Tucson Weekly 03/09/2023

Hear better and live better with Augmented Xperience (AX). Look for it in full range of Signia hearing aid styles, models and price points.

AZ technology delivers speech that sounds clearer and closer to you - speech as it was always meant to heard.

It’s speech clarity your ears will notice, and it’s only available in Signia Hearing aids with AX technology.

14TH ANNUAL CANYON’S CROWN CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY MAY 6TH 2023

Arizona National 9777 E. Sabino Greens Dr. Tucson, AZ 85749

BENEFITS & FEES

Per Person $110 Shotgun

Start 7:30 AM

GOLF CLUB

Four Person Scramble

Includes Golf, Golf Cart and Drink Ticket

Saturday May 6th

Afterwards go to Canyon’s Crown: 6958 East Tanque Verde Road Tucson, AZ 85715

There will be prizes and complimentary buffet of pub favorites at the Canyon’s Crown afterwards.

REGISTRATION BEGINS

TUESDAY, MARCH 21ST 2023

PHONE: 520-885-8277

CANYONSCROWN@GMAIL.COM

THIS YEAR BENEFITTING THE ARIZONA HEROES MEMORIAL The Arizona Heroes Memorial Honors Active Duty Military, Veterans, First Responders and Healthcare Workers

Congratulations to Az Heroes Memorial Ambassador Lisa Bayless named Honorary Commander to the 68th Rescue Squadron at Davis Monthan Airforce Base, for a two-year assignment.

Thank you for your service to our country - Lisa Bayless

ADMINISTRATION

Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher

Michael Hiatt, Vice President

Tyler Vondrak, Associate Publisher, tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Claudine Sowards, Accounting, claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com

EDITORIAL

Christina Fuoco-Karasinski, Executive Editor, christina@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Veronica Kuffel, Staff Reporter, vkuffel@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Karen Schaffner, Staff Reporter, kschaffner@tucsonlocalmedia.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Box Brown, Rob Brezsny, Connor Dziawura, Clay Jones, Laura Latzko, Andy Mosier, Dan Perkins, Hope Peters, Linda Ray, Will Shortz, Brian Smith, Jen Sorensen

PRODUCTION

Shannon Mead, Production/Design Supervisor, smead@timeslocalmedia.com

Tonya Mildenberg, Graphic Designer, tmildenberg@timeslocalmedia.com

CIRCULATION

Aaron Kolodny, Circulation Director, aaron@timeslocalmedia.com

Brian Juhl, Distribution Manager, brian@timeslocalmedia.com

ADVERTISING

TLMSales@TucsonLocalMedia.com

Gary Tackett, Account Executive, gtackett@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Kristin Chester, Account Executive, kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Candace Murray, Account Executive, candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com

Leah Pittman, Account Executive, lpittman@tucsonlocalmedia.com

NATIONAL ADVERTISING

Zac Reynolds, Director of National Advertising zac@timeslocalmedia.com

THE FOREVER HAUNTING OF THE PIED PIPER OF TUCSON

Astory of that night haunts my imagination since childhood. The musky scent of creosote and beer, a towering saguaro aimed at the heavens. The grim shadows of a mesquite tree splayed across her bloody skin, her flowered blouse, swimsuit and rubber thongs. In a desert wash east of Tucson, 15-year-old Alleen Rowe was raped, strangled and beaten in the head with rocks. None of this could be stifled.

These are basic facts: Charles Schmid Jr., “The Pied Piper of Tucson,” and John Saunders, his 19-year-old cohort, murdered Rowe in May ’64. Mary French, Alleen’s 19-year-old neighbor and friend who was in love with Schmid, heard the screams from the car. She helped dig Rowe’s grave. Schmid’s desire to sim-

ply “kill someone” was fulfilled. Little more than a year later, Schmid strangled his girlfriend Gretchen Fritz and her 13-year-old sister Wendy in the living room of his house on Adams Street, after they’d gone to a drive-in movie. He dumped the girls on a desert hill off Pontactoc Road north of River Road.

I was just born when the Charles Schmid Jr. murders shocked Tucson in the ’60s. But Alleen was close to home. She lived with her mother in a house similar to ours, about a mile away; the post-WWII red-brick housing, the Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic church, a McDonalds at 22nd Street and Kolb Road.

When our family later moved east near Harrison and Old Spanish Trail, it was a walk to Alleen’s murder site. For decades the Pied Piper of Tucson disturbed me,

even informed my sense of humanity and psychological connections. For one thing, Schmid was my introduction to horrific things one human could do to another. These people edged around my life from before my time, I could never have known them. But this was geographically close, and it lodged in the deepest recesses of my head. So, Schmid shaped the bleakest of ideas, like how unguarded innocence and trust could vanish as a young girl’s body met an unspeakable end.

