Events

Tucson: The Heart of American Mariachi Music

April 29, 2014 |
The Tucson International Mariachi Conference features youth showcases on May 1. photo: Kevin Van Rensselaer

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference features a variety of traditions.
photo: Kevin Van Rensselaer

It’s a tradition veiled in mystery. We know it came from Mexico. We know that it started when the Spanish introduced stringed instruments to the indigenous people of Mexico, and we know that around the turn of the 20th century, it was a music that employed stringed instruments alone. The trumpet—largely considered a staple in any mariachi group—didn’t find its place in mariachi music until the 1930s. But beyond that, it gets a little cloudy.

Ask any mariachi musician to define the music in a sentence or two and you will likely be met with silence. There is the Son Jaliscience school, the musical form from Guadalajara, Mexico from which modern mariachi music arose, the Bolero style, which incorporates Afro-Cuban and Caribbean rhythms, and the Ranchera style, which Pueblo High School’s Mariachi Director John Contreras describes as “pretty much like the Mexican version of country western music.” And then there are more styles, as well. Many more. Too many to list here, in fact.

Contreras lives and breathes mariachi. Not only is he the director of Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School, he also plays in a group on the weekends and serves on the board of directors for the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, which is largely considered the foremost conference for the genre in the world. Appropriately, he also acts as the Workshop Coordinator for the conference, taking the reins on the educational side of the event he has attended since he was just nine years old.

Though Contreras explains he was not there for the first Tucson conference in 1983, he showed up within the first few years, guitar in hand, to learn from the best in the business as Mariachi Vargas and Tucson’s own Mariachi Cobre conducted workshops on the traditional form. Mariachi Vargas, Contreras says, is now widely regarded as the foremost mariachi group in the world, and Mariachi Cobre went on to become the house mariachi band at Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida, where they have been for more than thirty years. Contreras says that he didn’t realize how lucky he was to have such quality musicians as teachers year after year.

“It’s like having a little league team and saying, ‘OK, we’re gonna have the Yankees and the Red Sox come and teach you guys how to play ball,’” says Contreras. And that tradition continues today, though with a rotating lineup of professional mariachis.

Dance and music converge at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference. photo: Kevin Van Rensselaer

Dance and music converge at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference.
photo: Kevin Van Rensselaer

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference, now in its 32nd year, is primarily an educational endeavor, offering workshops from beginning to master levels to approximately 550 mariachi and about 150 folklórico (traditional Mexican dancing) students annually from across the U.S. and Mexico, but the public is also invited to take part in the most festive of all the festivities.

The student groups attending the conference will perform in the showcase concert at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, where the groups are able to raise a little bit of money for themselves through ticket sales. The following night—Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m.—is the big show, known as the Espectacular Concert, which will feature the world-renown talents of Mariachi Internacional Guadalajara and the two-time Grammy-winning all-female group known as the Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea. Saturday, May 3 offers a free mariachi mass at 10 a.m. followed by the pool-party-style Festival Garibaldi, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

For the Mariachi Divas, this marks the second trip to perform at the Tucson conference, and this time Shea promises to “bring the energy” along with a pair of local Tucson violinists, Alissa Gonzales and Catherine Baeza. An Irish-Italian American from California, Shea does not look like your typical mariachi. But having trained and performed in a number of styles including orchestra, jazz, and ska, she says there’s a special place for Mariachi amongst other mundial (or world) genres. Shea says that the prestige of the Tucson conference has a very strong global appeal to all mariachis, and that it gives serious credibility to the local scene.

With regard to the music itself, Shea says that there is a “beautiful tradition” and “elegance” in the mariachi style unequaled in other genres. “You really have an attentive audience when it’s a mariachi show. You can get people of all ages to laugh, dance and cry within the same hour,” says Shea. “That’s pretty affective music.”

The Tucson Mariachi Conference’s public performances take place at Casino Del Sol Resort, 5655 W. Valencia Rd., May 1-May 3. More information, as well as concert and Festival Garibaldi tickets, can be obtained at TucsonMariachi.org.

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference hosts the Espectacular Concert on Friday, May 2. photo courtesy of La Frontera/Tucson Mariachi Conference/Kevin Van Rensselaer

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference hosts the Espectacular Concert on Friday, May 2.
photo courtesy of La Frontera/Tucson Mariachi Conference/Kevin Van Rensselaer

Events May 2014

April 29, 2014 |

THU 1-FRI 2
PALESTINIAN CULTURAL WEEK Sponsored by UofA Students for Justice in Palestine. Palestinian food sampler on Thu, May 1. Free. 11am-3pm. U of A Mall, 1303 E. University Blvd. Palestinian culture night on Fri, May 2. Free. 6pm-9pm. Center for Creative Photography, 1030 N. Olive Rd. arizonasjp@gmail.com

THU 1-SAT 3

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference runs May 1-3. photo: Kevin Van Rensselaer

The Tucson International Mariachi Conference runs May 1-3.
photo: Kevin Van Rensselaer

TUCSON INTERNATIONAL MARIACHI CONFERENCE Celebrating 32 years of Mariachi music and culture. See website for times and prices of public performances. AVA Amphitheater, 5655 W. Valencia Rd. CasinoDelSol.com, TucsonMariachi.org

FRI 2
6TH ANNUAL AGAVE FEST Features tastings of over 50 agave-derived spirits including tequilas and mezcals; sotols and more. See website for prices. 7pm. Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. HotelCongress.com

MEET THE AUTHOR A mystery double header with Tucson authors Frances Washburn (The Red Bird All-Indian Traveling Band) and D.R. Ransdell (The Mariachi Murder). Free. 7pm. Antigone Books, 411 N. 4th Ave. 792-3715, AntigoneBooks.com 

SAT 3
64TH ANNUAL SILVER AND TURQUOISE BALL A black tie affair featuring a gourmet dinner and dancing. $300 per person. 6pm. Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St. 990-6119, SilverAndTurquoiseBall.org

3RD ANNUAL LIFE MOVES SHOWCASE Featuring community entertainers, BreakOut Youth Company, Artifact Dance Project, UofA Black and Blue, Fire and Gold Belly Dance, and more. $6. 7pm-9pm. Flowing Wells High School, 3725 N. Flowing Wells Rd. 670-1301, BreakOutStudiosTucson.com

