June 2005
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Downtown LiveGo To: Fairport Convention • Solstice • Green DrinksFairport Conventionby Gene Armstrong
In fact, though, he’s on the phone with the Downtown Tucsonan from his office in the small town of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, on the eve of leaving England for the group’s current American tour. Included in the concert tour will be June 11 stop in Tucson. “We’ve got our work permits and we aren’t afraid to use them,” Nicol chuckles. Nicol explains that the title of the band’s latest album, “Over the Next Hill,” shouldn’t be misread, thank you very much. Without the third word, it would read rather fatalistically. This, however, is an album about looking forward to the evolving stages of life, about moving from point to point. “Over the Next Hill” is as full of life, love, growth and lessons learned as anything the Fairports have released during their 38-year history. Says Nicol, “It’s about the traveling life, that buzz you get from being on the move, the thrill of reacting to what life throws at you. It’s about the joys of being troubadours.”
Founded in May 1967, the band’s first rehearsals occurred in Nicol’s family home Fairport, thus the band’s name. Since then, more than 25 members have moved through the band’s ranks, including such noted performers as Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings and Ian Mathews. Fairport Convention has recorded no less than 36 albums. The band has toured the United States countless times, building a passionate fan base for its combination of rock ’n’ roll and English country folk music. The band’s line-up has remained stable since 1998. It includes Nicol on guitars and vocals; bassist Dave Pegg (a veteran of Jethro Tull); violinist Ric Sanders; drummer Gerry Conway (who played for years with Cat Stevens); and songwriter Chris Leslie, who sings and plays violin, bouzouki and mandolin. Fairport will tour America as a quartet this year, with Conway staying at home with other obligations. “We’re actually calling it the Fairport acoustic tour,” Nicol says. “We’re doing some songs from the new album, and taking a lot of the repertoire that audiences are familiar and tweaking it a little, to make it more lean and intimate. There’s a closeness with the audience during shows like this that you don’t have otherwise.” Invariably, wherever Fairport Convention plays, its longtime fans come out of the woodwork, ever faithful to the band they grew up and older with. When the group last played Tucson three years ago, die-hards could be spied with armloads of vintage Fairport vinyl, as eager to show off their treasures as they were for band autographs. Nicol’s prepared, though. “I’ve always got my Sharpie at the ready.” Sanguine Solsticeby Jamie Manser Summer sucks, and there is normally nothing to do, but for the townies that are staying put – this night’s for you!
Some of these bands will be hitting the road, some are hanging home, but all of them have their musical shit going on. No matter their plans, most of these groups aren’t pimping town, so this night is a great time to catch these amazing entertainers live! Here’s an update on the scheduled (as of press time) acts. Chango Malo bassist Justin Lillie said this is the first time since 2001 the band has stayed home for Tucson’s ‘dog days’. “We want to use this summer to write for the new album and record demos. We plan to start recording the full length at the end of the summer.” In the meantime, those bad monkeys are happy and willing to play a few gigs – and their show last month at Plush had the crowd going nuts. Artist and Che’s bartender Donovan White was so moved he doffed his top. “It rocked the f#@%ing spot,” White deadpanned. This month they are sure to torch the stage yet again. “Playing a show like this is like playing a dream show,” Lillie said about Downtown Saturdays. While in high school, Gat Rot played a Downtown Saturday Night that inspired Lillie and his friends to start a band. And band it started. The high energy frenzy of Chango Malo is a topsy-turvy ride of rock, punk and funk. And a deep brotherhood of musical understanding that allows the human pogo-sticks to bop and thrash among one another without missing a beat. (www.ChangoMalo.com) Camp Courageous is another visceral band prepping its musical wings in the studio and on location. Bassist Jon D’Auria reported the band is halfway done recording a 12 song LP (due out early fall), poised to film a video with Round Table Productions, and has plans to follow up the next full length with an acoustic album. D’Auria said that CC is deep into songwriting. “We write a song a week,” says D’Auria, and are “getting better at saying what we want to say quicker instead of beating around the bush.” Their website www.CourageousMusic.com is currently under construction, but will be re-launched shortly. With their self-titled album released a year or so ago on Rock-n-Roll Purgatory, The Last Call Brawlers experienced what many Tucson bands have – popularity in unexpected parts of the world. “We got air play on a station in Belgium,” said guitarist Justin Valdez. “It sold in Norway – mostly in weird European countries and third world Asian countries.” Those sales worked to their advantage – their label is backing the next release 100%, for which they are currently writing songs with a goal to get into Wavelab to record sometime in August. Though the first album was rockabilly-infused, Valdez