It really started with creepy Schmid tales resonating on the schoolyard, taunts and wails of “The Pied Piper of Tucson will come for you, and kill you to the desert!”

As a child in the early ’70s, I’d struggle to sleep, and when I did, I’d fight off enclosures of Schmid nightmares: Schmid in his boots stuffed with rags so as to appear taller, the brutish distance in his kohl eyes, his face coated in base makeup, a fake Marilyn-style beauty mark. The feverish gestures of an unhinged sociopath attempting to purge his sickness onto underage teens. The last-moment horrors the girls felt as they stared into him. I had big sisters, and I would ache for their safety and well-being, and my own, alone in my bed.

Later, I’d think of Alleen’s shattered single mother Norma Rowe, a night nurse, who in a photo resembled my

own mother when I was a child, and I assigned the same assets: pretty, protective, tender, loved.

And young Alleen. The fair-complexioned teen was a good student at Palo Verde high, wanted to be an oceanographer. Her up-to-the-moment style of the era showed blond hair in a short bouffant with swoop bangs. It was up in curlers the night she died, they flew off of her head as she was beaten.

Internal imaginings too: Had Alleen outgrown horse carousels? Did she whisper to boys, and did they appreciate there was something more they should try to understand? How did she pick and choose what’s important in her life? Did her books, music and friends allow her connection to an outer world? Did she cry out for her mother?

Alleen knew 22-year-old Schmid was a creep, she told her mother. She might’ve fallen under his spell, such as it was, as had many kids in Tucson bucking the squaresville world of mom and dad. Dozens of such kids knew of the murders and said nada. What an easy crowd to work down on Speedway Boulevard. Ghosts should dim, over time, exhausted by their own energy. But lately, The Pied Piper of Tucson prowls my head at night as my wife and young children sleep feet away. Such childhood

horrors resurface at the slightest sound, a javelina’s grunt in the yard or a eucalyptus branch brushing against the roof. In the light of day, it all seems so harmless.

The Pied Piper played up a deeper fear of the desert at a very early age. It’s cruel indifference to life, its spikey brutality and absolute wonder, of thorns and blossoms. Its unrelenting force hisses cautions: step gently, it will always have a story of death to tell. Who can count the barren stretches of desolation between life-giving oases? It is an absolute mirror of mortality. Say it to the thousands of migrants who’ve died in these deserts in search of a quality of life I was lucky enough to be born into. Here, we inhale the dust of the dead when we breathe. I cannot separate the desert from such truths.

The Sonoran Desert, after myriad hours of my life spent walking in it, respecting it, awed by it, being frightened of it, will always be a sort of spiritual haunting ground.

Some stories stay long and hard in all

of us, color our perceptions, excite us, shame us, glare at us in the face. We all know the yarn: A relentless fraud develops a tremendous pull and adoration of teenagers, like that other Charles, Manson. (Curiously, their similarities are long: both given up by birth parents, a creepy narcissism and charisma and sexual tension for teens, a desire for stardom. Both tiny, stood around 5-foot3 tall.)

In ’66, Schmid was sentenced to death. In ’72, the Supreme Court ditched the death penalty, long enough for Schmid to be taken off death row.

Schmid’s story has been covered to death, been anthologized, mythologized, and recreated. Don Moser’s great Life Magazine story hit me at a young age, and I dug Joyce Carol Oates’ short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” Richard Bruns’ 2018 book “I, a Squealer” is a worthy read. Bruns, a former Schmid friend who assisted him in burying the Fritz sisters, later fingered him to cops. In the exceptional 2007 book “Crossing the Yard,” Richard Shelton recounted his work with Schmid in the prison system. Shelton, a gifted writ-

er and UA English professor who died last year, was contacted by Schmid, a budding poet, and the professor began conducting writing and poetry workshops to help inmates express themselves. Shelton dedicated 30 years of his life to this program, and Schmid was its genesis.

Before “Crossing the Yard” was published, I wrote about a different prisoner who had participated in Shelton’s workshops. I asked the professor about Schmid, and he revealed that his initial ambivalence about working with a psychopath faded as the man developed

empathy through writing and poetry. Schmid even changed his name to Paul David Ashley to distance himself from himself, but a frenzied attack cancelled all names. This month in 1975, two prisoners, “Dirty Dan” and “Sneaky Pete,” stabbed Schmid 47 times with knives, one a glorified can opener. Schmid, discovered in a pool of his own blood, his right eye speared out, survived another 10 days.

I was a boy when I heard Schmid died in jail, it did nothing to quell The Pied Piper of Tucson from hanging over my life.

