Sound Bites ROCK THE HALLS: With Christmas somehow instantly arrived, we are once again at the crossroads. It's time to reflect upon the year just passed even as we turn our thoughts to the new one ahead. Premature though it may sound, whether you're a local musician or a local music enthusiast, it's time to start thinking about Tammies '98. The 1998 Tucson Area Music Awards, the Tammie's Club Crawl and Tucson Weekly's 2nd Annual Tucson Musician's Register are coming up quickly. For all acts planning on taking advantage of the free PR (remember, the Tammies is a reader's poll), I suggest this New Year's resolution: Prepare your press materials now, so that when the Tucson Musician's Register forms come out in The Weekly in about eight weeks, you'll be ready. For fans of local music, start a list of all your favorites, so that come ballot time, you too will be ready.

To get you revved-up for New Year's Eve, the Tammies and local music in general, The Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., KFMA 92.1-FM, and the folks who bring you the Tammies have put together the Rock & Roll Holiday Ball. The Ball showcases a variety of Tucson's downtown best--ranging from hardcore, funk, and Cajun jazz to pop/alternative, country, and roots--including many of last year's Tammies winners. The Rock and Roll Ball, which begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 27, will be a between-holidays, all-ages party of Rialto dimensions. Featured performers include: Al Perry, Shoebomb, Hell Driver, Los Federales, Rich Hopkins & The Luminarios, The Studrifters, Creosote, Al Foul, Crawdaddy-O, Oslo B, Hipster Daddy-O, White Chrome Splendor and others still to be announced. Cover is $3 at the door. Call 740-0126 for more information.

HOT PICK: Blues violinist Heather Hardy is home for the holidays and plans to spend time with friends--in other words, she'll be treating Tucson to a two-night reunion jam with Sam Taylor and Friends. By way of a "Holiday Homecoming Celebration," the Sam Taylor Band and other special guests will join Hardy at 9 p.m. on Saturday, December 27, and again at 9 p.m. on Sunday, December 28, at The Boondocks Lounge, 3306 N. First Ave. Hardy honed her blues credentials on Tucson stages during her seven-year tenure as a cherished member of Sam Taylor's band. She returned to New York last summer, following a farewell performance in early June with Rainer and Doug MacLeod. Tickets for Hardy's homecoming party are $5 in advance for TBS and KXCI members, $7 at the door, and are available in advance at The Boondocks, Hear's and Piney Hollow. Call 690-0991 for more information.

LAST NOTES: The attorneys at the People's Law Center of Southern Arizona do good work, providing legal representation for those short on coin. And as with other understaffed and overworked organizations, they're not in it for the cash. The Center championed the Luna Loca's right to exist, and it's largely the reason we were treated to that fantastic Make-Up show last fall. Thus, the Nimbus Brewing Company, 3850 E. 44th St., is staging a People's Law Center Benefit Show at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, December 27, featuring local cowpunks Birthworm, Nervous Duane Norman and of course, their selection of yummy $2 pints of holiday cheer. Call 745-9175 for more information.

Looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer? The folks down at Rainbow Guitars have produced 13 Shades of Christmas, a compilation of holiday tunes presented in a smattering of styles, from Danny Figueroa's techno/disco revivalist "Most Wonderful Time" to my favorite, The Bad News Blues Band's rootsy bluegrass treatment of "Santa Clause, Santa Clause." The disc was produced as a benefit for the Old Pueblo Children's Home, a non-profit organization that provides short- and long-term residential care for neglected and abused children. Everyone involved in producing 13 Shades of Christmas donated their time, talent and resources so that 100 percent of the proceeds could be turned over to the Children's Home. The disc is available for $15 at Rainbow Guitars and Hear's Music. More information about Old Pueblo Children's Home is available by calling 760-2782.

One last word on band press materials: In press kits bands should avoid using references to themselves like "America's Greatest Progressive Rock Band." Especially when the band is Kansas and the year is nearly 1998. Yeah, yeah, Kansas certainly had its day, but please. "Dust in the Wind" and "Carry on Wayward Son" have probably made it onto more K-Tel-style Sounds of the '70s than God has grains of sand. That aside, Kansas is on the road with four original members in place, and fans of the Midwestern "prog-rock" fivesome are in luck: Kansas appears with openers Catch 22 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 28, at the Outback Nightclub, 296 N. Stone Ave. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show. Call 622-4700 for more information. TW

--Lisa Weeks


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