MUSIC

Sonic Storytelling

September 2, 2017 | Jamie Manser

Photo by Shelly Black

Under an August noon, Chris Black handed me his recently pressed CDs, Lullabies & Nightmares: Chamber Music Vol. 1 and Downtown Suite & Cooper Must Die. I told him, “I only know how to write about this based on the vibes I get from the music. I’m not a classically trained musician.” He smiled and said, “That’s okay, neither am I.”

Be that as it may, Black’s recent releases are songs he wrote for ChamberLab – an alt-classical concert series he created over seven years ago to bring “new music to different audiences in strange rooms and from unlikely sources.”

It’s easy to confuse ChamberLab and these Chris Black releases. “ChamberLab, the concert series,” he explains, “is its own thing, and this release is a collection of music which I hope will have a life beyond that. So, it’s not a ChamberLab show – it’s all about good old Chris Black, who wrote a bunch of chamber music, and here it is.”

The “bunch of chamber music” Black refers to is a collection of fascinating tunes, comprised of a captivating conglomeration of notes that weave together mesmerizing tales. It’s sonic storytelling. Through music, Black creates interesting scenes and evokes a wide-range of emotions. To sit with these albums, and close out the world, is endlessly interesting with its compositions performed on instruments that most people aren’t exposed to on a regular basis. When was the last time you could say you really dug how the double bass and bassoon reminded you of a stern buffalo who was trying to impart ancient wisdom that shouldn’t be ignored?

Lullabies & Nightmares is a 15-song soundtrack to the script in your brain. Some tunes are filled with suspense and tension, conveying treachery and darkness; other are upbeat, playful and heartening. Different songs bring forth unique and distinct characters and situations, some are pragmatic and logical, others are insistent, haughty and inquisitive, while a couple of pieces have sections that are tenderly romantic and convey loving sweetness. One of the tracks, which imparted a sense of sneaking along in the dark, brought to mind the book “Where the Wild Things Are.” It’s cerebral entertainment.

The Downtown Suite, as noted on the album sleeve, is “a set of double reed duets inspired by the ever-changing landscape of downtown Tucson,” while Cooper Must Die is a “dense, claustrophobic story for string trio and narrator.”

For the upcoming CD release, “Lullabies and Nightmares will be performed nearly in its entirety,” said Black, “and excerpts from Downtown Suite and Cooper Must Die will be performed as well.

“I’m delighted to say that Gabriel Sullivan (who recorded the albums) will be available that night to perform the narration from Cooper Must Die. This is wonderful news, as he’s awesome, and I can’t play the bass and talk at the same time. Sing, yes, but talk, no. I certainly can’t mutter.”

The CD release is Friday, Sept. 8 at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave. The $10 concert features the original recording ensembles with members of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Grammy Award-winning True Concord Voices and Orchestra. The musicians are: Mindi Acosta, flute; Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon; Chris Black, double bass; Samantha Bounkeua, violin; Jessica Campbell, bassoon and contrabassoon; Cat Cantrell, oboe and English horn; Anne Gratz, cello; Daniel Hursey, bassoon.

Learn more about all of this at ChrisBlackMusic.com.

Q&A with Chris Black

What drew you to chamber music as a creative outlet? What keeps you interested?

Chris Black
Photo by Shelly Black

Chamber music, as distinct from playing in bands, appeals to me because of the variety of acoustic sounds, from strings to brass to reeds and double reeds, right down to the monstrous contrabassoon. There’s a lot you can do with this that you can’t find in your guitar/bass/drums power trio, no matter how many effects pedals you pile up. Another thing is the incredible skill and musicianship of classical musicians, who can take a piece of music and bring a deep, living performance out of it, often at first sight. They display strengths in areas you don’t find in the non-classical world, just as non-classical performers have strengths in areas that are practically unknown on the other side of the fence. I love to find the places where these strengths overlap, or where they may thrive out of context. This classical/non-classical situation could actually be the subject of a long article in itself, and an interesting one, and one I don’t think I’ve seen in print before. I could go on and on. It’s just a lot of fun.

When did you compose the songs on these albums? How long was the process from writing to recording to the CD release?

These songs have been composed here and there over the last five years. At some point I realized I had accumulated a nice collection of music, and that I had better get it all into the studio before it is lost. The actual sessions in the studio totaled only about ten hours, which is really unbelievably fast for the amount of music involved. These performers are incredibly talented.