SAT 3-SUN 4

29th TUCSON FOLK FESTIVAL 20 hours of free, live acoustic music featuring The Sonoran Dogs and Run Boy Run. Free. Sat, May 3, noon-10pm; Sun, May 4, 11am-9pm. El Presidio Park, 160 W. Alameda St. TKMA.org

Stefan George, left, and Run Boy Run, right, perfom at the Folk Festival on the Plaza stage in El Presidio Park. Stefan George photo: Martha Retallic

Stefan George, left, and Run Boy Run, right, perfom at the Folk Festival on the Plaza stage in El Presidio Park. Stefan George photo: Martha Retallic

YOUR FOOD, YOUR HEALTH A two-day expo by Healthy You Network explaining the benefits of a healthy, plant-based diet. $65 per day. Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd. HealthyYouNetwork.org

SPRING BAZAAR More than 30 vendors selling vintage items, food, art, wine, chocolate and more. Free. 10am-6pm. Mercado San Agustin, 100 Avenida del Convento. 461-1107, MercadoSanAgustin.com

LIGHTNING STRIKE: KEEYLOCKO A music festival featuring Vox Urbana, Katterwaul, Burning Palms, Halcyonaire (Oakland), Algae & Tentacles, and OHIOAN with food and camping near the Coyote Mountain Wilderness. Cowtown Keeylocko, located 40 miles southwest of Tucson. $8.  Saturday 4pm to Sunday noon. Infinitefront.com/keeylocko

SUN 4
34th ANNUAL CINCO DE MAYO 10K Dr. Gann’s Diet of Hope Run/Walk and 2 mile fun run/walk. Registration fees. 7am. Cholla High School, 2001 W. Starr Pass Blvd. AZRoadrunners.org/races/detail/cinco

2ND ANNUAL TORTILLA FESTIVAL & CINCO DE MAYO FIESTA A celebration of the tortilla, Mexican folklore, culture, music and art. Visit with local artists and admire the display of regional Mexican dresses. Learn about the history and the art of tortilla making. Children’s activities and entertainment for the whole family are included. Dress in your best Mexican outfit! 10am-3pm. Presidio San Agustín del Tucson, 133 W. Washington St. 791-4865 ext. 21, Guadalupe.Johnston@tucsonaz.gov, TucsonPresidio.com

MON 5
METEOR MANIA View a meteor shower at Kitt Peak Observatory. Learn about meteors, comets, meteor showers, and touch a piece of an asteroid. $25-$45. 10pm-3am. 318-8726

A CAUSE FOR APPLAUSE-BEADING DIVAS TO THE RESCUE 5th Anniversary Celebration featuring music, raffle drawings, a fundraiser for La Cocina restaurant, and more. 6pm-9pm. La Cocina, 201 N. Court Ave. 955-9061, TinyUrl.com/KRS58DN

FRI 9
MEET THE AUTHOR Julio Cammarota and Augustine Romero, co-authors of Raza Studies: The Public Option for Educational Revolution.  Free. 7pm. Antigone Books, 411 N. 4th Ave. 792-3715, AntigoneBooks.com 

FRI 9-SUN 11
40TH ANNUAL RODDERS DAY Tucson Street Rod Association showcases more than 250 hot rod cars. University of Arizona Mall, 1209 E. University Blvd. TucsonStreetRodAssociation.net

SAT 10
2nd SATURDAYS DOWNTOWN Street performers, food & art vendors. Scott Avenue stage features: Odaiko Sonora, Mel Rivers (of The Drifters), Shrimp Chaperone. Free. 5pm-10:30pm. 2ndSaturdaysDowntown.com

JUSTICE ON TAP 8th annual local music benefit concert hosted by The American Friends Service Committee. Artists include: Cyril Barrett with Thöger Lund and Gabriel Sullivan, Carlos Arzate & The Kind Souls, Chicha Dust. $10. 6:30pm. Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. 623-9141, AFSC.org/Tucson

Free Family Fun Day at The Depot is Sat, May 10 at the Historic Tucson Train Depot, 414 N. Toole Ave. Photo courtesy So. AZ Transportation Museum

Free Family Fun Day at The Depot is Sat, May 10 at the Historic Tucson Train Depot, 414 N. Toole Ave. Photo courtesy So. AZ Transportation Museum

FAMILY FUN DAY AT THE DEPOT Look at operating model trains, climb on to a steam engine, view exhibits and more. Free. 10am-4pm. The Historic Tucson Train Depot, 414 N. Toole Ave. 623-2223, TucsonHistoricDepot.org

ICONS A one-night photography exhibit of 20+ Arizona photographers each showing a different theme; including Dominic Bonuccelli, Neil Peters, Ali Megan, Addie Mannan, Erin Durband, Lisa Foote, and more. Live music by The Cordials, Sahara Starr and Jake Garcia. Free. 8pm-midnight. Whistle Stop Depot, 127 W. Fifth St. AZFoto.com/icons.html

SUN 11
MUSIC AND MEMORIES CONCERT Concert to honor musicians with cancer. Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. Call for times/prices. 722-4581, CancerHealth.org

MOTHER’S DAY ZOO BRUNCH A special brunch at the Zoo with mom. $40. 8:30am-10am and 10:30am-12pm. Reid Park Zoo, 1100 S. Randolph Way. 791-4022, TucsonZoo.org

DESERT SPIRITS Blue Road Flamenco’s Mother’s Day Performance. Reception with artist and owner La Lea with Middle Eastern sweets and tea follows. $10/donation. 3pm. Arabian Oasis Cultural Center, 2102 E. Broadway Blvd. 624-1699, TheArabianOasis.org

TOHONO CHUL PARK MOTHERS DAY BRUNCH Specially prepared meal for Mother’s Day at the Garden Bistro. $44.95. 9am-2:30pm. 7366 N. Paseo Del Norte. 333-9209, TohonoChulPark.org

TUE 13
DINE OUT FUNDRAISER A benefit for No Kill Pima County featuring food, drink and a silent auction. 6pm-8pm. La Cocina Restaurant, 201 N. Court Ave. 477-7401, NoKillPimaCounty.org