Vegetarian & Vegan Entrees * A Sanctuary in the City

ALL YOU CARE TO EAT BUFFET

11:30am to 2:30pm for Lunch Wed -Sat 5pm to 8pm for Dinner, Tues - Sat 11am to 2:30pm for Sunday Brunch

Closed Mondays / Tuesday is “India Night” Lunch is $9.95, Dinner & Brunch $11.95 for a delicious 14-course meal w/ salad bar Student & Senior discounts apply

To learn more, call us today and schedule your free, no-commitment demonstration!

Dine In or Take Out - Spacious Patio Dining See complete menu at govindasoftucson.com

Hear better and live better with Augmented Xperience (AX). Look for it in full range of Signia hearing aid styles, models and price points.

AZ technology delivers speech that sounds clearer and closer to you - speech as it was always meant to heard. It’s speech clarity your ears will notice, and it’s only available in Signia Hearing aids with AX technology.

Dining on the Patio!

CURRENTS

LOCAL AUTHOR HOSTS GRASSROOTS ‘NOIR’ IN OV

By Veronica Kuffel Tucson Local Media Staff

Author Patrick Whitehurst saw a need for a Noir at the Bar in Tucson so he did what any other enterprising writer would do. He started one himself.

Tucson Noir at the Bar is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, at Firetruck Brewing Company in Oro Valley. It’s being held in conjunction with Left Coast Crime, a mystery writer convention held March 16 to March 19 at El Conquistador Tucson: A Hilton Resort.

“Tucson Noir at the Bar is a specific event being held around Left Coast Crime, but it’s not part of it,” Whitehurst said.

“I decided that Left Coast Crime could use a Noir at the Bar event to go along with it. I chose the location in coordination with Tucson Sisters in Crime, in a spot the authors could easily get to it.”

The free Noir at the Bar is like others held throughout the country. It puts literature in a bar-like setting and offers readers a chance to hear authors read live from their work, while enjoying a meal and/ or drink.

“It’s pretty grassroots,” he said. “An author will stand up in front of the audience with a microphone and read from their work. Some authors are very dynamic speakers and act out scenes. Other authors just read. There are big names and little names, and those just starting out. You can go out, have a couple drinks, have dinner and watch some of your favorite authors read from their work.”

Tucson Noir at the Bar features 11 authors in the crime, thriller and mystery genres. The list includes Laurie R. King, Matt Coyle, Curtis Ippolito, Meredith Hambrock, A.J. Devlin, Claire Booth,

PATRICK WHITEHURST ORGANIZED NOIR AT THE BAR IN TUCSON WITH THE TUCSON CHAPTER OF SISTERS IN CRIME. (PATRICK WHITEHURST/SUBMITTED)

Patrick Whitehurst, Richard Meredith, S.M. Freedman, D.M. Rowell and Ed Lin.

“Some of these crime conventions do their own Noir at the Bar,” Whitehurst said. “But I didn’t see that Left Coast Crime was doing one. That’s when I had the idea one night that, well, if no one’s going to do it, maybe I should.”

CURRENTS

SPECTACULARLY GOING NOWHERE AROUND THE GARDEN

By Karen Schaffner Tucson Local Media Staff

John Carmichael has a serious avocation.

Hidden behind a bit of leafy screen in his front yard is evidence of his devotion to craft. There sits a garden train. It sounds prosaic enough, but one peek and the viewer will be amazed at the technology, the engineering, the electronics, the artistry and the mechanics of it all.

Carmichael’s garden train diorama is a true STEAM project.

“Every single one of these ties and stays are handmade,” said Chuck Cook, president of the Tucson Garden Railway Society.

“And designed,” added Carmichael. “Each one is different. Each one is made for the location.”

This is no small project, considering there are about 200 trestles.

“If you put all the pieces together, that’s about 4 linear miles of wood,” Carmichael said.

To it they add Victorian-era figures who, though stationary, seem busy. Then there’s the working funicular railway, and the spectacular garden that surrounds the entire layout.

The public can check out these masterpieces during Rails in the Garden 2023 on Saturday, March 11, and Sunday, March 12. It’s a nine-stop, self-guided, self-paced tour of members’ layouts, most of which are outdoors.

The train set is G-gauge, or 1:24 scale. It’s fairly large for those who are accus-

NOIR FROM PAGE 8

Whitehurst is the author of “Murder and Mayhem in Tucson” and contributor to the “Images of America” collection. He is planning to sell his books and sign autographs at Left Coast Crime on Saturday. He has attended a few Noir at the Bars around the country but this

tomed to the household-sized HO scale model trains, and was actually designed for garden railways.

Before he retired, Carmichael spent 25 years in the “retail and wholesale tropical foliage industry,” he said, which explains the garden.

