Tucson Weekly

Thao Nguyen's third record with her two bandmates is better and faster

Thao Nguyen appeared on the national music scene as a 23-year-old Vietnamese-American from Virginia with a voice that exploded, whispered, lulled and beatboxed, and songs that hopped, skipped and danced, even as they explored domestic violence and f… Continue

Former Green on Red guitarist Chuck Prophet returns to Tucson with a new album

Ever since he joined Green on Red 25 years ago, I've wanted to ask singer-songwriter and guitarist Chuck Prophet if he was born with that last name. He set the record straight in an interview last week.

“Would I make that up?” he said… Continue

Tom Russell eschews modern indie rock's emasculated songwriting

Old-school country-folk beatnik-cowboy singer/songwriter Tom Russell holds a certain measure of respect for the Southwest indie-rock scene, especially younger artists who recently have emerged from Tucson's Wavelab Studio with killer tunes and classic albu… Continue

Why? wades through the strange 'Eskimo Snow'

The weird world of Why?—more specifically, the world evoked in the peculiar lyrics of frontman Yoni Wolf—continues to get stranger.

On the Oakland-by-way-of-Cincinnati band’s unusual, engrossing Eskimo Snow (Anticon), scary figures, comical failures and sad p… Continue

The Silver Thread Trio locks in on traditional tunes, standards and originals

Harmonies are back.

Many independent and alternative artists—from singing duos to so-called freak-folk bands—have re-infused popular music with the musical values of two- and three-part vocal arrangements. The all-female Silver Thread… Continue