XOXO...

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS...

Thursday, March 22: Produced by Ty Segall, this veteran multi-instrumentalist's latest album Moonlight Over Bakersfield is a quirky, low-octane garage rock departure from the brash experimental noise and amped punk of his previous work with A-Frames and Thee Oh Sees. Lars Finberg at The Flycatcher. With Free Machines, Lost Balloons and Tucson favs Lenguas Largas... In 2014, psych-punkers Acid Dad randomly conceived themselves at a drag show. Hmm. Was it blotter or windowpane? With DIY punkers No Parents and slacker-rock revivalist Jeff Lownsbury. At Club Congress... Keeping the DIY spirit alive, don't miss TIME, Snackbirdy, Born2death and Azfarat at Subspace (in the basement of the Steinfeld Warehouse)... In advance of the release of their sixth album, Tallsome Tales, neo-folk stalwarts Carnivaleros are preparing for game day with a warm-up release party at Tap & Bottle... OK. Now, pretend that it's 1964 and you're aboard Ken Kesey's psychedelic painted bus set on course for a mind-expanding cross-country road trip. Nice. A night with The Mission Creeps, San Diego's The Strawberry Moons and The Rifle is the next best thing. At Sky Bar...

Friday, March 23: Comprised of immigrants, these hardworking laborers by day, talented conjunto musicians by night are proud of their civic contributions to the community. Pedro y Los Liricos keep the music of the Mexican diaspora alive. At Exo Bar. Be there, no jodas... Local record label Tres Rojas presents Texas T Trash, Bordertown Devils, BTP & Friends, Daniel "Dang" Black. The pandemonium takes place at the Surly Wench Pub... Out on his Give Your Love Tour, mystic minstrel/singer-songwriter Chad Wilkins spreads joy at the Galactic Center... Fronted by Alexia Rodriguez, this Phoenix post-hardcore/screamo band took their name from a line of poetry describing the intensity of a felon's gaze. Eyes Set to Kill bring their criminal intent along with hip-hop up-and-comer (imagine if Machine Gun Kelly and Missy Elliott conceived a love child) Whitney Peyton to The Rock... In 2003, Los Lonely Boys' debut single "Heaven" catapulted this Chicano power trio from obscurity to platinum record status. Seemingly, their prayers were answered.

Combining blues, Tejano, soul, country and a little something from he who presides over the Order of the Fly, the Brothers Garza (Henry, JoJo and Ringo), unleash their genre-splicing "Texican Rock 'n' Roll" at The Rialto Theater. With Latin-tinged country/Americana songstress Lisa Morales... Lassoing together the artistry of burlesque and glittering drag with aerial acrobatics and an always well-curated dance mix Tucson Libertine League Presents: Future Fantasies. This extravaganza will quite literally cast off sparks. At 191 Toole... Fusing together West African jùjú and highlife with American funk and jazz Afrobeat music was spawned. El Tambó presents Phoenix's Afrobeat Orchestra. With Santa Pachita. At Club Congress...

Saturday, March 24: Inspired by the sharp-tongued, pissed-offness of the riot grrrl movement, these punks forged their sound under the desert sun. L.A.'s (by way of Tucson) Foxx Bodies return to Club Congress. With actor/musician Lucille Petty (Logan & Lucille) and Rabbit Snare (doom folk)... "Both sides I say are really much the same/They can find someone to blame at the butt of a gun." Their harmonies are capable of transcending the nine heavens. And their lyrics, far from vacuous, stash morsels between the lines. Hailing from 29 Palms, California The Adobe Collective bring forth their sand-swept desert folk rock in the listening room at Exo Bar... Maybe it's all the ketamine? This dj/producer is often credited by tastemakers, such as Diplo and Dillon Francis, for raising the bar by adding a darker, underground edge to mainstream house. Drezo spins the relentless 4/4 beat at The Rialto Theater. With sonic alchemist No Mana... Formed from the blood, sweat and beers of countless dive-bar gigs, Las Vegas' The Negative Nancys hammer out their infectious in-your-face punk rock at Spark Project Collective, in this all-ages event. With Manopla, Ted Riviera's Gunrunners, Sucker for the Sour... ¿Rock en Español? Two rad shows tonight. From Sonora, Raza Ordinaria, Mosto Nogales and Nico Maleón rock The Loudhouse. No están jodiendo... Their first single, "No Te Aguites," was featured as an iTunes "Free song of the Week" and received more than 60,000 downloads. Led by Heidy Flores, Los Hollywood collide Latin rhythms into Britpop. At Sky Bar... Have you ever seen a homo sapien play two trumpets at once? It's guaranteed to get funky when Mik & Scott vamp at Saint Charles Tavern... "When the angels sing." Join Al Foul & The Shakes, The Besmirchers, Al Perry and Hank Topless, FUCT, Blood Spasm and legendary Berkeley punk rockers Fang as they pay respects to Bob "Spasm" McKinley, a beloved figurehead from Tucson's punk underground. Bob Spasm Ain't Gonna Comeback Special. At 191 Toole...

Sunday, March 25: In the early 1970s, during a span of 10 prolific months, this band recorded three critically acclaimed albums, yielding nine hit singles. Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famers Chicago hit the Tucson Music Hall... Delving into free-form improvisation, Bumble Buzz explore the boundaries at Crooked Tooth Brewing Co... The experimental soul of Willis Earl Beal (aka Nobody) wafts into the bar like a spring breeze bringing fragrance at Agustin Kitchen... Celebrating 62 years in the music industry, "The Voice of Romance," Johnny Mathis croons at UA Centennial Hall... His breakout single has scored over 15 million Spotify streams since its release. Eighteen-year-old Alabamian rapper YBN Nahmir will be "Rubbin' Off The Paint" in an all-ages show, at 191 Toole...

