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…
1) Livewire is a quite the venue. It’s surrounded by nightclubs in the middle of the most happening part of Scottsdale, but it’s not just a club. It will attempt to double as a concert venue and a club, which is somewhat irregular in Old Town. As we wrote when…
The Cardinals might be out of the playoffs, but who cares? The Super Bowl is coming, and in the weeks preceding the big game more and more big-name concerts will come to town. For now, check out our picks, and be sure to browse our comprehensive concert calendar for more…
Jodie Foster’s Army (JFA) recorded Valley of the Yakes and broke the mold for anyone else coming after them. Truly. Valley of the Yakes easily could be the most influential record on this list except for one thing: Nobody else could have recorded it. There was no other band on…
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…
By Adam Perry With all the real injustice on the streets — and in the courtrooms — of America currently, you might consider it trivial to examine ten drummers who deserve more credit and attention than they’ve received. And you’d be right. But music is, if nothing else, a way…
Patience. Soon, Coachella will be upon us, and with it, some decent shows. Until then, sate yourself with these, and check out our comprehensive concert calendar for more options…
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…
Yesterday, Coachella released the lineup for April’s festival. Highlighted by three headliners, AC/DC, Jack White, and Drake, the EDM-heavy list of acts has sparked derision and applause, as it does every year and will until the festival loses relevancy. But it got us thinking back to Coachellas past, where Phoenix…
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…
Ever since dance music decided to overdose on molly, the only thing respectable alternative for pop music lovers is hip-hop. With that said, we’re sorry, hip-hop, but we have to start holding you to a higher standard. You don’t want to end up like EDM, do you? Trust us, you…
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…
The lineup for Coachella just came out today, and on top of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday lineups are AC/DC, Jack White, and Drake, respectively. Yippee. There’s lots of hip-hop and electronic music, and indie rock galore. Check out the full lineup below. Which day looks best to you?…
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…