I noticed the nightmares are longer than the lullabies.

Yes, that’s true. Nightmares are more my strong suite, historically. The three lullabies surprised most people who know me when I wrote them. They were unaware that I could write pretty music! Also, there is a certain amount of improvisation in the nightmares, which opens up the form a bit. Most of the lullabies and nightmares began their lives as solo bass pieces, which I expanded for the ensemble at hand.

I like how the songs have different stories and vibes. It runs from film noir and suspense to romantic and horror. Are these genres you enjoy in film?

This probably comes from reading more than film, but I do love noir in all its media. I’m on a Raymond Chandler binge right now, for example, and not for the first time. One of my first chamber pieces was a suite of music inspired by characters in James Ellroy novels. In general, and I’m not sure why, I have always written music that seems to set some sort of scene, and those scenes have most often been darker, dirtier, and maybe a little bent.

Cooper Must Die has this Kafka, David Lynch vibe. What inspired that piece?

As grim as it seems, this piece was a straightforward effort to portray what it felt like to be me. I wanted to write a soundtrack for my inner life, and I wanted others to be able to hear it and understand. I think I succeeded. It was a bad breakup that lingered for a long time. I’m happy to say that I’m better, and my inner life is much, much brighter these days. Cooper’s okay. Everyone’s okay.

What inspired these songs?

Bassoon Trios

The first three musicians who joined us after the first ChamberLab concert were all bassoonists, and a friend of mine suggested that bassoon trios would be very popular, so I wrote them, and they were!

Lullabies & Nightmares

My wife and I were listening to the radio, and they just played a lullaby by maybe Brahms or someone, and I said, “No one writes lullabies anymore, ” and my wife said, “You should!” So I did, and I added the nightmares because that’s how I roll.

Back to Bed and You Are Alone

These are both pieces from an in-progress Choose-You-Own-Adventure suite called Everything Happens for a Reason, where the listener makes decisions that lead to the next song. We had a trial run of it a few years back, which you can see here.

Downtown Suite

This was a piece commissioned by the Kontra-Cor Duo in 2012. It’s a set of scenes from Tucson’s downtown, along Congress St. between Wig-O-Rama and the Hotel Congress, from sunrise to sunset. The real-life inspiration for the music is given in each title. The online album cover is a photo I took of the curb outside the Red Room/Grill after the fire.

Trio

This is my favorite thing I’ve ever written.

Magnetic Anomaly

July 6, 2017 | Carl Hanni

Cobra Family Picnic, “Magnetic Anomaly.” Cover art by Italian artist Mariano Peccinetti.

Cobra Family Picnic
Magnetic Anomaly
Sky Lantern/Cardinal Fuzz Records

Imagine a terrestrial cobra family picnic: some packrat samosas, perhaps a coconut mongoose curry and a birds egg lassi, laid out in a jungle glade somewhere, a tiger roaring in the background for atmosphere.

Then imagine an extraterrestrial cobra family picnic, as papa cobra, mama cobra and junior cobra sets the controls for deep space and enjoy some freeze-dried something or other before settling down for a millennium long deep sleep. Wa-la! Magnetic Anomaly by Cobra Family Picnic.

Cobra Family Picnic are firmly grounded here in the Tucson quadrant, but they clearly have their gaze set on distant cosmological horizons, and possibly other dimensions, as well. It’s spelled out right on the back cover of their new, full length Magnetic Anomaly release (following the Music For Lava Lamps EP in 2015), which has a song – broken into three parts – called, you bet, “Interplanetary Travel.” And the first track, “Draags,” starts out with a sample of a transmission from one of the Apollo moon missions, leaving any ambiguity about the direction the band is going behind. The four additional tracks on the LP, and five on the CD (“Elysium,” “Frost,” “Gilgamesh,” “Moody Mountain,” plus an epic, un-marked extra track) are all more-or-less cut out of the same hard crystal and titanium material of some of their musical predecessors on their own trips to the edge of the universe: the long and winding space jam.

Cobra Family Picnic 2 These ain’t your mama’s patchouli drenched, meandering Dead jams or Dave Matthew’s collegiate festival jams; these are more akin to the explosive, high volume jams that Can perfected back in the early 1970s, or some of Hawkwind’s more exploratory missions, and are definitely kissing cousin to Pink Floyd’s ultimate rocket-ship manifesto, “Astronomy Domine.” In other words, Cobra Family Picnic work on the dark and disorienting side of psychedelia, where achieving lift-off is more likely to involve a one way ticket to oblivion rather than incense and peppermints. Modern day psychedelia hasn’t been abbreviated to simply ‘psych’ for no reason, after all: if you sometimes feel like yr trapped in a rubber room in a psych ward at a show, well…say hi to Roky Erickson while you’re there.