THU 15
PALF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP AWARDS Pima Area Labor Federation honors individuals and organizations who raise awareness in the community. Special guests include U.S. Congressman Raúl Grijalva, Arizona Daily Star Political Cartoonist David Fitzsimmons and local musical guest Vox Urbana. 6pm-10pm. $35. Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. 388-4139, AZ.Aflcio.org/PimaAlf

SAT 17

The Great Neanderthal Bash

The Great Neanderthal Bash

THE CENTURIONS ANNUAL FUNDRAISER The Great Neanderthal Bash: A Stone Age Rampage fundraiser for the Carondelet Health Network. Featuring live bands, raffle, food, costume contest, more. $85. 6pm-midnight. Rillito Race Track, 4502 N. 1st Ave. TheCenturions.com

MINOR MUTINY SUMMER BASH Games, food trucks, art installations and activities, live music by Acorn Bcorn, Danie Enriquez, Jonica Buthcer and DJ Lingos. Free. 2pm-5pm. MOCA, 265 S. Church Ave. 624-5019, MOCA-Tucson.org

3RD SATURDAY ART FAIR On the theme “Animal Rescue: Kitties and Horses,” featuring work by visiting artists and the Courtyard artists. A game of chance benefits the Cat Hermitage and Escuela Equine Rescue and Rehab. Includes coffee, tea and snacks with food, beer and wine for sale. Free.  4pm-8pm. Many Hands Artist Cooperative, 3054 N 1st Ave. 360-1880, MHArtistCoop@gmail.com

SUN 18
PLAYDATE IN THE PARK Hosted by Integrative Touch for Kids. Play with animals and miniature horses. Free. 1pm-3pm. Therapeutic Ranch for Animals and Kids, 3230 N. Craycroft Rd. IntegrativeTouch.org

SAT 24
DESERT DESSERT NIGHT Hosted by the Desert Museum featuring original desserts using native Sonoran Desert ingredients. $38. 6pm-10pm. 2021 N. Kinney Rd. 883-2702, DesertMuseum.org

METEOR MANIA View a meteor shower at Kitt Peak Observatory. Learn about meteors, comets, meteor showers, and touch a piece of an asteroid. $25-$45. 10pm-3am. 318-8726

Films May 2014

April 28, 2014 |

Cinema La Placita 
La Placita Village, 110 S. Church Ave. Thursdays at 7:30pm, $3 suggested donation. CinemaLaPlacita.com

A screening of "The Thin Man" kicks off Cinema La Placita’s 15th Season on Thursday, May 8.

A screening of “The Thin Man” kicks off Cinema La Placita’s 15th Season on Thursday, May 8.

Thu 8: The Thin Man (1934) Starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke.
Thu 15: The Philadelphia Story (1940) Starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart. Directed by George Cukor.
Thu 22: Charade  (1963) Starring Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, James Cobern, George Kennedy and . Directed by Stanley Donen.
Thu 29: His Girl Friday (1940) starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Directed by Howard Hawks.

 

 

 

Exploded View Microcinema
197 E. Toole Ave. 366-1573, ExplodedViewGallery.org
See website for details.

The Loft Cinema
3233 E. Speedway Blvd. 795-7777 (show times recording), 322-LOFT. LoftCinema.com

"Butter" screens at The Loft Cinema on Sun, May 18.  Photo courtesy of GorgView.com

“Butter” screens at The Loft Cinema on Sun, May 18.
Photo courtesy of GorgView.com

Thu 1: The Wicker Man
Fri 2: Hot Fuzz, First Friday Shorts: The Golden Gongs Year-End Showdown, Blue Rain
Sat 3: Step Up, Speak Out, End Bullying: PSA Showcase and Awards Event, Who is Dayani Cristal?
Sun 4: Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre
Wed 7: The Final Member, Earthlight
Thu 8: La Strada
Fri 9: Stage Fright, Anita: Speaking Truth To Power, Hateship Loveship, Finding Vivian Maier
Sat 10: The Found Footage Festival Vol. 7, Standardized
Tue 13: Super Duper Alice Cooper
Thu 15: Nights of Cabiria
Fri 16: Locke, Short Peace,
Sat 17: 8 1/2, King Lear
Sun 18: Butter
Wed 21: The Missing Picture
Thu 22: Fellini Satyricon
Sat 24: Amarcord
Thu 29: Ginger and Fred
Sat 31: La Doce Vita

Pima County Public Libraries
594-5500, Library.Pima.Gov
Thu 8: The New Black (Oro Valley)

Sea of Glass Center for The Arts
330 E. 7th St. 398-2542, SeaOfGlass.org
Fri 2: Beyond Right and Wrong
Fri 9: Gasland Part II
Fri 23: The Hidden Enemy: Inside Psychiatry’s Covert Agenda
Fri 30: Edgar Cayce: The Beautiful Dreamer

¡Es Tiempo para una Fiesta Grande!

April 24, 2014 |
12th Annual Fiesta Grande

12th Annual Fiesta Grande

Get out your dancing boots and get ready for Fiesta Grande, Barrio Hollywood’s annual street fair! Start Saturday out
with a parade and then enjoy more than 16 musical and dance groups, including the great tejano sounds of Hollywood Knights, Conjunto Fear and Mariachi Tesoro. Over a hundred vendors will line Grande Avenue for your shopping & eating pleasures along with a carnival rides for your children. This event is free!

Entertainment
​APRIL 26th MAIN STAGE MUSIC
11:00-12:00pm MARIACHI MILAGRO
12:30-1:30 MATADOR
2:00-3:00 NEW GENERATION
3:30-4:30 CONJUNTO FEAR
5:00-dusk HERMANOS QUATRO

APRIL 27th MAIN STAGE MUSIC
12:00-1:00 MARIACHI TESORO
1:30-2:30 LUCKY 7
3:00-4:00 GERTIE N THE TO BOYZ
5:00-dusk HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS

Visit FiestaGrandeAZ.com for all of the details!

What is Consciousness?

April 9, 2014 |
Illustration by Pop Narkotic

Illustration by Pop Narkotic

The question—as fundamental and mysterious as any in the universe—intrigues an array of scientists and philosophers today as it has for centuries.