said the next release will be influenced by the sound, “but a bit more pulled away.” Power-pop trio The Solace Brothers is also in the midst of writing and recording a full length with hopes to put it out come January. Singer/keyboardist said the next LP “should be interesting. There is some extended songs on there that are a little more esoteric, but there is still some pop.” In July, the lads will be touring the Midwest and South and are jumping the pond in November to play the French “We Got Cactus” tour. For more info, log on at www.TheSolaceBros.com. In May, Love Mound released their fourth effort Blackbird – which their website maintains is not for the faint of heart. Over the next nine months, singer/guitarist Mike Mihina said the trio will be “doing a bunch of little tours, as many weekend things as we can – covering Texas, California, Nevada and Arizona.” Get a taste of their medicine at www.LoveMound.com. Last month we featured Campo Bravo, who just released a second album. In July, the band hits the road with Amy Rude with plans to film a short while on tour called “A Thousand Truck Stops.” Check out their sound at www.MySpace.com/CampoBravo. The Carnivaleros, led by singer/accordion player Gary Mackender, will be swinging all over the musical map with a stellar line-up that includes Nick Augustine on bass, Hurricane Carla Brown on sax, Marx Loeb on drums and Mitzi Cowell on guitar. Mackender said the band “is looking at trying to get into Wavelab at the end of July for my sophomore effort,” which will differ from the frosh instrumental release as Mackender said he has “some lyrics this time around.” The final schedule will be available in advance, online at www.DowntownTucson.org, or at the information booth the night of the show.
Tucson Green Drinks:where environmentalism and beer meetby Mae Lee Sun hen’s the last time you attended an activist gathering where there was no agenda, no 501 ( c3 ) and no solicitation for funds? What if instead of an office full of coffee-induced, politically conscious, deadline-crunching and serious-minded personalities, you got your environmentalism on over a cold one at a hip, urban bar? That’s exactly what a lively mix of people from Chile to Australia to Japan and Germany are doing including a bunch of folks from Tucson. ‘Green Drinks’ is the latest organic movement to emerge from the ‘force of the good’ who want to exchange ideas, make friends, conduct deals and educate themselves on eco-related issues-only in a chill setting vs. a stuffy conference hall. Originating in London in the late 80s, Green Drinks is now in 70 cities across the globe with Tucson Green Drinks (TGD) celebrating its second once-a-month gathering at the Monkey Box, a trendy pub-like bistro on the ground floor of The Pioneer building at 100 N. Stone Avenue. Thanks to local organizers Natasha Winnick, owner of Originate Natural Building Materials Showroom, Shawn Kallio, national sales representative for ECO-Timber, and Christina Newman, architect-in-training, TGD is hoping to pull together and attract a broad range of people from the environmental field in Tucson who may not know that each other are here. “The whole idea is to get people out of the formal, business- oriented setting and get them talking and networking with others in or interested in the environmental field. We all started with who we knew and that included city officials, UA professionals, non-profit organizations, interior designers, architects, students, landscapers, hydrologists, consultants and real estate agents. It’s not just an excuse to party although some people may see it as that,” says Winnick.
Architect Robert Gay, winner of a green building award from the Sonoran Institute and whose primary orientation is sustainable building using straw bale construction, rainwater harvesting and photovoltaics, attended the first TGD in April and carries the intention to be there monthly. He is drawn to it for many reasons, but primarily because of the potential for networking around building practices. “Tucson is a small community waiting to happen. While certain things have a market appeal, like using solar because it’s the latest thing, there’s also a lot to educate people on. They often don’t consider the full scope of a project which includes site conditions, sustainable materials, the people aspect of it and the profound, unexpected value of what was ‘just’ going to be a house. The educational value here is incredible.” It is that kind of mindset that keeps the Green Drinks phenomenon around the world well fertilized. Kallio admits that ultimately it will take time to see if anything of substance like TGD will take root here even though the Phoenix area has an array of green groups and NGO’s, including the Arizona chapter of the Green Building Council. On the other hand, she feels that TGD is already a success to have had a bunch of progressive professionals fill a room at a Downtown Tucson venue on a weekday evening. TGD meets the last Wednesday of the month from 6-8 pm. For more information and venue location contact TGD at tucsongreendrinks@yahoo.com or 792-4207. |
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imon Nicol, affable guitarist and lead singer of the legendary English folk-rock band Fairport Convention, sounds like he’s just across town. 
his month, Downtown Saturdays – on June 18 – will dish a multitudinous rock reprieve to make you feel less like a sucker for sticking around the blazing scorchers. 