But perhaps it’s a disservice to called these tracks jams, a term that comes with some baggage; they may be jam-like in their winding-out, cyclical structure, but they are definitely songs. Most of the principal tracks here are built up from Boyd Peterson’s pulsating bass lines and Daniel Thomas’ hard hitting, steady drumming. Lesli Woods’ tripped-out keyboard work adds color, nuance and texture, while echo-drenched vocalist Randall Demsey does a great job of emoting into the void (especially on “Elysium,” which also features Richard Young on guitar), although his voice is a little to low in the mix to be dominant, and functions as much as another instrument as in the traditional front man role. Wood shines on the three-part “Interplanetary Travel,” where the band’s forward thrust is dialed back to idle, and they drift into hazy, ambient territory.

But enough beating around it: much of the ultimate prize and power of Magnetic Anomaly lies with Connor Gallaher’s dramatic display of electric guitar dimension-bending. Pick a song here – any song – and revel in the sweep and wide angle lens scope of his playing. It’s no news to anyone with their ear to the ground in Tucson that Gallaher is a uniquely talented and gifted string bender (including his work elsewhere on the pedal steel guitar), and this release is likely to clue some of the rest of the world in as well, certainly in psych-friendly Europe, where they will eat this up like crazy. On Magnetic Anomaly he has an apparently endless supply of new moves and shifting tonal approaches up his sleeve, seemingly tapping into the particulate flow of the universe itself. We in Tucson are lucky to count him as one of our own; at least for now.

Members of Cobra Family Picnic are all veterans of other Tucson bands, several with their feet in the modern psych movement, including Wight Lhite, Night Collectors, Desert Beats, Silver Cloud Express and Saint Maybe. Following the path of other local psych acts like The Myrrors, they have their sights set on Europe, which generally has a greater appreciation for our locally grown and nurtured talent than the rest of the U.S. does. Both their Cardinal Fuzz and Tucson-based Sky Lantern labels have high profiles in Euro psych circles, so success there almost seems like a given.

Magnetic Anomaly was produced by the band, and recorded at Jim Waters’ Waterworks Studios here in Tucson, with Waters doing the engineering. Just having Waters behind the board is a huge plus, and the record sounds dynamic and rich, with a pleasing depth in the mix, and so many sparks flying off Gallaher’s guitar it’s a wonder the studio didn’t catch on fire.

Who can blame us for craving a little off-planet escape in these strange times? Magnetic Anomaly can take you there, even if it’s for less than an hour and you remain essentially where you started; but, like the saying says, it’s the journey, more than the destination.

Zocalo Magazine July-August 2017 Edition

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Not Your Mama’s Mother’s Day Benefit

May 3, 2017 | Jamie Manser

The vivacious Jillian Bessett – leader and singer/songwriter, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist of Tucson’s beloved Jillian & The Giants – is spearheading a concert fundraiser for Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse on May 13. You should go.

Here are 10 reasons why.

The incredible event line-up:

The Surfbroads: “Hot Broads Playing Cool Surf”
Jillian & The Giants: “Indie Rock with Soul”
Street Blues Family: “Neo-soul, Jazz, Rock, Blues, Hip-Hop, Gospel”
Tales From The Trash: “One Delightfully Trashy Mother’s Day Themed Art Pop Up”
Emcee Extraordinaire: Stephen Boughton

Five reasons for social justice:

One in four women and one in seven men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.¹
A portion of the proceeds benefit Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse.
Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse provides domestic abuse crisis intervention and housing, prevention, education, support, and advocacy services to anyone experiencing domestic abuse.²
In Arizona, first- and second-time domestic violence offenders are not charged with domestic violence; only the third incident is charged as domestic violence. First and second offenders are charged with offenses that then have ‘domestic violence flags’ attached.³
There were 109 domestic violence-related deaths in Arizona in 2014; in 2012, Arizona ranked eighth in the nation in femicides per capita.³

Zocalo conducted a quick Q&A with Jillian over email to find out more about the event.