Scientists, philosophers, researchers, scholars, artists, students and humanists from around the world will convene in Tucson this month to speak, listen, discuss, debate and present their ideas on the exact nature of consciousness.

The 2014 Toward A Science of Consciousness is the 20th anniversary of the landmark conference in Tucson that kicked off a new era of studies on the subject. The conference will reflect on the two decades of progress and dilemmas, current research and includes a “who’s who” list of presenters, including spiritual author/alternative medicine/holistic health guru Deepak Chopra, M.D., and world-renowned physicist and mathematician Sir Roger Penrose.

“Consciousness was kind of banned from science for most of the 20th century,” says Dr. Stuart Hameroff, director of the UA’s Center for Consciousness Studies. “William James popularized consciousness in psychology, but the behaviorists took over psychology and what became acceptable was anything you could measure. You can’t really measure consciousness, so consciousness became a dirty word for most of the 20th century and wasn’t really a scientific consideration.”

Hameroff, Professor Emeritus in the UA Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology, says the scientific study of consciousness—after being spurned for so many years—emerged again in the late 1980s. Eminent scientists like Francis Crick, Penrose and others began seriously addressing consciousness, publishing books on the subject and giving it a renewed scientific acceptability.

At first relegated to the realms of very particular fields in inquiry, consciousness studies began crossing and combining disciplines and competing views emerged. The viewpoints closely aligned with ancient philosophical approaches, one more Western in describing consciousness as a by-product of brain activity and one more Eastern in considering consciousness a primary basis for reality.

“There are two basic camps, one is the brain as a computer and the second is that the brain connects our thoughts to the fundamental level of the universe,” Hameroff says. “Both of these views have come a long way (since the 1994 conference).”

Though consciousness began moving into the scientific mainstream, prior to 1994 there were only conferences with specific focus—for example on philosophy of mind, Hindu spiritual approaches, neuroscience or artificial intelligence.

“It wasn’t until our conference in 1994 that you saw an integrated approach,” Hameroff says. “You bring everybody together under one umbrella and try to break down these barriers. That first was very successful. It was phenomenal experience that galvanized the interdisciplinary approach.”

Planning the initial 1994 conference, Hameroff and his UA colleagues Alfred Kaszniak in psychology, the late Alwyn Scott in mathematics and then conference manager Jim Laukes, didn’t know what to expect. The Internet had just begun connecting scientists and philosophers from around the globe and suddenly those shared interests could be explored free from geographic boundaries.

Hameroff describes a then-unknown philosopher, Australian David Chalmers, setting the tone. Chalmers, an Oxford-educated philosopher then a professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz, framed consciousness in just the right terms.

“He talked about how problems like memory, learning, attention and behavior were relatively easy compared to the really hard problem of how and why we have conscious experience,” Hameroff says. “We could have been non-conscious, robot-like zombies with no inner life. So how and why do we have feelings and awareness? That was the hard problem and at that moment, we knew why we were there.”

After the 1994 conference, there was great demand for a follow-up and the UA began hosting the conference every other year, helping to sponsor the off-year conferences at other sites around the world, in places such as: Naples, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden, among many other locales.

In 1998, with a grant from the Fetzer Institute, the UA’s Center for Consciousness Studies began, with Chalmers recruited to join the philosophy department and serve as the center’s director. Chalmers, who became the UA’s youngest-ever Regents’ Professor before returning to Australia, returns as a featured speaker for this year’s conference.

Hameroff, who continues a collaboration he began with Penrose at the 1994 conference on a well-known but controversial quantum theory of consciousness, says breakthroughs in quantum brain biology have them on the verge of catching up to the computationalists.

Illustration by Pop Narkotic

Illustration by Pop Narkotic

“Consciousness is a fundamental, irreducible part of the universe,” Hameroff says in describing his theory. “Rather than consciousness being a property of a particle, it’s a property of the fabric of the universe. The idea is that consciousness is intrinsic to the universe and it’s built into the universe, it’s ubiquitous, it’s everywhere and what the brain does is organize it.”

As far as the science, Hameroff says both approaches have seen great progress in the 20 years since the initial conference. Major strides in brain mapping join the advances in quantum mechanics in spurring on the competing views in their own ways and continuing to build excitement for consciousness as a field of study.

The conference—from Monday, April 21 to Saturday, April 26—is expected to draw 800 scientists, philosophers, experientialists, artists and students from more than 60 countries to the University Park Marriott Hotel, 880 E. 2nd St. Seating is limited and registration is required. In addition to the keynote, Penrose will also give a public talk on astrophysics on April 21 at the UA’s Steward Observtory, 933 N. Cherry Ave.

The conference will feature presenters on both sides of the quantum-computational divide, as well as discussions of subjectivity and objectivity, near-death and out-of-body experiences, Eastern spiritual approaches, mind uploading and a revisiting of Chalmers’ “hard problem.”

Just as the Toward a Science of Consciousness conference made its mark on the world 20 years ago, this year’s version promises to define the leading edges of consciousness studies for the next decades of breakthroughs. And, Hameroff says, the UA’s prominent role in the field continues to draw global attention.

“What the future will bring, we don’t know,” Hameroff says. “Certainly in an interdisciplinary way, the conference and our center did put the University of Arizona on the map in terms of consciousness studies around the world. Ironically, on campus we’re not all that well appreciated. But worldwide, we’re very well known.”

The conference runs from Monday, April 21 to Saturday, April 26. Registration fees are $450-$550, with additional costs for workshops and other activities. For more information, visit Consciousness.arizona.edu.

Ryanhood’s Return

April 5, 2014 |

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”
– Theodore Roosevelt

Ryanhood Start SomewhereAfter a couple of years of lying low due to music business and touring burn out, Tucson’s power-pop duo Ryanhood released a gorgeously melodic, folksy, acoustic guitar-driven 12-track disk at the end of 2013. The two 32-year-olds, Ryan Green and Cameron Hood, have scribed lilting songs on Start Somewhere that show a Zen growth, themes that arise from experiencing deep disappointments and coming out the other side spiritually as a Phoenix rising. The album’s song Sickbed Symphony recently garnered the band recognition from the 2014 International Acoustic Music Awards as the “Best Group/Duo.”

