About an hour into the conversation, Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins finally slumps back into his seat and lets out a long, deep sigh. “You can’t take this shit seriously, man — especially if you’re in the middle of it. You can’t take any of it seriously. I mean…..
Utter the words “public access” and you’ll probably elicit little more than a comical wince from most people; the very term conjures up images of a wasteland of low- and no-budget television programming. Admittedly, the bulk of public access fare usually falls into two categories: kids-with-cameras goof fests (à la…
Thankfully, the extended legal tussle that took place between the Honeydogs’ former label, Mercury, and their new imprint, Palm, didn’t claim this album as a victim, thus robbing us of a dark masterpiece and 2001’s first truly noteworthy record. Tellingly, the group — which recorded some 18 songs during the…
Another year, another local music extravaganza, another Sunday afternoon gauntlet to run. But there was something different about New Times’ 2001 music showcase, the sixth annual version. There was a definite sense that we’d really made it. Sure, we’ve always had good attendance and rabid participation, but something was special…
After an eight-year run, local pop-punks Pollen are calling it quits. The group announced its imminent demise from the stage this past weekend, confirming rumors that had been circulating for several weeks. The band — which relocated from Pittsburgh to the Valley in 1994 — has seen its star on…
It’s 10 o’clock, the television is on Channel 3 and the NewShow is on, but something is wrong, very wrong. There’s no dancing letters, no familiar theme song, and — gasp! — co-anchor Liz Habib is sitting down. Welcome to the new NewShow. KTVK-TV Channel 3’s nightly broadcast — which…
Rock ‘n’ roll has given Bob Pollard a lot — certainly more than any fourth-grade teacher who decides to become a full-time musician at the age of 37 can expect. As leader of cult combo Guided By Voices, Pollard has earned a modicum of financial security, loads of critical praise…
It’s a cold Thursday evening in early February, right in the heart of what’s been an unremittingly bleak — at least by Valley standards — winter season. As the bark of a dog guarding a nearby scrap yard echoes faintly in the night, I find myself sitting in a car…
Alas, we must begin this year’s South by Southwest music festival recap on a down note. For, you see, SXSW 2001 was something of a disappointment — or least as much of a “disappointment” as you care to call a week’s worth of company-sponsored boozing. It’s hard to find a…
Local promoter (and self-proclaimed “Independent Rock Martyr”) Rob “Fun Bobby” Birmingham has announced details for the first annual Fun Bobby Festival. The three-day event, held at Mesa’s Hollywood Alley, will showcase some top local acts as well as a bevy of rawk and punk bands on their way to the…
Even in an era marked by its frequency for highly touted busts — the Supremes reunion, Speed 2, the Steven Tyler/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl dance-off — it’s still a disappointment when a band fails to live up to its hype. Even more disheartening are those instances when a group can’t…
In previous installments of this column, we’ve sufficiently covered the mail part of our equation — how the music written and recorded by you good people out there arrives at our doorstep. We’ve discussed in excruciating detail the advantages of certain kinds of corrugated mailers and explained how your parcels…
The Gourds’ Kevin Russell is singing in a rich, backwoods holler. Over the light pluck of a mandolin, a voice rises, sounding as if it were picked up off of Highway 61 — somewhere between Bill Monroe’s blue Kentucky home and Levon Helm’s Arkansas shack. But as evocative as Russell’s…
Gloritone drummer Scott Hessel is an avid sports fan. A regular at Phoenix Suns games and an avowed ESPN junkie, Hessel is familiar with the old notion of “taking one for the team.” And it’s fortunate, because that’s exactly what the trapsman did last Friday during an unbelievably outlandish appearance…
Sunday afternoon and the smell of pomade is heavy in the room. Such an air is to be expected when there are 40 or so rockabilly types packing a sweltering Cannery Row, whooping, hollering and generally acting about as rowdy as the bug-eyed XFL fans mugging on the TV screens…
After nearly 18 months of anticipation, setbacks and delays, Valley music aficionados and compophiles are finally hailing the release of the local music sampler Not One Light Red. The disc is a joint venture between Modified impresario Scott Tennent’s fledgling This Argonaut label and Before Braille singer Dave Jensen’s Sunset…
Of the many acts swept up in the mid-’90s’ record company signing frenzy that hit Phoenix, few stayed very long in the major-label fold. Of those, only the Phunk Junkeez, inked to Interscope in 1995, are still standing with contract intact. This week, the rap-rock pioneers return with the release…
When the idea was first hatched, no one could’ve imagined that this week’s Scotti-Stock concert — a local music extravaganza to benefit Piersons/Beat Angels bassist Scott Moore, who was involved in a near-fatal traffic accident last October — would have taken on such a profound meaning. Relying heavily on the…
It’s nearly midnight on New Year’s Eve, and the Arizona Roadhouse and Brewery is packed. The place is filled with revelers and roots music courtesy of the Rustic Record label and its cohorts: the Trophy Husbands, Heather Rae and the Moonshine Boys, Nitpickers, Grave Danger, Mark Insley, Chicken. As the…
It was a couple months back that a musician flagged us down at a club with his band’s new CD in one hand and a list of gripes in the other. Specifically, this aspiring Valley talent was bitching about how we do things here at the Mail or Muse Department…
The last few months of 2000 have proven fruitful for Valley music. With a series of high-profile CD releases and promising debuts from a number of new bands, the scene seems to have escaped the typical year-end doldrums. But it’s also been a bittersweet time, the winter air heavy with…
The living room of Jamal Ruhe’s downtown Tempe home is a mess. The small quarters are cluttered with amplifiers, cables and instruments of every variety and size. Amid this labyrinth, it’s nearly impossible to find a place to sit down. The only unoccupied seat, it turns out, is behind the…
