ZZ Top formed in 1969, a rough and tumble blues band forming amongst the gritty backdrop of Houston’s oil greed and NASA’s continuing space race. But it was the summer of 1974 in the community of Friendswood–a small town then, a thriving Houston suburb now–that my curiosity with ZZ Top…
If it doesn’t make sense that Arizonans should be exploiting solar energy, then perhaps you’ve been in the sun too long. Given the Valley’s long cloudless days of summer and continued sunshine-y intensity throughout the year, it does seem surprising there isn’t more solar energy collection around. But it’s not…
Booker T.MIM Music TheaterOctober 3, 2013 Heading to the Musical Instrument Museum to see Booker T. Jones, I–and probably many other concert goers–expected a soul revival. Instead, the sold-out audience was treated to a rock and roll show. To be fair, the bulk of the nearly two-hour long concert from…
Roger McGuinn has had a somewhat storied career that’s moved from folk to rock to country and back. A founding member of the seminal psychedelic band The Byrds, McGuinn’s career actually began in folk bands, notably The Chad Mitchell Trio and The Limelighters, along with a stint as guitarist in…
It’s hard to imagine there would be much interest in Arizona Fall League Baseball, given that the Major League Baseball playoffs are currently underway. Yet, considering that the Diamondbacks aren’t in the show, this is the next best thing for local baseball fans. Besides, the league is loaded with talent…
It may only be the first game of the hockey season for the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers, but both teams enter the rink with chips upon their shoulder. The Coyotes are poised to make up for a disappointing 2012-2013 season. The team finished two games behind archrival Los…
There’s no point in asking Roger McGuinn if “Eight Miles High” is a drug song. The band claimed at the time it was about flying to an unfriendly London for a tour, but the intent seems obvious, and fellow Byrds Gene Clark and David Crosby eventually supported the allegations. Whatever…
The brightly painted flowers and daring landscapes of American modernist artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) are well known. Less-known is O’Keeffe’s fascination with katsina dolls (carved and painted portrayals of Pueblo and Hopi spirit beings, frequently called kachinas), which she studied and “interpreted” beginning with summering stints in New Mexico in…
If anyone has an argument against a beer celebration, too late: Oktoberfest is here. The traditionally German event celebrates the fall harvest — beer specifically — with a 16-day festival honoring this fine beverage. In the United States, the celebrations are shorter-lived, but no less a good time. The Fountain…
Vegetarians, you don’t want to know what the future of food production looks like if it’s anything similar to the eats seen in the Charlton Heston police/sci-fi thriller Soylent Green. The 1973 Saturn Award-winning film finds Heston in 2020 and the planet suffering global warming and over-population. Food is in…
Sometimes size does matter. Certainly, that’s the case with Kevin Caron’s sculptures, ranging from palm-sized to monumental. With “Micro/Macro: The Sculptural Art of Kevin Caron,” it’s all in the eye of the viewer. He says via press release: “Some people look at my sculptures and see a universe, while others…
Traditional Arabic music employs a diverse array of instruments, including violin, oud, Riq, Ney and Quanun. The music, while often considered “off” to western ears, is highly emotional, moving and hypnotic. There are modern adaptations as well, focusing on a more danceable form presented via keyboards. This is how the…
Black SabbathUS Airways CenterAugust 30, 2013 (View the complete slideshow.)There were more devil horns on display at Black Sabbath’s concert Friday night than at an ASU football game. That’s not surprising, however, given the band’s affinity for dark lyrics, occult-like imagery and satanic references. What was surprising was the great…
After a lengthy absence–33 years–Black Sabbath have returned with 13. And unbelievably, this is your grandmother’s Black Sabbath. Eschewing a turbulent history that left the band frequently in musical flux and misdirection –particularly those middle years–today’s Sabbath, complete again with the exception of drummer Bill Ward, comes to us straight…
Everyone has played video games at least once — be it old school Pong or Ms. PacMan, the über-popular Angry Birds or Call of Duty. Somehow, no one is immune to the allure of playing. But what of the people behind the scenes, the makers, distributors, and visionaries of these…
One doesn’t need night-vision goggles to enjoy an evening tour of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, but it would probably add a cool affect. The 90-minute tour is pretty darn cool anyway, offering a unique look at Wright’s masterpiece home as highlighted by angled and jutting shadows and…
When Black Sabbath broke onto the music scene in 1969, no one was playing music with such heavy intent and darkness. Prior to figuring out their sound, the band was your average jazzy-blues-rock outfit. It was a popular musical form at the time in England, yet, there was just too…
Wildly psychedelic, stylishly dressed, always uplifting in spirit (so much that some considered them just another wayward Texas cult), The Polyphonic Spree has kept a relatively low profile lately. The band has been holed up in leader Tim DeLaughter’s home studio jamming the night away — but the pop-psych veterans…
Wildly psychedelic, stylishly dressed, always uplifting in spirit (so much that some considered them just another wayward Texas cult), The Polyphonic Spree has kept a relatively low profile lately. The band has been holed up in leader Tim DeLaughter’s home studio jamming the night away — but the pop-psych veterans…
This summer, I took a trip of epic proportions, leaving the hot, sweltering desert for the cool, mosquito-filled vastness of Alaska and points north. I saw amazing sights — bears, whales, glaciers, rain forests, and rivers two miles wide — before school forced my return to this urban existence. All…
Touring for any musician can be a difficult challenge. That challenge is multiplied for singer-songwriter Poeina Suddarth. Currently on her Trains, Planes and Automobiles tour supporting Poeina, she relies on the ridesharing kindness of fans, strangers and truckers to get her from gig to gig since her van broke down…
It’s best not to confuse Billy Joe Shaver with Billy Ray Cyrus. It’s unlikely Shaver would ever sing anything as maudlin as “Achy Breaky Heart,” for one thing. He probably won’t sing anything as popular, either; Shaver falls in with that long line of acclaimed but underappreciated West Texas outlaw…
