Cheney was wearing a wireless mic that allowed him to wander over to J. Reid, the R&B artist who’d also been tossed into this blind date of a set. Their turn in this huge spotlight wasn’t improv, but it was close. Without rehearsals to fall back on, the musicians were calling audibles. Cheney remembers Reid urging him on: “Dean! Guitar solo!”
Nearby was Katie Mae, a country artist with smokey vocals and a steady guitar style. She reached into the pocket of her black fur coat and pulled out an instrument she’d never before played on stage, let alone to a packed Crescent crowd: a harmonica. Her hands were trembling as she brought it to her mouth and released the faithful first note.
Her nerves instantly gave way to the euphoria of surviving a harrowing moment. As she looked out, she says, the crowd was absolutely illuminated. “Everyone was there smiling,” she says, “in a big, happy mood.”
This is the promise and the thrill of Rock Lottery, now in its 11th year. The setup is simple enough. Organizers invite 25 musicians and, on a hectic Saturday morning, shuffle them up into five never-before-seen bands. The groups spend the day writing three new songs and working up one cover song. That evening they hit the stage to dazzle the eager crowd at Crescent. It all benefits Rosie’s House, an academy in Phoenix that teaches music to kids who otherwise might not be able to afford lessons or even access to musical programming.
If you’ve ever dealt a hand of poker, played pick-up hoops at the Y or watched an episode of “Voltron,” you grasp the ephemeral electricity to this premise of mashing up five disparate pieces into a single entity. As an audience member, you can feel the buzz all evening. Musicians picked for the Rock Lottery this year are stoked to face the challenge. Past participants gush about how the randomness and pressure of it all propelled their creative lives afterward.
Rock Lottery organizer Stephen Chilton (of Psyko Steve Presents) has seen how the Lottery reshapes the chemistry of artists’ creative lives and by extension the city's robust music scene.
"We've seen bands say, 'We never would have talked to each other without the Lottery,'" says Chilton. “Different people have joined bands with people they met.”
Every year, this event drives growth across the Phoenix music ecosystem. Keep reading to meet a few of this year's participants, to understand Rosie’s House and their vital work and then delve into the lasting effects of an event that unites five strangers in the rush of writing and performing poignant music — whether they're truly prepared or not.
"Whatever happens, happens," says Cameron McGregor, the Bethany Home guitarist who’s about to make his Rock Lottery debut. "Things always come together last minute, even if it doesn't seem like it. So I put all my faith in that.”
Betsy Ganz: the rock ‘n’ roll parent
You know Ganz, the Sunpunchers’ smoky-voiced singer and guitarist, as a badass desert roots revivalist. But as she prepares for her turn at this year’s Rock Lottery, she’s already thinking ahead to how she’s going to collaborate with her yet-to-be-determined bandmates.“Well, I’m a mom,” Ganz says. “That brings some lather to it.”
Whatever challenges her new bandmates have together, she’s going to promote matronly warmth and kindness to see everyone through these songs. Fusing five strangers into a flash community, regardless of personality or musical tastes, is an exercise in diplomacy. That might mean having to "fake another genre" outside Ganz's beloved alt-country and blues.
The week leading into the Lottery she’ll be practicing songs, getting her fingers ready. She’s planning to look through old lyrics and exercise her voice.
And yet, with the sagely wisdom that every parent earns the hard way, she is prepared to throw it all out in the negotiations of the day, if that’s what needs to be done.
“This event is the perfect setup for an anxiety attack,” she says. “I would almost like to be with a group I don’t know at all, just so I know new people. From a comfort level, I’d like to work with someone I know. But I’m just surrendering to this.”
Ellie Fern: the musician’s musician
Whether intended or not, the Rock Lottery can result in minor musical emergencies. A band might not have a clear lead singer, or it might have four such leaders, with everyone trying to figure out who will be forced into playing bass. Truly fortunate musicians on Saturday will be those paired with a selfless utility player like Ellie Fern, leader of Ellie Fern & The Evergreen. No one would dare keep her crystalline soprano vocals bottled up. Yet Fern's happy to step back and try on a supporting role for a change.
"I've collabed with people on a whim or done songwriting sessions with people I'd never met," Fern says. "I will be singing, probably, regardless if I'm the main person or doing harmonies. And I'm comfortable on guitar and piano. It'd be cool if I'm even in just the rhythm section. I'm just happy to do it."
Not every lyricist thrives under pressure, though. Fern’s approach for this boiler room session: snag everyone’s ideas, get them down on paper and don’t stop until everyone has had their say. Then chisel the ideas down to that which is most concrete and undeniable. She admires the focused songwriting approach of John Mayer, who has said that no one can write a damn about a garden but you’d be surprised what you can say about a single flower.
“The unknown, and putting yourself out of your comfort zone, really helps new, creative ideas come up,” Fern says. “None of us know what’s going to happen. It could be magic.”
Joey Gutos: the rejuvenated songster
The curse of being a professional musician, says Gutos, is that the more you play, the more you miss your friends’ shows. The singer-songwriter has also been recovering from professional burnout he attributes to far too much effort on social media and not enough time with a pen and paper. The Rock Lottery, for him, is a chance to write and create for the pure art of it, working with that same talent that he’s missed out on for far too long.“I get over-analytical," says Gutos. "I have to keep that in check and remember that creating music isn't a perfect science. There's no equation with a perfectly balanced left and right side. It's just expression. If it means something to a ton of people, amazing. If it means a ton to one or two people, amazing."
