Rocket Men

Mondays are quite the bitch. Not only are there four gruelingly tortuous workdays ahead of you, but there’s nothing but summer reruns on the tube, to boot. Since you’re probably gonna be feeling the blues, you might as well listen to ´em, too -- namely, those blasted out by Bill...

By Benjamin Leatherman

May 25, 2006

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Mondays are quite the bitch. Not only are there four gruelingly tortuous workdays ahead of you, but there’s nothing but summer reruns on the tube, to boot. Since you’re probably gonna be feeling the blues, you might as well listen to ´em, too -- namely, those blasted out by Bill Tarsha & The Rocket 88s during the Monday Night Celebrity Jam. This open jam, featuring guest appearances by local and national blues giants, occurs most Mondays (except when there’s a big concert going down). “Over the past two years, we’ve gotten artists like Chico Chism, Pete Pearson, and, uh, a bunch of others I can’t think of at the moment,” says Rocket 88s guitarist Dave Forster. While his memory is shaky on whom the band’s jammed with over the years, Forster’s positive that the set list will include original tunes and such standards as Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” and Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago,” as well as all of the different flavors of blues -- from Delta to Chi-town.
Mondays, 8 p.m., 2007

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Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music, and nightlife. He began writing for New Times in 2003 and joined the staff full-time in 2005. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Benjamin Leatherman

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