Monday, March 26: On her latest politically charged album, The West Against The People, this avant-garde artist pushes against the current. "This is a document on social indignation and the deconstruction of our identities as citizens." From Berlin, musician/multimedia artist/anarchist Mary Ocher provokes thought at Club Congress. With the dark-synthwave of Snackbirdy and Silky Velvet...

Tuesday, March 27: "Let's Do It Again" finds this reggae/hip-hop artist feeling the pangs of love after hooking-up on a one-night stand. "We order dinner and movie/Fire up the dubie.../Girl, I wanna be more than a friend/Do yah?" Out on his Love Over Everything Tour, J Boog makes a stop at The Rock. With Jesse Royal and Etana... Enjoy the power of spoken word? Hear Robert Hernandez, Sui, Gregorio Contreras and Raquel Gutiérrez tell stories. Poet Julia Kinu hosts Poetry Night at Owls Club...

Wednesday, March 28: Son to "The Father of the American Protest Song," this Woodstockian folk singer caused a commotion when he publicly acknowledged that he registered as a Republican, circa 2003. "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a loyal opposition." The author of "Alice's Restaurant," an 18-minute Vietnam-era masterwork, Arlo Guthrie plays both sides of the aisle at The Fox Theatre... Catch singer-songwriter Jacob Acosta (and band) play out their double-lives at Public Brewhouse... On "Two Weeks" this Omaha soul/indie rock quintet has had enough. "You're power-trippin' on me/And I'm about to give my notice." High Up inflict narcissistic injury at Club Congress...

Thursday, March 29: Whisking together soul, country and R&B on "Freedom of the Road," this singer-songwriter tells a story about a life too familiar. "There'll be no more pay-per-view movies in these economy motels/No more trash in my back seat from Micky D's or Taco Bell/No more layin' my trump card for the ladies in the lounge/I think I'll leave a little somethin' for the next travelin' man to scrounge." If it is true that we are judged by the company that we keep, then Martin Sexton is esteemed. Sharing the bill is acclaimed singer-songwriter Chris Trapper. The New York Times calls Trapper's songwriting "classic pop perfection." At 191 Toole... Finally, crooner Freddie Parish brings his lonesome country to Tap & Bottle...

HOT WAX...

Out touring France and Germany, Brian Lopez chatted briefly about his latest project. Taking a decidedly minimalistic approach, Prelude (Dust & Stone Recordings) is a collection of 10 songs that stand in opposition to the large-scale studio production of his previous albums: Static Noise and Ultra. Using only a nylon string guitar, micro-synth, upright piano and one condenser microphone, he allowed himself no more than two takes at each track. Lopez adds, "I wrote and recorded everything in my room." Yet, Prelude is very much a continuation of Lopez's trademark lo-fi desert-noir sound. "Your Nomenclature"—the first single—is filled with glitches and sonic abstractions; like the movement of fluttering butterfly wings that a camera shutter cannot quite capture, the effect is disquieting. The timbre in Lopez's voice is like that of a child reciting prayers before bed to an unseen god to "take his blessed soul." Nightmare or a lullaby? One is never quite sure. There is a light-heartedness when Lopez speaks about his work that belies its beauty and gravitas. "The song came together quickly." Lopez says he had a secret ingredient to help with inspiration: "Taking 5 mg weed edibles most everything on this record." Like the Arecibo interstellar radio message sent into space in 1974 with the hope that extraterrestrial intelligence might receive and decipher it, one gets the impression that Lopez prefers that listeners arrive at their own interpretations. Says Lopez, "I want to feel. To have these intense emotions that feel like they are going to destroy you. Isn't it better than to not feel at all? I wonder sometimes." Prelude is set to drop March 23 and is available on all digital formats...

SHOUT OUT...

Props to local pop songstress Belinda Esquer on the release of her latest music video. Set in the desert on what must have been a sultry day, "My Love" finds Esquer and The Desert Peaches Crew engaging in a playful—if not sexy as fuck—game of Twister frolicing amid the saguaros. Watch out for the Mexican jumping cactus. Esquer joyously sings, “Nothing compares to you.../All you need is just, my love.” Well, and a few bottles of champagne and a blunt or two. Check it out.

Last week, Moments Before, Gabriel Naim Amor’s 2017 album of lush jazz instrumentals, was released on Japanese record label Sweet Dreams Press. Congrats…

ABOUT TOWN...

On Saturday, March 10, two days after International Women's Day was recognized around the world, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra fêted women and the significant contributions they have made to rock music. Vocalists Katrina Rose, Cassidy and Shayna Steel belted out the jams. The evening kicked off with a lioness-hearted rendition of Janis Joplin's classic "Piece of My Heart." Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" marked the denouement as a band of wild horses charged relentlessly towards the climax: Tina Turner's rollicking "Proud Mary." With Broadway music director/conductor William Waldrop at the podium, TSO really let their hair down. Mellifluous strings soared, brass and woodwinds wailed, while the guitars, bass and drums germane to rock 'n' roll propelled the backbeat. Part of TSO's Super Pops Series with a portion of the proceeds going to the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls...

ON THE HORIZON...

This annual music festival brings alt-culture and the contagious release of energy that is rock 'n' roll cannoning into each other. Oi! It's KFMADay. This year's lineup: A Perfect Circle, Stone Temple Pilots, Jonathan Davis of Korn, 10 Years, Two Feet and newcomers Vista Kicks. Saturday, April 14. At Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium...

Until next week, XOXO...