TAMMIES THANKS
Although I'm writing this before it actually happened, thanks to all who turned out for the Tucson Weekly's 18th annual Tucson Area Music Awards ceremony at the Rialto Theatre on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
I just consulted a fortune-teller who assured me that the music and food were both fantastic, so thanks, too, to the performers and all of our sponsors (not to mention all of you who voted). Since I'm trying to keep things positive here, I won't even mention the incident with the evil machete-wielding monkey, but Dr. Stabby is on the mend and expected to make a full recovery.
If you're one of the jerkfaces who didn't bother to show up, it's OK. We forgive you—as long as you spend a good long while going through the list of winners and the plethora of TAMMIES-related articles in this issue.
COVER-UP HEADS-UP
Calling all local bands and musicians: Preparations have officially begun for the 14th Annual Great Cover-Up, which will take place at three venues—Club Congress, the Rialto Theatre and Plush—over three nights in December. The event's organizers (of which I'm one) are currently accepting submissions from bands and performers who would like to participate.
The gist of The Great Cover-Up, from a previous column: "Local bands that normally perform original material gather to perform a 20-minute set of songs by another band or artist. Simple enough, right? And best of all, every penny of the proceeds from the event is donated to the Tucson Artists and Musicians Healthcare Alliance, a local service organization that connects local artists and musicians to health care and health-care resources. Of course, that means that no band will receive any compensation for slaving away at practice for a month or two, only to learn a set of songs they'll probably never play again. But look at it this way: It's probably about the most fun you'll ever have doing charity volunteer work."
If you're interested in participating, email greatcoveruptucson@gmail.com with the following information: your band name, what type of music you normally play, your top three picks for bands/artists you'd like to cover, and a contact name and number and/or e-mail address. We'll get around to the deadline for submissions in an upcoming column, but for now, we want to hear the best damn ideas you've got to make this thing awesome. Thanks in advance, and we'll be patiently waiting by our computers to hear from you.
CALEXICART
Last year, when the Tucson Museum of Art hung an exhibition of prints by Andy Warhol for its show Andy Warhol Portfolios: Life and Legends, you'd have thought the famed pop artist had been reanimated, such was the immensity of the show and its surrounding events. There were Warhol-related exhibitions, parties and musical performances all around town over a series of months. It was Warholmania.
Next month, the same sort of thing is happening around the TMA's upcoming show Who Shot Rock and Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present, which opens on Saturday, Oct. 22. A huge exhibition curated by Gail Buckland and the Brooklyn Museum, and featuring 175 works by more than 100 photographers, the show looks to be pretty fantastic.
But that's just the start: There's a slew of promising satellite events scheduled in conjunction with the TMA's main event (all falling under the umbrella name Tucson Rocks), and the first of those opens next week.
Calexico: A Retrospective will feature, according to a press release, "an intimate and moving, behind-the-scenes photographic exhibition, which celebrates this pre-eminent Tucson, Arizona, band's rich history and depth of artistry."
The exhibition also comes in advance of a forthcoming box set, Calexico Road Atlas: 1998-2011, which collects eight of the group's tour EPs, live albums and a soundtrack, all of which will be released on vinyl for the first time in November.
But back to the exhibition, which will take place at Sacred Machine Museum, the gallery owned and operated by local artist and musician Daniel Martin Diaz and his fellow-musician wife, Paula Catherine Valencia, who curated the show. Diaz has created a lovely limited-edition, hand-signed serigraph that will be sold at the gallery. Additionally, prints of some photographs on display will be sold there, too, with all proceeds being donated to Craig Schumacher, the head honcho at Wavelab Studio, whose medical bills are piling up due to a bout with cancer. (Read more about Craig in our feature story this week.)
The only way the show could get any better is if, say, Calexico actually performed at the opening reception—which they will.
