The Phoenix Rock Lottery is happening on Saturday, January 17, which means we are only days away from draft day. On Saturday morning, 25 of Phoenix’s finest musicians will convene at Crescent Ballroom and be randomly placed into a five-piece band. Then they will spend the day writing three original…
Death metal bands that have been able to permeate the metal industry up from the core of the underground scene are few between. But a band that has been able to do that consistently for a quarter of a century, and still not view their artistry as a “job,” well…
The biggest impression a band leaves usually comes from the lead singer. After all, we all (well, most of us) speak English, but we don’t all play music. So understanding and connecting with lyrics and the expressive range of the human voice is usually the easiest thing for a musical…
The music world is abuzz with Wu-Tang Clan’s announcement yesterday that the single copy of the group’s double-album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, will be sold, like a Rembrandt or a Rothko, at auction sometime this year. It’s a lavish production. The album comes “presented in a hand carved…
The garage rock wave is definitely coming into Phoenix, as yet another local lo-fi act, Soft Deadlines, prepares to release its new album, Critic, on 56th Street Records. But Soft Deadlines isn’t making the same sound as the Rubber Brother crowd — it brings a more shoegaze feel to its…
It is not every day an international music legend gets a second chance at making a first impression on the ever-changing landscape of popular music. And yet for Dave Wakeling, that is precisely what he is getting in 2015. After three decades, The English Beat is releasing a new album…
Poet, rapper, hip-hop artist, educator, activist, and community leader are but a few of the titles that define Phoenix resident Myrlin Hepworth, who got his start doing slam poetry on Mill Avenue while simultaneously studying English at Arizona State University. As Hepworth sees it, it was something of a double…
From now on, when someone asks you what the day in the middle of the week is, no longer need you say, “err, hump day.” Now you can say “It’s Heritage Hump Day!” That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big…
Keith Richards, in his autobiography, Life, claims to remember everything from his lengthy musical career. Clearly, there’s some embellishment. Kim Simmonds, who’s been playing music approximately the same length of time, and has fronted British blues rock heavyweights Savoy Brown for almost as long as Richards has led the Rolling…
Few R&B vocal groups command as much respect as the O’Jays, inducted in both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Eddie Levert attributes the group’s longevity and why everyone from Don Cornelius to Donald Trump has licensed their…
The Maine announced their “American Candy” tour today, which will kick off with a date at the Marquee Theatre on April 3. Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, and The Technicolors will open for the Tempe-born band…
Korbe Canida was always that loud, obnoxious girl who constantly was singing and who thrived in a musical theater setting, eventually making her way to the K-12 Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics. She says her animated nature led to her being bullied as a kid. Now, she is modest…
Kaye Bohler will perform at the Rhythm Room on Tuesday, January 6, to push her new CD, Handle the Curves. She has a wonderful voice. People have compared her Turner because of her high-energy, in-your-face performance style that draws the audience in. Bohler remembers watching Turner when she was 10…
If you happened to check out the entire list of nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards that were announced yesterday, you might have spotted a familiar name about halfway through — especially if you’re familiar with the old school DJ scene in the Valley. House music turntablist Eddie Amador, a…
The year 2014 ended with a hell of a heavy metal season, with shows like Yucca Tap Room’s “Not So Silent Night” ushering in the New Year — but unlike the insane holiday spending and the snowbird-thick traffic pace, the show calendar isn’t slowing down any time soon. I’m aware…
Anti-Flag, one of the nation’s most prominent political punk bands, is playing in the Valley on Sunday, January 4, but it’s far from an ordinary show. The concert will be one of a handful of tour dates in which the band plays their 2003 release, The Terror State, in its…
December was what you might call a busy month, and not just because of all the holiday hullabaloo. Granted, there was plenty of that happening, but it was just one of many things we had on our to-do list over the last 31 days or so. Between celebrating the season…
Everyone needs some good resolutions to uphold in 2015, right? Thankfully, we’ve got you covered, at least for Phoenix’s music scene. You can worry about exercising and giving up cigarettes another time, here are 11 resolutions for the Phoenix music scene in 2015…
12/31/2014, 11 a.m.: This article has been updated and expanded from its original version. We at New Times were saddened to hear of yesterday’s passing of our columnist and friend, Steve Wiley. Steve might be best known for his years as the co-owner of Hoodlums Music and Movies, which helped…
Detroit’s Motown Records had “Hitsville U.S.A.,” an office and recording studio that housed the songwriters and musicians who birthed a sound that spoke to the soul of the nation. Motown’s competitor, Memphis-based Stax Records, discovered such groundbreaking artists as Issac Hayes, Otis Redding, and the Staple Singers and committed them…
It’s not often that an Arizona blues club gets an international act for New Year’s Eve, but the 44s will play the Rhythm Room in Phoenix as 2015 comes in. Arizona blues lovers will have to enjoy the 44s while they can, because the Los Angeles-based blues-roots-rock band will tour…
The holiday season is winding down, and we at New Times hope that you had a great 2014. As we look forward to the New Year, I wanted to recap some of the best Metal Mondays blogs of the year. These were picked based off of social media shares, how…