Recorded locally at Super Pro Studios, the sound is beautifully clean and clear, wonderfully rendering the acoustic tracks that convey positive messages of hope, acceptance, change, growth, and a better understanding of life’s lessons. Highlights of those motifs are in How to Let it Go—a soaring, upbeat account of the struggle to release jealousy and fear; Sickbed Symphony—a sweet, heart-wrenching tune about facing death and finding the best in life: “don’t bother with complaint ‘cause life ain’t the way it ain’t… make your lives a song, a simple symphony, may your melodies be soft and strong… train your eyes to see all the beauty that is in-between, train your lips to make a joyful noise.”

Lifetime continues with a message of pro-active growth, “I keep on waiting on the way it could be and missing everything in front of me; don’t want to anymore. So I make a list of all the things I could do and face everything inside of me that I’m scared to lose.”

Subsequent tracks, Lover’s Lament, The Moon, and Start Somewhere encapsulate the issues we all face—living in the past, not believing in ourselves, and realizing that anything worth doing is difficult.

There are also poignant instrumentals—Red Line Reel, Dillinger Days, and Motels—plus some really tender love songs: Summer Rain, Say It So and All About You.

The album is powerfully genuine, and Ryanhood should be applauded for having the courage and sense of self to be so open-hearted in a hard, cruel world.

Ryanhood Start Somewhere

Ryan Green & Cameron Hood

In an email interview, Cameron and Ryan offer their insight on the album and the songs.

I love the positive themes of hope, acceptance, love, living in the moment, growth, moving on… are these themes mostly revolving around the lessons learned from trying to break into the national scene and music industry? Along with past/present romantic relationships? Family relationships?

Cameron: Absolutely. Both. I would say, for me, the biggest theme is about accepting and loving what I have now, instead of believing I’ll only be happy later, once some objective has been reached. Like, once we’re playing a certain size of theatre, or have won a certain kind of award, or once a certain number of people know who we are. Or romantically, once I’m with so and so, and we live in a certain size of house. There’s a line from the song “Lover’s Lament” that goes, “If I say I’ll be happy when/Do I keep myself unhappy ’til then? And if I don’t like this moment, how will I like the next?/ It’s probably gonna be, probably gonna feel a lot like this.” So I am learning everyday to enjoy what I have. That way, as we do achieve those things, I stand a chance of actually enjoying them, because I’m already enjoying my life now. 

Those messages of change, growth, understanding of life come through powerfully in “How To Let It Go,” “Sickbed Symphony,” “Lifetime,” “Lover’s Lament,” “The Moon,” “Start Somewhere.” What happenstances lead to scribing those songs? 

Cameron: Our last record, After Night Came Sun, was, for my part, about the collapse of a relationship I was in. And as a band, it was about the fatigue of beating our heads against a door we didn’t know how to open. It was a chronicle of things falling apart, and though there was a hint of restoration and hope by the end of that record, I think the songs on this record pick up where the last one left off. “How to Let it Go” and “The Moon” are about the troublesome practice of looking for your worth in someone else’s eyes. “Lifetime” and “Start Somewhere” are songs that take stock of where we are musically, professionally; that search for strength to move forward. I can understand if it sounds overly-dramatic to talk about the difficulty of moving forward, the fatigue of being in a band. It’s like; “What do these guys do all day, make music? How hard can that be?” But it’s a marriage, and a friendship, and a perpetual road trip, and business venture all at once, all the time. And as with any business venture, you have to sell a product. But when you’re selling your own art—your own thoughts and feelings—your heart is on the line constantly. If people come to the shows, and buy your record, and give your album positive reviews, you feel great. When they don’t, you don’t. I think this album is about slowly getting out of that entire way of thinking.

What other experiences did y’all cull from to write the songs? During what time period were the songs written? 

Cameron: The album opener, “Red Line Reel” was written a few weeks before we went into the studio, and the first drafts of “Start Somewhere” date back to before we make The World Awaits.

I see album was recorded between Oct. 10-13, 2013 locally. Who runs Super Pro Studios and why did Ryanhood decide to record there?

Ryan: It’s run by our friend Ryan Alfred, who I went to Berklee College of Music with. We’ve been longtime friends and musical collaborators. We both have a lot of trust and respect for each other, which helps immensely when making recording/songwriting decisions, and working with him has helped us to turn the page from prioritizing perfect performances and to focus on capturing moving and compelling ones. He also produced our previous album After Night Came Sun and those two records are our personal favorites.

What are the combined influencesmusical & otherwisethat inspires the songs? Who are some of your music heroes?

Ryan: My musical heroes tend to be amazing instrumentalists, like Chris Thile, Béla Fleck, Michael Gungor, Tim Reynolds, Joe Satriani. They’ve all inspired me to stretch my approach to playing and writing in new ways. 

Cameron: Most of my heroes are songwriting guitar players: David Gilmour, Lindsey Buckingham, Lennon & McCartney. Though I have a lot of room in my heart—an arena even—for Bono. He’s easy to love and to hate. But I am moved at the way he takes the crowd to church, at almost every show. Lots of church services feel like concerts these days, but I still find it amazing that so many U2 concerts feel like spiritual experiences to so many people. How does he do that?

How long have the two of you been playing together? More than a decade! How did y’all end up living in Boston and busking back in the day? What time frame is that? 

Cameron: Ryan invited me out to Boston after he’d graduated from Berklee and I graduated from the U of A. It was summer, 2004. I lived on his sunroom porch and we sold our only CD, Sad and Happiness, busking in the subway and at Quincy Market. Ryan convinced me that we could make a living just from playing music, at least for that summer. And we just never stopped.

What are your future plans? Staying local? Keeping on with the music?

Ryan: Lately we’ve been trying out a new touring model where we do shorter, week-long regional tours (our last tour was a week’s worth of shows in the Northeast… in June we’ll be doing a week of shows up the California coast). This model has been great… we’re always fresh and excited about the shows and don’t burn-out from months on the road at a time. And it allows us to be with our friends and family quite often, which is great. We plan to continue touring regionally like this for the foreseeable future.

Congrats on this year’s IAMA award! When was that announced? When did Ryanhood enter the 2014 International Acoustic Music Awards competition? Had you tried to get into that before?