The challenge he sees for the Rock Lottery musicians is the need to be vulnerable instantly. As five strangers collide and decide to make spontaneous art together, there’s no time for foreplay. They have to convince one another without hesitation that they’re safe enough to sparkle.
Then, of course, comes the other curse of a musician: when the lights come on, you've got to answer the call.
"There is a certain science that goes into being an artist where it's like, 'OK, how quickly can I train myself to get into that flow state to where I can make something quickly,” Gutos says. "Nobody is going to slam their head against the wall for eight hours trying to think of one line. But sometimes, that's what it takes."
Sophia Bavishi: the upstart beatmaker
Bavishi could coast for a whole career on her lush vocal stylings. In the four years since she released her debut single, however, the young songwriter has gone deeper into building her own loops and beats, pushing herself to think more and more like a producer.Any band lucky enough to have her in their Rock Lottery draw will have a player who looks to enhance any song with a plethora of options with her mighty Ableton Push.
"We're starting the song from scratch, so that is improv,” Bavishi says. “I’ve just been preparing myself a lot by making beats at home and then, on the spot, coming up with a song and not just an idea. My plan is to come in with sounds to create a track over."
She wouldn’t be the first early-career musician to look to the Rock Lottery as a chance to expand her horizons and take daring risks. Bavishi's songwriting skills still hold some sway. Only now she's asking herself where her developing talents as a producer might fit, and how to complement an entire band.
"This is just about being present and in the moment and being the best artist you can be," she says. "If everyone understands what each part is, it could really be glued together.”
Chaz Fertal: the tinkerer
For years, Fertal has dreamt of playing in the Rock Lottery. The saxophonist for The Hourglass Cats has two young kids, and doesn’t get out as much as he once did. It’s altogether too orderly of a lifestyle for someone who demands a bit of chaos in his musicianship.“I fly by the seat of my pants a lot in life,” he says, “and this is a great opportunity to do it in the music world.”
When he got the call to participate, Fertal says, it felt like being pulled into the Phoenix music scene’s answer to “Saturday Night Live” — a day of racing, rehearsing, rewriting on the fly and then a moment of sharp truth before a packed house.
It’s the sort of environment where glitches are all but guaranteed. For a horn player who dines on uncertainty, it’s a chance to turn unexpected moments into inspiration.
Fertal describes himself as a tinkerer who builds songs as they happen, experimenting and letting curiosity, rather than ego, dictate a band’s direction.
"The most important thing in doing music is you just keep going," Fertal says. "If somebody goes off, or I come in too early or the singer repeats a chorus, we all look at each other and get back on track however we can. We don't have that long to build that chemistry. When we get together and have a day to work through stuff, it should be, 'In case of emergencies, how do we get back on track?' It's like taking kids to Disney World. When we get lost, where do we meet?"
Lottery veterans: what to expect
The incoming Rock Lottery musicians touch on many of the same themes as they prepare — community, collaboration, fun. Oh, and the terror of performing live. Connect with those who have gone through the harrowing ordeal, though, and they’ll tell you it is a deeply anxious moment, akin to the best and worst kind of first date imaginable. Musicians know the gravity of the event and the inherent expectations. And they know that for four songs, Phoenix’s local music scene is looking to them to be moved.
“Even after all these decades of songwriting and performing everywhere in the damn world,” says Nicole Laurenne of The Darts, who played the Rock Lottery in 2022, “I was more nervous about this event than most others. In the end the most important thing it did for me was help me let go of some of my performance anxiety.”
CJ Jacobson of Paper Foxes, who performed at 2024's edition, credited the Rock Lottery with reviving his career. “I had almost given up on music,” he says. “I was bored with my writing and had lost all confidence in myself.”
When Chilton, the organizer, looks for musicians to showcase in the Rock Lottery, he wants to find proper professions, the players who are out in Phoenix doing serious work. It’s not just talent he’s selecting for — it’s ambition and the will to seize your musical destiny.
That approach benefits up-and-comers, those who might otherwise be years away from ever experiencing the spotlight on the big stage, under that mammoth disco ball, playing alongside some of the best musicians in the city.
In 2023, that was Izzy Mahoubi. The Phoenix singer-songwriter got the call to the Rock Lottery, and used it as a vehicle to forge friendships and relationships.
"I felt like I had been known as 'that's the girl bugging everyone to let her open at coffee shops,'" Mahoubi says. "I wasn't able to really showcase to people that I was playing amongst that they really were an inspiration to me. So that was my opportunity to showcase my strengths. It was the first time I was taken seriously."
Now she’s much more certain, and even a veteran in some sense. And she’s telling this year’s lucky participants to embrace the ordeal with gusto.
"Be open to the minds and the weirdness of all the other musicians, because we're all a bunch of weirdos," Mahoubi says. "Advocate for yourself. And don't minimize what you bring to the table.”
Phoenix Rock Lottery is slated for Feb. 1 at Crescent Ballroom. For tickets and more info, head to crescentphx.com.
