Tuesday, February 16, 2016
With a new EP that marks his return to music, Austin Counts brings together several new songs to go along with one that’s been running through his head for years.
Counts has been back with a blues-country hybrid style since the summer, playing a weekly gig at The Flycatcher (340 E. Sixth St.) on Monday nights with Tom Walbank, who produced and performs on Counts’ new Pima County Jail recording.
The four-song EP will be released next Friday, Feb. 26 during a free patio show at Hotel Congress (311 E. Congress St.). The show goes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and features performances from Counts, Walbank and Chris Hall.
“The way I approach it is telling a story,” Counts says. “I like to make my stuff true to life. When I’m singing about something, it’s something I’ve been through. The only way you can have conviction signing a song is that it’s real.”
Counts (a former Tucson Weekly intern) had played music for many years before giving it up to earn a degree and then open his own business (4th Avenue Delicatessen). He began to pick the guitar back up last summer, when Walbank asked him to cover a couple of shows.
“I tried to pull together two sets to see if I could even do it any more,” Counts says. “That broke the ice, and I started writing new music. Coming back to it now, everything is more toward blues and country.”
Tags: austin counts , tucson , music , new , album release , pima county jail , hotel congress , blues , country
Friday, February 12, 2016
Dissard's studio albums—L'Entredeux, L'Abandon and The Cat. Not Me—found her collaborating with a who's who of Tucson musicians, many of whom she'd take on tours in Europe, expanding Tucson's reputation as a musical oasis. Three other releases form the City Series collected different arrangements in live takes recorded during impromptu sessions while on tour in Paris, Berlin and Cologne.
Today, Dissard is releasing Cibola Gold, a 13-song best-of collection that pulls from five of those albums, presenting an overview of her Tucson years and musical output. Dissard moved to Europe in 2013 and talked via e-mail about putting the new project together and how that found her looking back over her years spent in Tucson:
What sort of thoughts and reflections about your musical experiences in Tucson did this collection spark?
I didn't anticipate that I'd be so moved by the process of putting together this collection of, not only music, but images and words. To design the 24-page booklet, I sifted through hundreds of photos. I saw faces of people who had been dear throughout the years, some dead already.
I left Tucson in 2013 and had been glad at first to not look back, diving into countless projects here in Europe to numb the shock of being uprooted again. But truly, what surfaced after the thrill of remembering and the pangs of regrets waned is the generosity of the Tucson music scene, its work ethic and a sense of community so strong that I feel like the kid now off to college who still struggles to justify skipping his first Thanksgiving family reunion.
Tags: marianne dissard , tucson , music , french , cibola gold , new , album , release , Video
The hour-long, high energy class mixes asana flows and the beats of DJ Elektra Tek to reduce stress and enhance one-ness between your mind, body and soul. The class' Facebook page encourages everyone to show up if they want to move and feel great. Oh, and it's free. Class starts at 8:45 p.m. at Movement Culture. Namaste.
Tags: yoga , movement culture , DJ Elektra Tek , deep house , music , DJs
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Tucson sonic ambassadors Calexico recently made several short episodes with Colorado's E-Town Hall Sessions. You can watch them all here.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Maybe you're a big fan of the Eagles, maybe you're looking for a way to celebrate Valentine's Day with your honey or maybe you're just all about events that benefit the Old Pueblo Rotary Foundation. Whatever the case, we're giving away five pairs of tickets to Eagles tribute band One of These Nights' Saturday performance.
One of These Nights promises exactly that…AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT!
Join One of These Nights as they take you on their version of a hit-filled show featuring the music of the Eagles, one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Our show takes the audience on a journey thru all Eagles’ “sounds,” from tasteful country rock, complete with full harmonies, to hard-rocking tunes that highlight the Eagles’ extraordinary catalogue.
The show of course features the band’s greatest hits, including ‘Hotel California,’ ‘Desperado,’ ‘Lyin’ Eyes,’ ‘Life in the Fast Lane,’ ‘Take it Easy,’ ‘Already Gone,’ ‘One of These Nights’ and many others; all presented in a highly entertaining production with uncanny accuracy. It was these and other EAGLES tracks that earned the band seven number-one singles, six Grammys, five American Music Awards and six number one albums.
John Waxman and JD Madrid have teamed up with fellow stellar musicians to create one of the best sounding Eagles tribute bands touring today. Recognized for their uncanny accuracy to the original, One of These Nights is a pure and simple tribute to the Eagles.
Co-Presented by Old Pueblo & Presidio Rotary
Proudly Sponsored by Beach Fleischman & Long Realty
The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.
Enter now and we'll call winners on Wednesday and Thursday. Not lucky enough to win? Pick up tickets online.
Number one shape-shifter in indie rock: Go. If you didn't come up with Howe Gelb in that mix, you may not have been paying much attention the past 30 years. We had a lengthy interview with Gelb this morning in the wake of Pitchfork's announcement that Giant Sand is riding into the sunset. Gelb's immediate response was:
"I guess that's what it takes to get in Pitchfork after 30 years. You gotta quit to be posted," he says.
We spoke as the sun was setting outside the window of his Lisbon hotel room, because these days, Europe is as much Gelb's home as Tucson. More from that interview will be included in next week's Weekly. Meanwhile, here are what Gelb considered the most important points to make in response to the article.