Ryan: The IAMA awards were announced on February 14, 2014. I think we had entered the competition once before, back in 2009, behind the release of our album The World Awaits. We felt like the new album was so heavily centered around our acoustic guitars again that the material might work well for the competition so we entered again towards the end of 2013. And to our surprise, we won!

Regarding the gig on April 12 @ Harlow Gardens. I’ve been there once, many many moons ago. I didn’t realize it was a music venue! How did that show come about?

Ryan: In the past year or two, Harlow Gardens has started to host acoustic concerts during the cool spring evenings. It’s a really nice setup, starting with wine and appetizers beforehand, followed by two sets of music. It only holds about 200 people so it’s a pretty intimate affair, compared to a Rialto Theatre show for example. We’re friends with a great bluegrass band called Run Boy Run who had performed there, and we heard great things from them about it, so when Harlow Gardens contacted us about playing there as well, we were in. It should be a nice contrast to the bigger and flashier shows we’ve tried to put on at the Rialto Theatre… we’re hoping to take it in more of a ‘Storytellers’ direction, taking advantage of the intimate seating and making it more conversational.

Ryanhood performs at Harlow Gardens, 5620 E. Pima St., on Saturday, April 12. Tickets are $25, which includes appetizers and drinks at 6 p.m. Concert starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at Harlow Gardens or by phone (520) 298-3303 option 4.Visit Ryanhood.com or HarlowGardens.com for more information. The group also is schedule to play at the Tucson Folk Festival on Sunday, May 4 at 7 p.m.

Ryan Green & Cameron Hood

Ryan Green & Cameron Hood


The Carnivaleros: Western Swing to Tasty Americana

April 5, 2014 |

The Carnivaleros Album Cover web 1Front man Gary Mackender and his all-star team of musicians bring eleven tunes—five instrumentals and six with lyrics—to life on The Carnivaleros’ latest offering, “Strictly Tabu.” The album’s musical styles are varied and each track is truthful to its particular genre; from western swing, waltzes and polka to just flat tasty Americana and more. Replete with virtuoso performers, the recording features Mitzi Cowell on some spine-tingling slide electric guitar, Greg Mackender on banjo, saw, and that oddball instrument the theremin, and Karl Hoffmann on bass.

The horn section (Dante and Marco Rosano, Karla Brownlee, Rick Peron) particularly shines on the instrumental tracks. The clarinet lead by Marco Rosano on Supper Club Musician is as achingly and beautifully sad as the the song’s lyrics about a down-and-out magician headed for a dark end in the gutter.

Maricopa County’s own Joe Arpaio comes in for some epic treatment in the cut Sheriff Joe. Skip it if you are apolitical or an Arpaio fan. Otherwise, it is a hoot!

The Carnivaleros are slated for seven dates in April and May, with a new line-up that includes: Karl Hoffmann on bass, Les Merrihew on drums, Brett Knickerbocker on vocals and acoustic guitar, Joe Fanning on electric guitar and Jeff Grubic on saxophone.

Catch the band’s radio performance on KXCI 91.3FM on Thursday, April 10 at 5 p.m. with “The Home Stretch” host Cathy Rivers. They also play at 2nd Saturdays on April 12, starting at 7:30 p..m., at Boondocks Lounge, 3306 N. 1st Ave., on Sunday, April 13 and at the Folk Festival on Sunday, May 4.

There’s many ways to see them, and many ways to enjoy them. Bring your dancing shoes, as these tunes will move the feet!

More information is available at Carnivaleros.com.

Tidbits

April 4, 2014 |

Jazz Performances @ Main Gate Square

Whether you are a jazz buff or someone interested in live entertainment, the concerts Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance are hosting this month are sure to inspire. The shows take place at Main Gate Square on April 4 and April 18 at 7 p.m. in Geronimo Plaza, 814 E. University Blvd.

The UA Studio Jazz Ensemble—comprised of the most prestigious student musicians from the university— perform on April 4. The ensemble earned the UA Global Excellence Award in 2013 after showing off their talents in two tours through China. The April 18 concert features soul, jazz and R&B vocalist Crystal Stark. A graduate from the University of Arizona, Stark later made it into the top 44 contestants in the fifth season of American Idol. Parking is free after 5 p.m. in the Tyndall Garage, 880 E. 4th St.

For more information about the concerts, visit SAACA.org, MainGateSquare.com or call (520) 797-3959.

Ethan Bortnick, 13-year-old protégé, Performs in Tucson

World-known musician and humanitarian Ethan Bortnick is performing at Pima Community College’s Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Rd., on Saturday, April 5 at 7 p.m. At only 13-years-old, Bortnick has performed with stars like Elton John and Santana, holds the Guinness World Record for youngest musician to tour solo, and has raised more than $30 million for charity.

During the concert, Bortnick will cover classic pop tunes from artists like Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and Elton John. His performance will also feature songs he composed that are in his newly released movie, Anything is Possible. Bortnick will also engage audience participation with a Q&A and improvisational segments.

Tickets cost $39 each, and may be purchased at EthanBortnick.com/PowerOfMusicTV.

Sam Hughes Garden Tour

Seven private Sam Hughes homes are opening up their gardens for the public to admire on Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.     photo courtesy Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association

Seven private Sam Hughes homes are opening up their gardens to the public on Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
photo courtesy Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association

Seven private Sam Hughes homeowners and two public properties are opening up their gardens for the public to admire on Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The two-mile, self-guided tour through the historical neighborhood offers attendees a chance to check out outdoor architectural decorations, sculptures, a certified wildlife habitat garden, a backyard chicken coop, and a hummingbird garden. The neighborhood’s phenology trail, which shows the progression and changes of plant and animal life over time, will also be open to onlookers.

Tickets are $10 for adults, and entry is free for children. Tickets may be purchased between 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. the day of the tour at the Inner Courtyard of Sam Hughes Elementary School, 700 N. Wilson Ave. Parking for the tour is free, and can be found around the neighborhood.

Visit SamHughes.org for more information.

Pennington Street Block Party

From April 11-13, Tucson Service Learning Group is hosting the 26th Global Youth Service Days: an international community service event held in over 100 countries that celebrates youth’s contributions to society.

The Pennington Street Block Party, coordinated by City High School and the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, will kick off the international campaign for community change from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, April 11. The event happens along Downtown’s Pennington Street, between Stone and Scott Avenues.

