Not many bands have attained popularity and commercial success outside the mainstream music industry box the way that Mustard Plug has done. While they can’t claim to be most famous ska-punk band in existence, the septet have amassed a sizable cult following, as well as radio-friendly songs and music videos,…
A ghost from my high school years visited me this week. It spoke to me over the radio on a sudden trip home, blasting from tinny speakers in a random storefront. Staying purposefully out of touch with Top 20 radio, especially the songs that get spun in my hometown, I…
Hey, didja hear that rumor that’s going around about the Yucca Tap Room in Tempe? You know, the one about how it’s going to be closing this summer? What about the other one about how the Tempe dive is going to be gonezo a year from now because of construction…
Joe Louis Walker first got his hands on a guitar at age 8, and he hasn’t stopped playing since. The internationally acclaimed bluesman, who was well renowned for his playing skills by his teenage years, has done much during his 50 years in the music business. He’s released more than…
Jay Lujan is fast becoming a local DJ success story. He’s opened for countless big-name DJs and EDM superstars like Wolfgang Gartner and Fedde Le Grand, played last year’s Groove Cruise Los Angeles and recently toured the country in support of his annual compilation CD, This Is Lujanic. On top…
Pushing any kind of artistic endeavor through to the finish line is a process destined to involve evolution. Practically no book, drawing, film, album, Play-Doh sculpture, or whatever comes through looking exactly the way its creator originally envisioned it. If Scott Martin wasn’t already aware of this reality, he experienced…
What is it with European DJ/producers and masks? Though the phenomenon of donning bizarre facial disguises while performing isn’t securely limited to beat-jugglers from said continent (Deadmau5 and Bl3nd being prime exceptions), there’s been an inordinate amount of masked mixmasters from across the pond over the past decade. Like the…
Without reinvention, there would be nothing new worth being inspired by. For Snake! Snake! Snakes!, an alteration came with the coming and going of band members and a new option to simplify the band’s entire approach. At its writing core is bassist Chris Sanchez, drummer David Cooper, and guitarist/vocalist Jon…
The month of March has been rife with big concerts and unforgettable performances. And one of the more memorable moments thus far was when the Samantha Fish Band played her first-ever show in Phoenix while headlining Blues Blast 2014. The 25-year-old blues wunderkind, who hails from Kansas City, Missouri, is…
When Beef Vegan and the other cats from KWSS’ The Morning Infidelity take over The Sail Inn for their annaul Phochella fest in mid-April, it will be something of a bittersweet celebration. Besides commemorating the sixth year of Vegan hosting the popular morning radio show and toasting KWSS’ fervent fanbase,…
Anyone who may have been there on the last night of business of a Tempe venue will tell you it’s a lot like the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Nita’s Hideaway, Long Wong’s, 6 East, Hollywood Alley — none of these beloved nightspots went down without a fight. In some…
If you’re familiar with the superb discography of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, it goes without saying that the nine talented musicians backing up the golden-voiced songstress are vastly steeped in the realms of R&B, soul, and funk. Depending on whom you ask, possessing immense knowledge of various genres is…
If you’re familiar with the superb discography of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, it goes without saying that the nine talented musicians backing up the golden-voiced songstress are vastly steeped in the realms of R&B, soul, and funk. Depending on whom you ask, possessing immense knowledge of various genres is…
The next time you see the members of Jared and the Mill hanging out around town or before one of their upcoming gigs (like at next weekend’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival), be sure to offer a handshake, a kind word, or maybe even a hug. They definitely deserve it, since…
Justin Moody writes songs. They sit firmly in the folk vein — dark, self-deprecating tales that are often vicious to their characters, capturing the excruciating eye for detail that only a storyteller can see. Justin Moody also lives in a one bedroom apartment on the edge of Arcadia, a space…
As a 15-year-old growing up in Prescott, where lifted trucks, military dreams, and D-grade metal bands are the norm, I was often a black sheep for playing blues music. Showing up to open mics with a Fender Stratocaster under my arm elicited raised eyebrows from guys 50 years my senior,…
A hazy night with Hot Rock Supa Joint, Arizona’s premier stoner rap wizard, begins with a hazy idea. Let’s smoke a joint from the Bob Marley bong. A joint bowl! It only works about halfway, so we give up and give my five-foot BuddyBong a try, so named because it…
The folks behind long-running hip-hop affair The Blunt Club are going old school this week — way old school. The turntables inside the Yucca Tap Room, 29 West Southern Avenue in Tempe, will spin things all the way back to the early Aughts on Thursday, March 13, in order to…
The folks behind The Blunt Club are going old school this week edition of the long-running hip-hop affair — way old school. The turntablists inside the Yucca Tap Room will spin things all the way back to the early Aughts on Thursday, March 13, in order to recreate the vibe…
Minneapolis-bred Atmosphere aptly fits into that “old-school” indie rap category. Since 1989, the group has released six studio albums and 10 extended plays, touched base on some deep societal issues, and has kept a fanbase while consistently evolving; difficult to do during a time like the 90s when musical consistency…
Blues Blast 2014 Margaret T. Hance Park 3/8/14 It might have been a bit warm this past Saturday when the annual Blues Blast went down at Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix, but that didn’t keep both local musicians and fans of the genre alike from attending the outdoor music…
Banana Gun has an odd tale of how the band ended up in Phoenix. As bass player Ross Troost tells it, he and drummer Ian Breslin and guitarist Nick Dehaan were on a West Coast tour nearly a decade ago in their old band, Fat Rabbit, when they swung through…