What was the impetus to create this event fundraiser for Emerge?

The greater impetus for this benefit is seeing women and female-identifying people lose a lot of
support in our current political climate and wanting to contribute some good in some small way.

During times when public funding is cut that supports our most vulnerable, nonprofit organizations like Emerge need to be prepared to help fill in the gaps. I love the idea of celebrating Mother’s Day weekend by having an opportunity to be more nurturing, giving, and generous to our community.

How/why were these bands chosen?

The bands on this bill aren’t just incredible musicians but they’re also incredible people, which is why they were pulled together for this event. Velvet Hammer, the drummer and founder of The Surfbroads quietly volunteers every week for The Lot on 22nd.

The Surfbroads
Photo by Julius Schlosburg

Rey Murphy, the frontman for Street Blues, practices guerrilla style support for people on the street with blanket drives and cookouts at the park. Amy Mendoza is a licensed therapist. Gigi Owen is a social scientist and activist who we’re all not so secretly hoping runs for office. These aren’t just musicians but active, involved members of our community who go the extra mile in support of the big picture.

Street Blues Family
Photo by Julius Schlosburg

The other beautiful thing about this group of bands is how interconnected they are. A shortlist of all the other projects connected to these musicians: Loveland, Velvet Panthr, Sugar Stains, Katie Haverly and the Aviary, Amy Mendoza and the Strange Vacation, Copper and Congress, Three Kings, Shrimp Chaperone, Trees Speak, Leila Lopez Band, West Texas Intermediate, The Cloud Walls, Orkesta Mendoza, Keli and the Big Dream, etc.

Long story short, a lot of the Tucson music scene is represented with these players and we’re expecting a lot of surprise guests throughout the night.

Mark Bloom and his dog Alfie with some of the permanent Tales from the Trash collection.
Photo by Velvet Hammer

How did Tales from the Trash get involved and what does “delightfully trashy” entail?

Tales from the Trash is an art show curated by Steve Purdy and my friend Mark Bloom. The premise is found discarded art that’s given a new lease on life in a cheeky art show format. The art is typically bad, odd, and peculiar in some form or another. But these unloved paintings and drawings get a frame and some space in the world to be looked at and appreciated – which is a pretty wonderful thing. If that’s not a metaphor I don’t know what is.

Not Your Mama’s Concert and Art Show Benefit for Emerge! is Saturday, May 13 at Flycatcher, 340 E. 6^th St. The event kicks off at 8 p.m. and there is a $7 suggested donation. More information is at Facebook.com/jandthegiants.

References

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (2015). Retrieved from www.ncadv.org/learn-more/statistics
Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse. (2017). Retrieved from www.emergecenter.org
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (2015). Domestic violence Arizona statistics. Retrieved from www.ncadv.org/files/Arizona.pdf

May 2017 Digital Edition

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Life of Art/Art of Life

March 2, 2017 | Jamie Manser

Mark Matos
California
Lonesome Desert Records, 2017

Gorgeously soul-weary and deeply personal, this 9-track album features acoustic guitar and vocal-driven narratives of remembrance, connection and loss. The introspection is carried with gentle tension; there’s pain, delivered with acceptance.

Matos offers mythological motifs¹ from ancient stories that are still universally applicable in modernity. He writes about addiction² and death³. There’s a yearning beautifully balanced vocally with Buddhist temperament⁴. Matos’ lyrics bring magical realism⁵, and musings on rebellion⁶ that culminate in self-realization⁷ and wry reflections⁸.

Written between 2011 and 2015, and recorded at the end of 2015, Matos verifies the songs “are almost uncomfortably autobiographical. Maybe why I recorded them the way I did: lo-fi, by myself, sparse.

“I was alone with an 8-track recorder and a couple of guitars and would wake up and make coffee and start recording; 12 or 14 hours later I would fall asleep and then wake up and do it again. I didn’t see or talk to anyone during the recording, I was in a kind of fugue, in a parallel universe of my own design. Sitting in the kitchen of my youth, floating through my memories, a 40-year-old art lifer staring at the odd fitting pieces of his personal puzzle and slowly, methodically, trying to put the puzzle together, to see the picture.”

To craft these recordings solo, to do his own backing vocals and layer the sounds into a delicate aural tapestry is stirring. His mental/spiritual disposition and recording process created an emotionally affecting album that sonically lulls the listener into a contemplative, day-dream state. It echoes in our souls’ imaginations and individual experiences. We know who these people are. They are us, and our friends, as we collectively navigate life’s confusing intricacies.