At 4 p.m., the block party will hold a ceremony where the Ray Davies Student Service Award will be presented to an all-around honorable student. To receive the award, mentors nominate students who have a finely tuned sense of community, while demonstrating leadership and compassion for others. The award was named after the reputable Human Relations Commission member, Ray Davies. Other activities include:  musical performances, teaching demos, interactive booths, street theater, art exhibits, carnival games, and more.

For more information about the event, visit CityHighSchool.org, TucsonSLG.org and GYSD.org.

Sink Your Roots into Sonoran X

Sonoran_X_LOGO-2Plant lovers unite for the Tucson Cactus & Succulent Society’s Sonoran X Conference! This year’s theme is “Plants for the Sonoran Desert Hobbyists,” a showcase of unique cacti and hybrid plants from around the world. The plant conference is on Saturday, April 19 from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. and Sunday, April 20 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at 475 N. Granada Ave.

Registered attendees will get a glimpse of grandeur member collections, participate in workshops, listen to five guest speakers, and enjoy two lunches and a dinner. The $50 registration takes place in the lobby from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 8 a.m. until noon on Sunday. Attendants who do not wish to register will still have access to the plant showings, a silent auction and the pottery, book, art and plant sales.

For more information about the conference and how to register, visit TucsonCactus.org or call (520) 256-2447.

Earth Day $1 Sale

Another segment of Buffalo Exchange’s 40th anniversary celebrations include its Earth Day Dollar Sale on Saturday, April 19. All 49 Buffalo Exchanges nationwide will raise proceeds from $1 ticket items and donate the funds directly to Tucson’s Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Last year, the event raised a total of $43,000, which was donated to the Humane Society. This year’s funds will go to supporting and preserving the outdoor living museum’s “Pollination Hotspots” program. The program works to conserve, sustain and analyze the variation of seed production levels across the Sonoran Desert.

For more information about the museum and Buffalo Exchange, visit DesertMuseum.org and BuffaloExchange.com.

Tucson’s First Open Water Swim Triathlon

5430 Sports has coordinated Tucson’s first open water triathlon: Welcome, the 5430 TriZona Triathlon, happening on Sunday, April 27. Participants will face a 3.5 mile run, a 14.5 mile bike ride and 750 meter swim in the 10-acre Kennedy Lake. (Turner Labs discovered the water flowing into Kennedy Lake to be safe for not only swimming, but also drinking, according to 5430Sports.com.) Swimmers will begin the initial “wave,” or one lap swim, at the southeast corner of the lake. They will then head clockwise and finish at the southwest corner, where they will strip their wetsuits and start the run.

The first, second and third place winners from each age group will be awarded hand-made trophies. Registration for the triathlon is $90 if purchased by April 25.

For more information about the triathlon and how to enter, visit 5430Sports.com/TriZona.

April’s Bicycle Hullabaloos

April 3, 2014 |
Cyclists of all ages and abilities participate in Cyclovia. photo: Kathleen Dreier/Esens Photography

Cyclists of all ages and abilities participate in Cyclovia.
photo: Kathleen Dreier/Esens Photography

Paolo Soleri, the architectural mastermind often credited as the grandfather of sustainability, saw the city as earth’s newest organism. More accurately, he called the city a “hyperorganism,” meaning that it exhibits traits of a living thing (consuming materials, putting out waste, supporting the lives of smaller organisms), but that it lacks the self-governing mechanisms (like a brain) that are available to truly organic things. To Soleri this meant one of two things for cities in general—either a transition to hyper-organization, or degradation into chaos. And by choosing to become so reliant on the automobile to get around our cities, Soleri would say we have been choosing chaos for nearly a century.

“What has been happening in the last few generations,” Soleri said in a 2012 talk to students at his famous experimental city, Arcosanti, Arizona, “is that we are no longer persons, but we are car persons. Because the car has become such a familiar part of the family, an indispensable presence in our lives, we are not separable from the car itself… we have accepted the motorized hermitage of a person in a car.”

Enter the Living Streets Alliance (LSA). According to Kylie Walzak, event coordinator for Cyclovia Tucson (a project of LSA’s Bike Fest), LSA is “Tucson’s non-profit organization working toward a more sustainable city and safer, more people-oriented street design.”

This April marks the fifteenth year of Tucson’s annual Bike Fest, which started in 1991 as “Bike to Work Week,” but has evolved over time into the month-long celebration of all things pedal-powered that it is today.

“The festival is not about the bicycle as much as it is about imagining what our streets could look like if we allowed equal access to them,” says Walzak. “Right now they’re very dominated by one type of transportation—the personal vehicle… Our streets are public spaces but they’re not publicly accessible to everybody.” Walzak explains that taking cars off of the road and opening the streets up to safe bicycle and pedestrian traffic “humanizes (a) landscape that’s often dominated by the loud noise and fast pace of cars.”

And that’s just what the organization is doing.

Cyclists of all ages and abilities participate in Cyclovia. photo: Kathleen Dreier/Esens Photography

Cyclists of all ages and abilities participate in Cyclovia.
photo: Kathleen Dreier/Esens Photography

Twice a year, LSA takes over a loop of pavement in either Downtown or midtown Tucson for the bi-annual Cyclovia event, which makes the vision of public streets imagined by the likes of Soleri and Walzak a reality, at least in microcosm. Modeled after similar events that have become extremely popular in places like Bogotá, Columbia (Cyclovia comes from the Spanish ciclovia, or “cycle street”), this spring’s affair will link the neighborhoods of Downtown and South Tucson with a roughly 10-mile corridor of car-free roads.

Perhaps the most exciting part of Cyclovia 2014 is the fact that two independent music festivals are flanking the north and south ends of the loop along South Sixth and South Fourth Avenues. To the north, Armory Park hosts the first ever Tucson Hullabaloo—a Flagstaff transplant that has been voted Best Annual Event by Flagstaff Live! (a weekly alternative magazine) four-years running, and to the south, the City of South Tucson stages a mini-revival of their Norteño Music Festival at Tucson Greyhound Park with Feria De Sur Tucson.