Calexico: A Retrospective will run at Sacred Machine, 245 E. Congress St., No. 123, from next Thursday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 23. The opening reception runs from 7 to 11 p.m. at the gallery next Thursday, Sept. 8. Admission is free. For more information, head to sacredmachine.com, or call 777-7403.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPOOKS
A few weeks ago, I received a message from a mysterious fella who goes by the name of Doctorr Faustus.
The good doctorr, it seems, puts together a haunted house each year over Halloween weekend. The event, Doctorr Faustus' Travelling Medicinne Showe of Egyptian Curiositees, has officially outgrown its traditional home, and in order to raise the funds necessary to move it to a larger location, Faustus has organized an event taking place this weekend called The Monster Mash.
The Mash will feature a Scream Queen contest (male and female)—both live and via-video submissions—with hundreds of dollars being awarded in prizes; a rendering of the legend of Faust as performed by Matt Cotten's Puppets Amongus; a freak show featuring Josefakir; and, among other curiosities, musical performances by Mr. Free and the Satellite Freakout, Jimmy Carr (the Awkward Moments), Katie Colville (Molehill Orkestrah) and Countach ("electronic distorted-sample weirdness by Allen Reilley and Christopher Stevens").
Get spooked at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 3, over at The HangArt, 512 N. Echols Ave. Admission is $6, or, according to the website (doctorrfaustus.weebly.com), "a little bit of blood. All right, a lot of blood."
MEGAFAUNA'S MEGAOUTPUT
Although they've only released one album so far, 2010's Larger Than Human (self-released), Austin's Megafauna will stop in Tucson this week as part of a tour on their way to Los Angeles to record their third album, Cannibal Stereo, with the Mars Volta's Ikey Owens. Their second album, Boomland, has already been recorded by Erik Wofford in Austin, but has yet to be released.
Why two albums so close together? Apparently to show different sides of the band. While the group's debut album sounded a bit like Kim Deal fronting a noisier, math-ier version of The Breeders (or, if anyone remembers them, Madder Rose), according to a press release, Boomland is "a collection of hard-rock anthems that explores a poppier, less-experimental direction than the first album," while Cannibal Stereo will showcase the band's "softer, more delicate side."
Megafauna will be sandwiched between headliners Faster Than Light and openers Some of Them Are Old at a show at Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., on Friday, Sept. 2. Music begins at 9:30 p.m., and cover is a fiver. For more information, point your browser to plushtucson.com, or call 798-1298.
ON THE BANDWAGON
Amy LaVere and Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl at Plush next Thursday, Sept. 8; LoCura and Vox Urbana at Solar Culture Gallery on Friday, Sept. 2; Benefit Show for Sean and Kristi featuring We Killed the Union, Black Orchid, Godhunter and many others at The Rock on Saturday, Sept. 3; Michael Fracasso at Plush on Monday, Sept. 5; Acoustic Summer Evening II in Downtown Tucson with Grams and Krieger, Kevin Pakulis with Larry Lee Lerma and BK Special at Old Town Artisans on Saturday, Sept. 3; Black Cherry Burlesque at Surly Wench Pub on Friday, Sept. 2; Festival Norteño at AVA at Casino del Sol on Saturday, Sept. 3; Boreas, Radiation City and RCougar at Club Congress on Tuesday, Sept. 6; The Preservation at the Red Room at Grill on Monday, Sept. 5; Fish Karma, The Distortionists and The Swigs at The Hut tonight, Thursday, Sept. 1; Louise Le Hir residency at the Red Room at Grill every Wednesday in September, including Sept. 7; Sweet Ghost and Carlos Arzate (ex-American Android) on the Hotel Congress patio on Monday, Sept. 5.
Finally, this weekend is your last chance to catch Music on the Mountain this year. The annual series, which takes place in Summerhaven on Mount Lemmon, comes to a close with performances by Chuck Wagon and the Wheelchairs and the Kevin Schramm Experience (Schramm on accordion and Tom Rhodes on fiddle) at noon, Sunday, Sept. 4. An acoustic jam begins at 11 a.m. Admission is free. Check out lavamusic.org for further details.