Matos performs a free show on Sunday, March 5, 4 p.m., at Che’s Lounge, 350 N. 4^th Ave. Visit NewWeirdWest.com for information on Matos and his current projects. Preview and purchase the album at NewWeirdWest.bandcamp.com/album/california.

There’s an oak tree up ahead/And it’s burning in the night/Adding fire to the darkness/And spirit to the fight – “Visions of You”
Fire to glass, but it never lasts/That’s the bitch of it, just one more hit – “Fire to Glass”
Behind you the gates are locking/Native son – “Season of Impermanence”
You are the water, you are the fountain/You are the climber, you are the mountain/And we can ride/Side by side/Looking for a home where the light always shines – “California”
You keep stones in your pocket/To protect you from this noise – “Little Wind”
But he won’t be long for that farm/He’s a country boy with a hunter’s song – “Show Me a Gun”
I’d like to get back to planting in the moonlight/Working on the house/Walk away from this Greenwich Time – “Had It All and Lost It”
But the locks on the doors of your mind leave you nowhere to run – “Collateral Mind”

Mark Matos
Photo by Basil Glew-Galloway

Following is an edited Q&A with Matos, conducted over email.

Are the individual songs composites of experiences or do they reflect particular moments in time? Thinking about “Season of Impermanence” and “Fire to Glass.”

The answer is yes to both parts of the question. The songs are both composites and reflective of particular moments. “Season of Impermanence” deals with a particularly tough 2015: my longtime soundman (Kyle Lesley, who recorded Trans Van Santos’ “Moon Mirage”) passed away after a 2-year, fist-fight with cancer. My roommate ended up in San Quinton on a 2-year bid and another bandmate fell off the wagon and got caught between the Hell’s Angels and the SFPD and got 5 years out of it.

“Fire to Glass” was written on the same day as “Season…” I returned to SF to play the Dia De Los Muertos memorial show for Kyle after he passed away and found my community in spiritual disarray. A couple members of the road crew and band were holed up, I was told, in a motel in the Tenderloin smoking crack. “Fire to Glass” is kind of my “Needle and the Damage Done” (Neil Young), my cautionary tale, my “try not to smoke crack because it sucks” song.

“Show Me a Gun” and “Had It All & Lost It” feel like different moments in time with the same character, are the songs related in that way?

“Show Me A Gun” is the protagonist at the beginning of the journey, leaving home, venturing archaically into the future. Rejecting the hand he was dealt and becoming human. “Had it All & Lost It” is the protagonist at the “end” of the journey, looking back at the sacrifices made for a life of art and evaluating the consequences. The artist is considering a future where he sacrifices his “life of art” for a pastoral, solitary “Art of Life” approach.

Who brings the backing vocals? Other collaborators?

All of the vocals and instruments were recorded by me. The album probably feels so personal, in part, because of this. I had never written and performed my own vocal harmonies before this album. I think the solitude of the recording process and the personal nature of the material opened a window for me where I felt liberated to experiment with singing my own parts. I think this ends up being a big part of the “feel” of the record. I had a lot of moments of spiritual liberation reaching for and hitting those harmonies. A real sense of discovery for me personally. 25 years into this music thing and I feel blessed to still be pushing at the edges of my capabilities, to still be capable of wonder and growth.

Tour? Other news?

I gave up my room in the bay area last year and have been living a regional nomadic life for much of the past year. I had to “recalculate my course” and sacrifice stability for a while so that could keep writing, recording, connecting the dots, reaching for the magic. My tour never ends but it is the world’s Slowest Tour, I am feeling the turtle magic. I would like to go on tour sometime as a solo support act for someone I know and admire, someone like Sonny Smith or Howe (Gelb), something like that would appeal for the opportunity to keep learning from and stealing from those guys.

I am out in Joshua Tree in April to finish the new Trans Van Santos album with my running mate Matt Adams (The Blank Tapes, Burger Records). We are mixing with Nathan Sabatino at the new Loveland Studio location Joshua Tree (Saba moved the longtime Tucson studio to Joshua Tree last year.) Then to LA after the Dead Meadow tour to finish the Old Mexico album (Old Mexico is a new project co-led by Jason Simon of Dead Meadow and myself, with members of both of our bands). In spring, I start a 6 month stint as Resident Artist in Grass Valley, CA. I am going to use the time and space for a large scale project called the “Anthology of the New, Weird West,” a post-modern, pre-flood, update of Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music wherein I am cast as a Gonzo John Fahey/Harry Smith and my friends are cast as the folk singers for the future myth.