Though Cyclovia is undeniably the pinnacle of Bike Fest, events will be held throughout the month of April in observance of the festival. Walzak says, for instance, that the folks behind the local Tuesday Night Bike Rides are putting on a bike-in movie series in secret locations throughout the city only accessible to non-motorized modes of transportation, and the two-mile commuter challenge will run citywide the entire month long.

Ann Chanecka, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the City of Tucson, says that an estimated 43 percent of all trips (yes, that means ALL trips) are less than two miles long, and that a whopping 85 percent of those trips are still made by car—a fact she attributes largely to a lack of bicycle accessibility in the city. She says that, in addition to the $5.5 million put into bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure last year, the City of Tucson is poised to invest another $5 million this year, including the installation this summer of Tucson’s first physically protected bike lane, along St. Mary’s Road between I-10 and Main Street. By making bike lanes safer and getting more of its citizens on bicycles, the goal is to take Tucson’s community rating from the Legion of American Bicyclists from Gold to Platinum—a designation shared by only four cities nationwide.

photo: Kathleen Dreier/Esens Photography

photo: Kathleen Dreier/Esens Photography

Even Mayor Jonathan Rothschild is weighing in on the importance of bicycles to our community—he’s agreed to join in on the two-mile commuter challenge himself, for one. He says that, not only are alternative modes of transportation like bicycling and walking great for the environment, making bike safety and accessibility a priority in Tucson will help supplement the local economy. In addition to their obvious appeal to cycle-loving tourists and as an alternative source of transportation, Mayor Rothschild says that tech companies are looking to associate their businesses with bike friendly towns. “We have found, and studies have shown, that the folks that are going to be the economic drivers of the next generation… love bicycling and want to be in communities where there is a strong bike ethic,” says the Mayor.

Mayor Rothschild is also quick to talk about the personal benefits of stepping away from your car once-in-a-while: on a bike, he says, “you really get to know your city better… life moves just a little slower, although not much slower, but slow enough to where you notice [things in] your neighborhood” you might otherwise have missed.

Perhaps that’s why bikes seem to be making such a strong resurgence as a primary mode of getting from A to B—says Walzak, “it’s fair to say that the bicycle has reached mythical proportions in terms of marketing and cool cachet.”

If only that were true when I was in high school.

Bike Fest is ongoing throughout the month of April. More info at BikeFestTucson.com. Cyclovia takes place on April 6 from 10am-3pm, CycloviaTucson.org. Feria De Sur Tucson runs concurrently with Cyclovia and is free to attend, see FeriaDeSurTucson.com. Tucson Hullabaloo, TucsonHulla.com, runs April 5-6 from 10am-9pm on Saturday, 10am-8pm on Sunday. Tickets are $5 or free to the first 500 people with two cans of food.

Hilarious Homegrown Theater

April 3, 2014 |
The cast of "Kill Grandpa" rehearing in March. Pictured, left to right, is Tony Ecstat, Nell Summers, Maria Fletcher, with Callie Hutchison on the couch. photo: Craig Baker

The cast of “Kill Grandpa” rehearing in March. Pictured, left to right, is Tony Ecstat, Nell Summers, Maria Fletcher, with Callie Hutchison on the couch.
photo: Craig Baker

Local playwright Peré Summers never aspired to write humor. In fact, until she retired two years ago, Summers spent her previous life as an occupational therapist—a job she once described as “being in a new play every forty-five minutes.” In her capacity as a medical professional she says she published a handful of papers in journals and presented at international conferences, but writing plays—especially comedic plays—had never crossed her mind. “I’m surprised that I have a sense of humor,” says Summers with an enthusiastic smile, “my mother never thought I did.”

Summers’ mother, who she describes as “the Wicked Witch of the West,” found her way into her daughter’s first play (titled A Pain in the Aunt) as the lead character in a production that ran for six weeks at the Comedy Playhouse last year. She says the reception was good enough that they asked her back for round two, and a number of Playhouse regulars have even been asking about when another play by Summers might surface. Well, the wait is over.

Her most recent effort—a comedy of familial errors in two acts titled Let’s Kill Grandpa—is at times laugh-out-loud funny. In it, the audience is welcomed into the home of the loveable-yet-dysfunctional Daggot family; Grandpa died over a year ago and the Daggots failed to notify the social security office, or anyone else for that matter. Now, with the family fortune missing and their secret under threat of exposure, the Daggots decide to “kill” Grandpa once-and-for-all to collect on his life insurance policy. The resulting ride of ridiculousness is nothing short of delightful.

Both acts are set in just one room of the house, with a view of the front stoop and entryway providing the opportunity for some hilariously ironic moments. The play is written specifically for the Comedy Playhouse and its team, where Summers’ daughter Nell both acts and directs. Because Summers is so familiar with the small theater’s available resources, the constraints that might limit other productions actually benefit Summers’ work. She writes her roles to the players’ strengths, wittily incorporates available props and costumes, and says she genuinely has fun doing it. And it’s a good thing since no one at the Comedy Playhouse sees any payment for their work—these guys are all there literally for the love of the art form.

If you weren’t searching for the Comedy Playhouse at First Avenue and Prince Road you’d likely drive right by without seeing it. The building is set back from the road about two-hundred yards in a single-story adobe complex that looks as if it were built in the late 1970s and left to manage itself. The theater is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall—one of those places that always seems to be occupied by either a military recruitment office or a karate school. But in this thirty-by-sixty foot space humbly located behind a coin-operated laundry and a tattoo parlor, a handful of local drama buffs are leaving it all on stage more than 150 times per year.

Bruce Bieszki, owner and operator of the Playhouse, got the troupe together in its current space after the Top Hat Theater closed down five years ago. Bieszki says he’s not expecting any “big life epiphanies” to take place in his thirty-two seat arena since he sticks pretty much exclusively to mystery and comedy shows. “My goal is to make you walk out the door feeling better than when you walked in,” says Bieszki, “what I’m offering is two pleasant hours.” And that’s just what patrons of the Playhouse can expect to get.

The Comedy Playhouse is located at 3620 N. First Ave. Performances of “Let’s Kill Grandpa” run this month on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through May 4. Tickets are $18 general admission, $16 for students and seniors. For more information or to make reservations, call (520) 260-6442 or visit TheComedyPlayhouse.com.