The Musical Instrument Museum already boasts some cool rock ‘n’ roll relics, including an Eric Clapton guitar and John Lennon’s piano. But on Sunday, June 19, the museum will unveil perhaps its most iconic instrument yet: a 1975 Martin D28 acoustic guitar that belonged to Elvis Presley.Presley played the guitar…
You know your band is cool when indie folk hero Devendra Banhart “opens” for you at a house party. It was pretty exciting for local rockers The Tremulants, anyway, when they found themselves playing after Banhart in the basement of a Mesa home one Saturday night in early June. “I…
Forget whatever your ’80s metalhead friends say about the merits of Poison and Mötley Crüe — New York Dolls are the most important and influential band on this triple-header summer tour. The band, formed in 1971, pre-dates the formation of Poison by 12 years, and the Crüe by 10 years…
On hip-hop supergroup The Roots’ 2002 album, Phrenology, there’s a track called “WAOK (Ay) Roll Call,” wherein the band gives shout-outs to 230 of their favorite and most influential music artists, including Grandmaster Flash and Common. At the very end of this illustrious list, the track ends with the words…
Virtuoso Brian Carroll, better known as Buckethead, is an unheralded musical genius. Sure, it’s weird that he performs with a bucket on his head and a white costume mask as he assumes the role of a character who survived a “chicken holocaust,” but anyone who’s listened to his solo works…
The New York Dolls are widely considered one of the most influential bands in punk, glam, and hair metal. Mötley Crüe and Poison are among the dozens of acts that cite the Dolls as influences. Ironic, then, that the New York Dolls are opening for the Crüe and Poison this…
Swedish indie pop band Acid House Kings have garnered quite a bit of praise for their latest album, Music Sounds Better with You. Pitchfork called the twee pop quartet’s album “their strongest-sounding record,” and Pop Matters says “it’s nearly impossible to resist them.” But as they saying goes, “Imitation is…
Music and musicians have been around for centuries, and every day, new music news breaks. Every Monday, we’re going to take a look back at the notable music stories, births, and deaths that took place that week. Here’s “This Week in Music History” for June 13 through 19. June 13:…
Well, here we are again. It’s Monday morning, we’re all back at work (if we’re lucky), and we’ve got those beginning-of-the-week blues. Over the years, many songs have been written about the first day of the traditional work week. Here, we give you our list of the five best songs…
The 1993 film Six Degrees of Separation, about how everybody is ultimately connected to everybody else through somebody else, has spawned some spin-offs — most notably, the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” where the goal is to show how every movie star can somehow be connected to the Footloose…
Phoenix-based hip-hop group Cut Throat Logic has been on the proverbial grind longer than most local rap acts. Since 1996, CTL has tirelessly promoted their shows through street teams, fliers, merchandising, and networking — and it’s paid off. In addition to having shared stages with the likes of Wu-Tang Clan,…
Arizona’s own Jimmy Eat World have been added to the lineup for the X103.9 Arizona Fall Frenzy. Punk band blink-182 and indie duo Matt & Kim were already slated to play the Frenzy, as part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour.Jimmy Eat World will be touring for the next year…
The prince of parodies, “Weird” Al Yankovic, will be riffing on songs new and old tonight (Friday, June 10) in Chandler. With a career that spans more than 30 years and 150 songs (parodies and originals), it might be hard for Yankovic to whittle down his set list. If we…
Small towns and big boozers go together. If you don’t believe that, then you’ve probably never lived in a small town, where the most exciting thing to do is drink and gossip about how much of a drunkard everyone else in town is. The members of NYC pop-surf-punk band Jesus…
Local indie rock band Tremulants is kicking off their coastal tour in Phoenix next Friday, June 17. The band plans to bring their dreamy, psychedelic songs to several cities this summer, but first, they need gas for front man Marco Holt’s van.It might seem illogical for them to play a…
Arizona’s resident shock rocker, Alice Cooper, recently shared a very interesting story involving himself, Elvis Presley, Liza Minnelli, porn star Linda Lovelace, and a gun. Cooper told the U.K. paper Daily Mirror that in 1971, he went to visit Presley in his penthouse at a Las Vegas hotel, with Minelli and…
It might be easy for some people to dismiss “Weird Al” Yankovic as an ’80s relic/Dr. Demento rip-off — if it weren’t for the fact that since he started his comedic music career in 1976, he’s sold more than 12 million albums and performed more than a thousand live shows…
Valley metal band Hellen has always been an anomaly. In a genre dominated by men, Hellen founders (and sisters) Mindy and Desiree DuPonte raged as gutturally and viciously as any testosterone-filled metal band. With Desiree on guitar and Mindy on drums, the pair shared vocal duties (brutal grunts and operatic…
According to the Urban Dictionary, “rug burn” is defined as “A rash or red mark on one’s body caused by the friction of one’s skin rubbing on a carpet or rug” and “The razor burn you get after shaving your crotch.” Scottsdale’s latest dance event is also called Rugburn. And…
The New York Dolls’ new album, Dancing Backward in High Heels, comes out today, June 7. As one of the most influential acts in the punk and glam rock genres, the New York Dolls’ body of work mostly consists of gritty garage rock and glam punk songs — you know,…
Arizona Hopi reggae artist Casper Lomayesva is used to playing big gigs. In 2009, he was invited by legendary folk artist Pete Seeger to play Seeger’s 90th birthday party at Madison Square Garden (alongside the likes of Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, and Bruce Springsteen). He also headlined the Native Music…
Croatian cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, who record under the name 2Cellos, just released a video for their super-symphonic cover of Guns ‘N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.” If you’ve ever seen an Apocalyptica video, then you’ve seen guys headbanging while playing cellos. Sulic and Hauser do plenty of…