KXCI Celebrates International Clash Day

January 31, 2017 | Jamie Manser

“This is a public service announcement, with guitar!”
– Know Your Rights, The Clash, 1982

Joe Strummer of The Clash, London Calling Tower Theater Show on March 6, 1980.
Photo: John Coffey via Flickr.com

It’s been four years since Seattle’s KEXP 90.3 FM DJ John Richards declared Feb. 7 as International Clash Day, and a year since Seattle’s mayor created an official proclamation to honor The Clash on that day. Subsequently, six other cities have jumped on this punk rock proclamation bandwagon, including: Austin, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Vancouver B.C., Bridgwater U.K. and Tucson.

The date doesn’t hold special meaning in the British band’s history; Feb. 7 was just a happy happenstance of Richards spinning the band’s tunes one morning in 2013 and a listener asking him to keep The Clash’s tracks coming. However, it is the timing of the other communities getting onboard that feels significant considering the country’s current political state and the still exceedingly apropos, sneeringly poignant political songs The Clash wrote between 1976-1986.

“I think right now the spirit of The Clash and the spirit of Joe Strummer’s views ring true to a lot of cities not happy with the direction the last election went,” Richards wrote via email. “I also think some of the leaders in these cities are of an age that they clearly remember their own love of The Clash… or at the very least the respect they have for their work.”

Locally, KXCI 91.3 FM Director of Content and Home Stretch DJ Hannah Levin spearheaded the charge to create International Clash Day in Tucson. Levin, who was a KEXP DJ for eight years and moved here in fall 2014, said her KEXP colleagues approached her about getting KXCI involved this year.

Cover of “Combat Rock,” released May 1982.

“Combat Rock,” released in 1982.

“It was a no-brainer. The Clash is one of KXCI’s ‘core artists’ – music that we already play quite regularly – and the spirit of the day is very much in line with the inclusive, creative culture of Tucson,” Levin explained. “Having had the mayor on my show, I knew he (Jonathan Rothschild) was a big music fan and would likely connect with the themes embodied in International Clash Day – peace, unity, anti-imperialism, anti-racism, poverty awareness and freedom of expression.

“Now more than ever, we need to be embracing a sense of a community that welcomes people from all walks of life and celebrates the type of fearless art that brings us together, rather than divides us,” Levin elucidated. “Music has a visceral power to do that which few other art forms have, so my hope is that in addition to enjoying an avalanche of invigorating Clash-related programming, we inspire listeners to become more deeply engaged with our community around issues of social justice and freedom of expression.”

For fans of The Clash, this will be a most welcome day, and it will be an awesome education for those who are not aware of the band’s amazing body of work. KXCI is celebrating on-air from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with special programming that was still being finalized as of Zocalo’s press time, but Levin shared that “listeners can expect to hear Clash classics, deep cuts, rarities, and archived interviews with The Clash. We are also working on interviews with members of Tucson’s music community who were/are influenced by The Clash and/or were in attendance at The Clash’s show at the Tucson Convention Center in 1983, which was the band’s penultimate show with Mick Jones (Howe Gelb snuck into this show!).”

Che’s Lounge, 350 N. 4^th Ave., is the headquarters for Tucson’s International Clash Day with DJs spinning Clash tunes that night, along with showcasing a special Clash-themed visual art show – curated by bartender/local artist Donovan White – as well as hosting a record sale of The Clash’s catalogue by Wooden Tooth Records.

Why does it matter? Well, as John Richards shared, “I think one of the main things is, they knew how to write GREAT songs. They also were lightening in a bottle like all great bands, the perfect sound and the perfect players at the perfect time. That kind of magic doesn’t just disappear.”

“There is something singular about their creative focus that is timeless – comforting and galvanizing simultaneously,” Levin added. “Whenever I hear the opening chords of ‘Know Your Rights,’ I always feel ready to be both angry and productive, which is the flavor of punk rock that has always appealed to me the most.”

Get all the event details at KXCI.org. Reconnect with the band at TheClash.com.

