Mark Your Calendars...
Thursday, June 21
Miss Olivia and the Interlopers radiate soulful, funky grooves to Tap & Bottle Downtown... Like the sound of incessantly buzzing insects most active during the hottest months, "Cicada"—the first single off of Floating Features—is a paean to summer. Surf/doo-woppers La Luz with Summer Twins at Club Congress...
Friday, June 22
The Milk Carton Kids let their Grammy nominated vocal harmonies and sweet American roots sound soar at The Fox Theatre... "Igniting audiences on every continent," Who's Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience moonwalks into The Rialto Theater. With Plastic Disease... Soulful Austinites The Greyhounds are at Club Congress. With Ivan Denis... This R&B/pop vocalist has been fawned over by The Huffington Post and EDM Magazine. He's recorded in Berlin, New York and L.A., working with various producers crafting his sound, while calling Tucson home. Wooden Tooth Records presents Seanloui at Club Congress. With Jaca Zulu and Taco Sauce... "The best thing about making reggae music is its power to change the world. Make it a better place for everyone." Adding something unique to Tucson's diverse talent pool, international African roots reggae artist General Tchefary will spread a message that traverses international borders and all aspects of humanity at Chicago Bar... It has been said that no external force can stop the fire. New Zealanders Katchafire capture something special with their unique Maori reggae sound. At 191 Toole with E.N. Young and Earthkry... "Otherworldly takes on traditional Appalachian repertoire" best describes the music of Austin's Little Mazam, named after an unromantic river in central Arkansas. With Casey Golden back from European tour. In the listening room at Exo Roast Co... Latin confluence that is Santa Pachita sizzle on the rooftop at Playground... Dubsteppers. Subtronics (Philadelphia, PA) thumps "angry, bouncy robotic noise" at Gentle Ben's... She has performed on Saturday Night Live and late-night TV shows: Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien. R&B/funk/soul singer Niki J. Crawford lights up the Monterey Court. The power of her voice is awe inspiring... TWGS, The Exbats (bubblegum pop/slashing garage rock riffage) and The Rebel Set (Phoenix garage/surf) will rawk the lid off of Cans Deli...
Saturday, June 23
Come say farewell to Lando Chill and The Lasso at The Flycatcher with a debut of material from their upcoming release... DJ NoirTech + Plastic Disease transport you back to relive the misery and glory of the high school experience. The Breakfast Club '80s Dance Party at Surly Wench Pub. Dress to impress... From San Francisco, Slow Motion Cowboys (outlaw country) and The Love-Birds (jangle/power poppers) make a stop at Cans Deli... Mercado San Agustin is the place for nostalgia and whimsy from the 1930s and '40s with The Gabrielle Pietrangelo Trio. Featuring Ben DeGain on vibes and Thøger Lund on double bass... Pop songstress Belinda Esquer fills the beer garden with melody at Tucson Hop Shop... Mexican psych-poppers Fools Like Me debut at Passé. With M. Ward... Honky-tonker Hank Topless riles up the dust at Saint Charles Tavern... It's sure to be a dance explosion when Latin/psychedelic/cumbia intermingles with classic Afrobeat. Vox Urbana and Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra dip into 191 Toole. With Novala...
Sunday, June 24
Daniel Buckley celebrates his 65th birthday with a fundraiser at El Casino Ballroom. Promising a bash that includes Mariachis and folklórico dancers performing all day. Proceeds to benefit Buckley's documentary film project The Mariachi Miracle... Improvisational/jam band Bumble Buzz threaten "maximus buzzopolis" at Crooked Tooth Brewing Co... Folk punkers The Eulogy Project occupy the patio at Che's Lounge...
Monday, June 25
They are a country duo in the tradition of Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, except with a rock band. Dawn & Dupree play an early show at Cans Deli...
Tuesday, June 26
Bay-area singer-songwriter Xavier Dphrepaulezz rebooted his career after "Lost in the Crowd" won NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2015. There is a buzz. Hear it for yourself. Fantastic Negrito at Club Congress... Nicholas Merz (rollicking country), Ruff Idyll (found sound/with a techno twist) and Birth (sheer outer space) invade the Owls Club... Oi! Formed in 2002 by ex-Dropkick Murphys' singer Mike McColgan. Street Dogs will deliver the "punk rock 'n' roll" that you crave at 191 Toole. With Left Alone, The Last Gang and Thug Riot...
