 31, as originally scheduled.Court docs released yesterday show Ray's trial has been vacated and no new date has yet been set.The reason for the ... More >>

Flagstaff's Hullabaloo Will Have Bands, Costumes, Bikes and Hippies. LOTS of Hippies.

​Bad news, Phoenix: It will be 104 degrees today. If the heat is already starting to bother you, it's time to start planning weekend trips to the high country. July 10 is looking like a good day to drive up to Flagstaff for the Hullabaloo music festival. The name Hullabaloo makes it sound vaguely ... More >>

James Ray Subpoena Requests Quashed by Judge

"Spiritual warrior" James Arthur Ray​Requests made by "spiritual warrior" James Arthur Ray and his lawyers to subpoena emergency workers who responded to the Sedona sweat lodge that left three people dead and dozens injured, was quashed by a Yavapai County judge. Ray and his attorneys ... More >>

Arizona Republic's "Best Music Festival:" Now Accepting Nominations for Festivals that Did Not Actually Happen

​I really should stop beating on the Arizona Republic's "Reader's Choice" poll -- poorly conceived and executed though it may be. However, a reader just pointed out two other real gems in the "best annual music festival or event" category.Go down this list and pick out which two festivals didn't a ... More >>

James Ray Hit With New Lawsuits; This Time For Not Providing "Self-Help"

​The hits just keep coming for "spiritual warrior" James Arthur Ray, the snake oil salesman charged in the deaths of three people at a sweat lodge ceremony in Sedona last October.Lawsuits filed in Maricopa County Superior Court claim that Ray mislead people into paying for "self-help" events in ad ... More >>

Sedona Sweat Lodge Tragedy Autopsies Released; Heat Stroke and Organ Failure Were Culprits

​ Autopsy results were released in the cases of the three people who died during a sweat-lodge- ceremony-gone-wrong in Sedona last October, and if you guessed heat stroke or multi-system organ failure as causes of death, you win!The autopsies conclude that two of the three victims died as ... More >>

Mago Sculpture Dismantled, Rolling Stone Article Blasts Dahn Yoga as Cult

Even if she's in a cult, at least she's not a redneck...Between a cult and the Cottonwood rednecks, whom do I chose? That's the conundrum I'm left with at the news that the Mago "Mother Earth" statue has been dismantled. That's to the delight of bigots in Cottonwood, Arizona, who decried the 39 foot ... More >>

Court Docs: Sedona Sweat Lodge Not the First Time People Have Been Injured at James Ray Event

​Documents released yesterday by a Yavapai County judge indicate that the October deaths of three people at James Arthur Ray's "Spiritual Warrior" sweat tent debacle in Sedona was not the first time someone was injured while following Ray towards, um, spiritual enlightenment. More than t ... More >>

Hot Links: APS Rates, Joe Shirley, and the Postal Service

​The Arizona Corporation Commission will vote today on a possible rate hike for Arizona Power Systems (APS) customers. The proposed increase would raise customers' rates by an average of more than $6 a month. An administrative-law judge has already recommended approval of the rate hike...A judge i ... More >>

Sweat Lodge Survivor Files Lawsuit; Claims Ray Barred Escape Before She Passed Out

www.successisascience.com​A survivor of the "Spiritual Warrior" sweat lodge retreat has filed a lawsuit against the organizer of the event, self-help guru James Arthur Ray.The suit, which was filed on October 30, came a day after the family of one of the three people who died filed a similar suit ... More >>

Location, Location, Location

Deadline, deadline, deadline

Belle du Jour

Songstress Michelle Branch enjoys the spoils of success

Into the Mouths of Babes

How graying scribes are turning teen pop ballads into songs of experience