The Clash in concert, 21 May 1980. From left to right: Joe Strummer (rhythm guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar), Paul Simonon (bass guitar). Not pictured: Topper Headon (drums).
Courtesy Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway via Commons.wikimedia.org

_______________________________

City of Tucson Mayoral Proclamation

WHEREAS, legendary U.K. band The Clash formed in 1976, establishing their unique sound combining punk with reggae, dub, funk, ska, and socially-conscious lyrics; and

WHEREAS, the band played the Tucson Convention Center in 1983, inspiring many Tucson musicians, including a young Howe Gelb, who formed Giant Sand that same year; and

WHEREAS, throughout their career, The Clash used the power of music to share messages of peace, unity, anti-imperialism, anti-racism, poverty awareness, and freedom of expression; and

WHEREAS, the City of Tucson encourages all citizens to take inspiration from these messages as we work together to create an inclusive, welcoming city; and

WHEREAS, the City of Tucson and the Mayor’s Office affirm that this city is a Hate Free Zone, committed to values of inclusivity, tolerance, diversity and hope; and

WHEREAS, Tucson takes great pride in its growing music community and the cultural contributions of its many musicians across a wide range of genres; and

WHEREAS, the civically-and globally-minded City of Tucson wishes to join with other like-minded cities across the globe in celebrating International Clash Day; and

WHEREAS, the City of Tucson adheres to the belief in the immortal words of Joe Strummer, “People can change anything they want to, and that means everything in the world;”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Jonathan Rothschild, Mayor of the City of Tucson, Arizona due hereby proclaim February 7, 2017 to be

INTERNATIONAL CLASH DAY

in this community, and encourage all of our citizens to Rock the Casbah.

A Journey of the Spirit

January 30, 2017 | Dan Rylander

“My Way or the Highway”
Rich Hopkins and Luminarios
San Jacinto Records, 2017 (America)
Blue Rose Records, 2017 (Europe)

The latest release from the musical mind of 30-year plus rock vet Rich Hopkins, his co-writer and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Lisa Novak, and the band’s luminary musicians from Houston and Tucson, is an excellent addition to the regional sound of the American/Baja Southwest.

The 12-track album showcases the mature writing ability of Hopkins and Novak – an album inspired by the songwriting couple’s recent travels. Their trip to southern Mexico resulted in two tracks, “Angel of the Cascades” and “Chan Kah,” that drew from those experiences and tell beautiful stories of people and places, situated in current times and in timeless myths. The chorus of “Angel of the Cascades” is particularly hypnotic and haunting. The song invites you to imagine seeing “the smile upon his face,” as Hopkins narrates their contemplation of a beautiful pristine jungle paradise waterfall. You can look inside the CD cover and see a picture of Rich with his new friends/guides by the very pool at the base of the waterfall.

About the trip to the falls that inspired “Angel of the Cascades,” Novak says the journey “was spiritual… we really did feel like we were blessed and watched over. I was terrified on the trip and there were no directions or signs. We left there with such a humbling experience from the way some folks live in the poorest of conditions but are so sweet and happy.” You’ll feel like you are diving right into the pool with Hopkins and Novak.

“If You Want To” is a rock-out anthem to positive risk taking as Hopkins and Novak sing, “You can do it, you know you can do it, it’s always dark before the dawn.” Tucson stalwarts Winston Watson (drums), Damon Barnaby (guitars) and Duane Hollis (bass) lay down the sound around Hopkins’ trademark guitar as Novak and Hopkins’ killer chorus soar over the notes. You’ll want to play the track, which has a ‘70s country rock feel to it, over and over.

Another amazing collaboration involves poet and rapper Cesar Aguirre, which results in a rap/rock lyric flow about eye-opening redemption. The lyrics and spoken word are delivered forcefully by Aguirre, with the chorus by Novak. The cut, “Meant for Mo’,” starts with an introduction that that has my new favorite movie quote, from “School Daze” … “we aren’t so happy you got a degree in art!”

Hopkins is especially grateful to Lars Goransson, producer and recording engineer, whom, he says, helped make the record happen with available studio time that pushed the material forward.

All in all, this is a release that can’t be pigeonholed into a genre, and displays the mature power of songwriters and collaborators producing a beautiful album.

Catch Rich Hopkins and Luminarios at Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St., on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. and at Fini’s Landing, 5689 N. Swan Rd., on April 7 at 8 p.m. Learn more at RichHopkinsMusic.com and ReverbNation.com/richhopkinsandtheluminarios.

MUSIC