Wednesday, June 27
"If Dr. Frankenstein were working with raw material from Madame Curie, Delia Derbyshire, James Brown, and Wilhelm Reich, the result might be something like Quintron." From New Orleans, organist extraordinaire Quintron & Miss Pussycat bring something altogether other to 191 Toole. With Sad Reptilian... Puzzlehead (Vancouver, fuzzy/lo-fi twee-punks) traveling through the American Southwest stop for water at Club Congress. With Her Mana, Dial Up and Cool Funeral... Looking for something eclectic? This Wilderness and Xambuca defy description at The Flycatcher...
Thursday, June 28
Reggae crooner Beres Hammond glides the All Love Tour into The Rialto Theater. With DJ Inferno... General Anxiety, Azfarat, Nullus, Butoh Sonics are at Cans Deli... Fans of "old school" country? Roots & Boots: Featuring Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin and Collin Raye boot scoot into AVA Amphitheater... Toe tap and two-step with Sundust Road at Tap & Bottle Downtown...
Hot Wax...
• Craving something new, former members of The Modeens, guitarist Jamie Laboz and bassist Cristina Williams holed up at Waterworks Recording with drummer Daniel Thomas in November 2017. The yet-unchristened trio laid down basic tracks for what would become their latest project. The result: A spaced-out, neo-psychedelic sound was forged.
Three tunes comprise the debut EP, Colors, by Silver Cloud Express.
The first track, "Colors Of Our Dreams" is awash in Laboz's swirling guitar effects. Wicked. An orchestra of layered guitars. They alone are capable of carrying the listener into the vortex. Laboz sings, "Living without feelings/Is living without heart." That's the message. Williams expands, "It shines a light on the apathy in our culture and our collective wish to escape."
On "Dark Light" Williams steps up to take the vocal duties. She sets the scene, "In a bizarro world where what we thought was reality has become twisted and unfamiliar." There is foreboding, the lyrics paint a world in peril. "Where did everybody go?/Now the sky has gone all grey/All the words we did not say." Phase and modulation intertwine on the the bridge, then swell creating a sweeping effect that would make George Martin grin.
Silver Cloud Express celebrate the cassette release of their debut EP, Colors, on Friday, June 22, at The Flycatcher with fellow neo-psychedelic comrades, The Psychedelephants (Phoenix) and Tropical Beach.
Take a listen: silvercloudexpress.com
• Singer-songwriter, Joyce Luna releases Every Road We Take. Her debut solo album, co-produced by Ryanhood's Ryan David Green, is comprised of 12 original Americana compositions. Suffused with a free-spirited romanticism, deftly chronicling the capricious nature of love. Yet, offset by keen insights into modern society and her unwillingness to remain silent in the face of societal injustices. Moreover, it is Luna's belief that music can and must change the world that is at once inspirational and harrowing.
Finding inspiration after performing at a Wear Orange event in 2017—an event inspired by Hadiya Pendleton, who performed at President Obama's inaugural parade a week before the tragic shooting in 2013—Luna wrote "We Shall Be Seen." She expands, "It was one of those rare experiences when it feels like the song is moving through you." The death toll staggers. She sings out, "Over 90 Americans die each day by bullet from a gun/Eight of them are children taken from us." Luna was especially moved by meeting moms who have lost children and channel their bottomless pain and grief into working toward making the world safer for others. Members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and EveryTown for Gun Safety joined Luna in the studio to sing on the track. "Will you stand up and refuse to lose another one?/We shall be seen."
Inspired by Patty Griffin's "Rain," Green surprised Luna by adding vibraphone to "We'll See." "I love how it sounds." Luna adds, "I also love Paul Jenkins' piano." The lyrics to "We'll See" embody the hopefulness of the album, despite twinges of trepidation. "What a time of our lives this could be?/Afraid to slip into something so much bigger than me.../So we'll see." And, like the moon, Luna's intent is to bathe the listener in the bright light of hope.
Every Road We Take is available on all major outlets. Listen: joycelunamusic.com.
Joyce Luna & Friends celebrate the release of Every Road We Take on Saturday, June 23, at Water of Life Metropolitan Community Church.
Until next week, XOXO...
