Noooo, ugghhhhhhhhh and fucking damn it. I was the fuck devastated on Saturday morning when I found out about your fatal heart attack. Mostly numb that morning and day. Been cycling through different stages of grief – heavily defined by denial and depression. I had just talked to you like a few weeks ago, right!? Then I looked at my phone history, and it was actually on Sept. 17 that we last conversed, which was more like nine weeks ago. Time is amorphous.   You know what’s … [Read more...]

This article originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of Zocalo Magazine. It is great, and there’s still more work to do.  “We can miss the ladies. Why do we miss the ladies? Because it has taken a really long time for women to get to the forefront of the music scene.”  Cathy Rivers, general manager of KXCI and a singer/songwriter/guitarist, reflects on a comment I just made about sending out interview questions to over 40 professionally established and … [Read more...]

This article was originally published in Zocalo Magazine. Singer, songwriter, guitarist Carlos Arzate brings it again with his newest album Camaleón, set to drop on Friday, April 6 with a CD release party at Hotel Congress. And by “it,” I’m talking about another fantastic, multi-genre disc featuring a stellar line-up of tracks and musicians. Arzate collaborated with some of Tucson’s best performers, producers and studios for this collection, his third solo release since 2013. The idea … [Read more...]

Photo by Shelly Black (Originally published by Zocalo Magazine on Sept. 2, 2017.) 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 … [Read more...]