"Puhleeez remember all the important points that I want to be in there... 'cause we only get one chance to say it and it has to be said right—specifically to the home town crowd."
Tags: howe gelb , giant sand , break up , tucson , announce , annie dolan , xixa
Monday, February 8, 2016
In an interview with Q Magazine to promote XIXA's new release Bloodline, guitarist Gabe Sullivan talks about what he learned from Giant Sand's Howe Gelb:
My first experience on stage with Howe Gelb was a 35 minute excursion of sweating bullets and sheer guessing. Brian Lopez, Sergio Mendoza and myself had spent weeks working on the handful of songs Howe had asked us to learn for his induction into the Tucson “Tammies” hall of fame, only to be bludgeoned with songs we had never heard, and new chords to the songs we thought we knew. Since then I feel I’ve been immersed in the greatest music school there is, and it is called Giant Sand. Brian (who ranks high as one of my favorite songwriters) and I have taken this off the cuff, anything goes mentality into our new group, XIXA. There is no way in hell our music would sound like it does now if we hadn’t spent the last few years playing with Howe… and I dare say Howe might say the same about playing with us. Songwriting is a craft that should live and breathe and change with the world, and Howe has certainly instilled that in Brian and I. “Don’t insult the future by rehearsing” Howe often tells us… I can live with that.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Over the course of three different concerts at three different venues, the Tucson music community seeks to raise funds and support for Sanders' campaign, as well as register area voters.
On Saturday, Feb. 6, Katie Haverly, BIG MERIDOX, Rey Murphy and Sugar Stains will take over The Flycatcher (340 E. Sixth St.) for the area's first Bands for Bernie showcase. The show starts at 9 p.m. with a $5 donation at the door. It is a 21 and over event.
Over at Club Congress (311 E. Congress St.) on Friday, Feb. 12, La Cerca, PIPELiGHTs and Mason will be performing for the Latinas for Bernie Sanders showcase. The event, which is hosted by Frank Powers and runs from 8 p.m. until midnight, will encourage voter registration before the Feb. 22 deadline.
(Arizona is a closed primary state, which means if you want to weigh in on either party's primary this year, you have to register as a voter for that party before the deadline date— i.e. if you want to Bern your face in Arizona, register as a Dem before Feb. 22 via the Service Arizona website. It's also important to make sure your registered address matches the one on your ID, otherwise you could be forced to vote on a provisional ballot, which may end up not even being counted. It happened to me a few years back and one really has to wonder if that registration caveat is in place to limit voter fraud or to penalize people who have less stable housing situations... but then, why would a state want to do that? Anyway, I digress.)
Tags: bands for bernie , tucson , politics , fundraising , democratic primary , arizona , club congress , the flycatcher , dazed and confused , la cerca , pipelights , katie haverly , big meridox , Video
DIIV—Is the Is Are (Feb. 5)
DIIV puts out infectiously wavey, dream-poppy tracks, which is why it's no surprise that sites such as Pitchfork and Stereogum included the band's upcoming LP, Is the Is Are, on their respective "Most Anticipated Albums of the 2016" lists. Frontman Zachary Cole Smith's lyrics are kind of indiscernible at points, but DIIV's rolling baselines and ethereal guitar riffs off singles "Dopamine," "Bent (Roi's Song)" and "Under the Sun" make up for it— the tracks will mollify even the most stressed listener. That's not to say the lyrics aren't worth paying attention to, though—listen closely, and Cole Smith will take you on an emotional ride, entailing how he climbed out of his heroine-fueled "spiral down," and clouded his "sun" (presumably his GF, Sky Ferreira, who also collaborated with DIIV on Is the Is Are.)
Is the Is Are is streaming now on AH.
Listen? YES
PORCHES.—Pool (Feb. 5)
Porches., one of Aaron Maine's three musical personas, also accompanies DIIV on Pitchfork and Stereogum's "Most Anticipated" lists. Again, no surprise—Maine's textured vocals paired with Porches.' lo-fi bedroom sound make for great tunes. Pool seems to take a turn from the more ragged sound of 2013's Slow Dance in The Cosmos, but it's all good. Single "Car" has a beachy sound not usually associated with Porches., "Be Apart" breezily locks in on Maine's vocals, and "Hour" backs Maine's lyrics about needing to be alone "like a swimming pool" with classic lo-fi beats. Maine has been working on Pool for quite some time, so the rest of the album is bound to be good.
Tags: porches. , porches band , lucinda williams , foxes , diiv , music , music this week , new releases , Video
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
As a long-time Beyoncé fan myself, I too rejoiced. I was elated to learn Bey would make her first video appearance since "Feeling Myself" with Nicki Minaj. But when I realized a sari, henna tattoos and traditional Indian jewelry made up her "Hymn" look, my excitement quickly dwindled. Vanity Fair described her costuming that of "a Bollywood princess," but I couldn't help but wonder:
Could Beyoncé, a self-proclaimed feminist and social justice advocate, be appropriating Indian culture?
I'm not one to say yes or no, obviously—I'm a white girl from Scottsdale. I know it's not my place to speak for other cultures. But Indian and non-Indian people alike have voiced their opinions regarding Beyoncé's getup on Twitter.
Tags: beyoncé , coldplay , cultural appropriation , political correctness , trigger warnings , microaggressions , millennials , feminism , social justice , Video
