Incoming: Donavon Frankenreiter, Ted Nugent, Rusted Root

Guitarist Donavon Frankenreiter shares more than just a surfy, breezy acoustic sound with Jack Johnson. He worked with Johnson’s label, Brushfire Records before signing to alt-country label Lost Highway. He split from them, too, starting his own label, Liquid Tambourine, to freely take his surf’s up, island-style chill vibe wherever…

Tumblr of the Week: Girls That Look Like Skrillex

I hate that I’ve been giving Skrillex so much attention lately.  But this blog is a gem nevertheless.Look-alikes are always fun to scroll through, and we’ve seen some convincing celeb-to-non-celeb look-alikes in our day.That’s right, we’re talking about the blog Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber.In a similar fashion, this…

Take Cover: Future Loves Past Covers Pink Floyd

See also: Fate of the Galaxies Cover The Cure One of the greatest advantages of living in Arizona is the state’s proximity to other cool places: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Mexico are all an afternoon’s drive away. Spend two days on the road (or one if you have multiple…

Record Heat: Meat Market Childcare by Brad Dwyer

See also: Record Heat: Avant-Garde by Brad Dwyer I didn’t make it out to Meat Market Vintage’s grand opening party, but I did stop in last week. If you’re looking for a well-curated stock of vintage duds, the place is a goldmine. I couldn’t fit into the Mike Oldfield “Tubular…

Jose Garces, What Are You Listening To?

​Jose GarcesThe Iron Chef and James Beard award-winning chef is executive chef of Distrito, Old Town Whiskey and Garces Trading Co. To-Go at The Saguaro Hotel. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? I have Sirius/XM in my car, and…

Blogs Teased in Our March 1 Issue

This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. Want to hear a single from hip-hop bikers Black Harley Riders? Want to watch Stephen Malkmus…

Christopher Owens of Girls on Being on God’s Dark Side

Christopher Owens, the songwriter who fronts jangling indie rockers Girls, insists he doesn’t have an ax to grind. Sure, the revivalist cult Children of God effectively destroyed his life before it had even begun, indoctrinating a young Owens to live like a monk in the name of “apostolicism.” Sure, they…

Gabriel Sullivan and Taraf de Tucson Go Global

When he’s touring in Europe, Gabriel Sullivan keeps an eye out for Gypsies with instruments. “It’s a constant search for that common theme of necessity in the music,” says Sullivan, whose band, Taraf de Tucson, sets Balkan brass and Peruvian cumbia side by side, combining Latin rhythms and exotic melodies…

Davy Jones: This Monkee’s Going to Heaven

Of all the estimated 80 million people who saw The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964 to catch a first glimpse of The Beatles, maybe 10,000 of them formed groups. Maybe 1,000 of them made charting singles. Only one of them was a performer on the Sullivan stage that…

Destroyer Announces Phoenix Date This Summer

Up on the Sun favorite Dan Bejar and his band Destroyer released their newest album Kaputt more than a year ago. We liked it then, we liked it at the end of the year, we like it now still. It’s a charming ode to the smooth sounds of late-’70s/early-’80s yacht…

Incoming: John Mayer, The Aquabats, Thrice

Blues pop lover boy John Mayer is heading west.He has recently opted for a more mature look, and over the years his attitude has matured too, and it would seem that he’s also moved on from saying things like, “My dick is sort of like a white supremacist” and that…

Download: Black Harley Riders, “She Wanna Be a Rider”

Though there’s a rich history of African American motorcycle clubs, you’d be forgiven for conjuring up images of burly, bearded white dudes when someone says “Harley rider.” Slick of Hindu Mafia Family knows that, but on Black Harley Riders Volume 1, the Phoenix-based rapper hopes to expand the traditional biker…