Claiming blues legend Muddy Waters as a teacher is something few musicians can do with a straight face. “Steady Rollin” Bob Margolin is one such musician. Already showing promise as an upstart blues musician following a short-lived foray into the psychedelic rock world with Boston’s Freeborne (the band’s lone album…
As the holidays roll around there are two types of attitudes: joy unto others, or bah humbug. Charles Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol offers up a little of both in the timeless stifling of one man’s uncaring greed — namely Ebenezer Scrooge — for a happy turnabout ending following…
P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” He used this ideology to his advantage, building the circus concept out of sideshow hucksters, strongmen, and bearded ladies. High-wire artists, clowns, contortionists, and fire breathers are staples of circus life. It’s that life that is the focus of Bertil Nilsson’s…
Jerry Joseph, songwriter/guitarist/bandleader with the Jackmormons, is an artist who’s consistently fallen just shy of major success. His various bands — Little Women and Stockholm Syndrome (a supergroup including percussionist Wally Ingram and members of Widespread Panic) — have flirted with stardom, but the door opened only wide enough for…
Never mind that the now-Arizona Coyotes are holding down sixth place in the Pacific Division, 10 points behind frontrunner Anaheim Ducks, who were recently defeated by Arizona in a shootout. Almost every hockey team makes the playoffs now anyway. Still, there’s plenty of time for AZ to make a strong…
Everyone loves chocolate–some more than others. Les Claypool, the mad genius behind Primus has taken his love of chocolate and churned it into a new album, Primus and the Chocolate Factory. Inspired as a child by the Gene Wilder cinematic portrayal of Roald Dahl’s book, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate…
It’s official! Hot Buttered Rum, a five-piece bluegrass band from San Francisco (of all places!), is now more popular than the après-ski cocktail of the same name. At least, the group finally shows up above the drink in Google searches. “We’ve arrived!” guitarist Nat Keefe says with a laugh from…
Adrian Belew, a man widely considered one of the most innovative guitar players of the 21st century, once toiled in a Beatles cover band, an Elvis impersonator band, a Holiday Inn circuit band, and many other aborted failures. Before he was even 30, Belew was on the verge of throwing…
Arizona’s recent cold snap is enough to drive winter chills down the spine. So why not go somewhere tropical — such as Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea? Easier done than said, at least when one considers the National Geographic Live series. Coral, Fire and Ice begins in this remote corner…
Far Side comic author Gary Larson once confessed that his “Cow Tools” drawing caused the most consternation among the public as readers were unable to decipher the exact meaning of the cartoon showing a cow standing in front a row or strange looking “tools.” Why all the fuss? Larson never…
The Pac-12 women’s soccer desert rivalry continues when the University of Arizona travels north to Tempe for an afternoon game against ASU’s soccer team. Both teams sport near identical conference records, with Arizona holding a slight overall edge. A win would move ASU past the in-state foe, but still would…
The story is not altogether unfamiliar: A couple guys get together to play music, tour the folk festival circuit and have a little fun. Suddenly, the duo becomes a full band, a song gets significant radio attention, and record labels come knocking. That’s part of the back-story for Canadian bluesy…
Dictionary.com defines “residue” as “something that remains after a part is removed, disposed of, or used; remainder; rest; remnant.” Mikey Estes and Kevin Moore explore this definition with “Residue,” an art exhibition which “builds upon the concept of the residual as a surplus substance caught in a state of limbo…
Why it has taken so long for Phoenix to unleash a Beer & Bacon Festival is beyond reason. This is, simply put, a gathering celebrating two of mankind’s greatest culinary delights. Unlike most festivals that feature limited samples, this event, hosted by The Wigwam and the Arizona Pork Council, offers…
It took Melvins frontman Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne five minutes and 12 seconds to begin his usual tirade against the media that cover music. The last time we spoke, almost 10 years ago, he waited nearly seven minutes. Clearly, Osborne has even less time for the media — his mile-a-minute…
Medea was a Greek mythological figure who avenged her husband’s betrayal by slaying their children. The story of La Llorona is that of a weeping woman who drowns her children in order to be with the man she loves, but later must wander, weeping, for all eternity. Coatlicue is the…
Forget about the Night of the Living Dead movie and all its sequels when you can catch the foot-dragging, skin-dangling, eyes-rolling, brain-eating, moaning, and groaning good time live, uh, dead, on stage at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts.Back-story: A satellite returns from Venus carrying a deadly radioactivity that…
Might seem crazy, but a traditional Oktoberfest celebration begins in late September and lasts no less than 16 days. However, a single Tempe weekend in October will nicely serve the purpose of quaffing down the large quantities of beer for which the event is renowned.The tradition dates back to 1810…
Popular conjecture claims that Black Joe Lewis started playing guitar simply to annoy his redneck co-worker at an Austin, Texas pawnshop. That’s partially true — he did purchase his first guitar there and played it in his down time — but Lewis, seeing his friends in bands, had elected to…
The burning question has always been: What would Jimi Hendrix be doing now if he were still alive? Shortly before passing away at age 27, Hendrix was considering a move away from rock ‘n’ roll psychedelia to explore aspects of jazz and blues. He’d frequently been jamming with progressive jazz…
Remember that Guatemalan sweater you wore to that Phish concert? Or that hand-woven tapestry hanging in the living room? Wool, cotton, or some other textile— those original fibers were once devoid of color. “chromoFEELia” explores the interdependence of color and fiber art. Fiber artist begin project, like a painter, with…
Numerous reasons keep Tour de Fat, presented by Colorado’s New Belgium Brewery (the epitome of bike-loving, brew-making goodness) coming back to Tempe. First and foremost, Tempe — and by extension much of the Valley — is a bike loving town, home to State Bicycle and offering some kazillion miles of…