“Most people who do the layouts pick a spot in their yard, and they say, ‘Oh, I want a figure 8 or a circle,’ and they build it,” Cook said. “This one, John had an aerial shot of the yard and put all this in the cactus that was already here.”

Carmichael added, “Most people just take everything out of their yard, and it’s a totally blank canvas. I didn’t want to rip out our plants. The plants were really important to me, so we had to find a design that would work around the existing plants.”

Carmichael took great care in designing around what was there.

“Rather than fight the trees and fight the plants, we wanted to bring them into the whole show,” he said. “We wanted the little people to live with the plants, so all over you’ll see how they adapted to living with plants.”

Although miniature, the Swiss Family Robinson-type treehouse, among other structures, prove his point. There’s even a dinosaur dig. Carmichael built and designed everything himself.

He didn’t do it alone, however. He had help from his partner, Philip Pappas, who did quite a bit of the lugging and toting.

THE TREEHOUSE FIGURES REPLICATE THE VICTORIAN ERA. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TREE IS A GAZEBO, WHERE PASSENGERS WAIT. ALL STRUCTURES ARE HANDBUILT. (PHOTO BY

“He was my boulder guy, my landscaper helper,” Carmichael said.

Pappas said with a laugh that he had to go to work in his office during the week to get a break from the weekend labor.

Tucson Garden Railway Society members are concerned about the next generation, as they’re aging.

“This isn’t going to last long because we’re all getting old,” Carmichael said. “We’ve lost some of our best members this year. Some of our best companies are going out of business because of COVID supply chain problems. We’re disappearing, so if you want to see some of these things, you better see them in the next few years because they’ll be gone.”

That is, of course, unless they can interest younger people in the hobby. All three men see great value in having garden railroads.

“The good thing about garden railroading is it’s artistic,” Cook said. “It’s hands-on, it’s outdoors, it’s electrical. You have to learn set up. There’s a lot of things that are good hands-on things

that I hope the kids will pick up.”

“They can learn everything,” Carmichael added. “It’s so great for kids.”

The outdoor layout has also united the neighborhood.

“The other cool thing about that is we’ve developed a neighborhood feel,” Pappas said. “Every neighbor knows us. They bring their grandchildren over. They stop by, so we’ve really developed a neighborhood mentality because of this.”

Rails in the Garden 2023, a self-guided tour of members’ model train layouts

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 11, and Sunday, March 12 WHERE: Locations around Tucson COST: Free; monetary donations requested for Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and Tucson Garden Railway Society INFO: tucsongrs.org

one is the first he’s fully coordinated. Whitehurst coordinated Noir at the Bar with the Tucson chapter of Sisters in Crime, an international organization dedicated to mystery lovers. Its mission is to promote the work of members and educate the public about mystery and true crime writing.

According to the author, they were

instrumental in creating the event around the festival.

“They’re very involved in the Tucson Left Coast Crime Convention,” Whitehurst said. “They helped me find a date that would work... they shared some information on it and gave me some other ideas on just putting the event together. It’s going to be a great night.”

Noir at the Bar in Tucson

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 15

WHERE: Firetruck Brewing Company, 9630 N. Oracle Road, Suite 110, Oro Valley COST: Free admission

INFO: patrickwhitehurst.com

NOELLE HARO-GOMEZ)

TUCSON FIDDLE CONTEST

Hosted by the Old-Time Fiddlers Association since 1940, this fiddle-off attracts dozens of the best fiddlers in the Southwest. For the first time this year, it’s a feature of the Second Saturday Farmers Market at Steam Pump Ranch. Bring lawn chairs and blankets for the music, but you can also enjoy kids’ crafts in the gardens, historic tours of the Pusch house, archaeological demonstrations, a Western and American antique fair, craft vendors and the Heirloom Farmers Markets.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 11, Steam Pump Ranch, 10901 N. Oracle Road, Oro Valley, ovhistory.org/event, free

SARSEF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR

Pre-K through 12th grade, these kids today know their STEM. The annual SARCEF Regional Fair, enables them to add project management to their portfolio. After all, in the adult world it may not be enough to just make a thing. There’s likely research, planning, organizing, deadlines, competition and presentation to critical-thinking strangers. But there’s also pride and cash rewards.

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily to Saturday, March 11, online and at Gene C. Reid Park, 800 S. Concert Place, sarsef.org/ sarsef-fair, free

HEART STRONG: BRINGING YOUR WHOLE SELF TO LEADERSHIP

YWCA Southern Arizona’s 34th annual Women’s Leadership Conference presents workshops and a panel devoted to how strong leaders develop confidence, manage finances and cultivate self-care — like sensory breaks and mindfulness practices — to manage the inevitable stress.

8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, Health Sciences Innovation Building, 1670 E. Drachman Street, ywcatucson. org, $69 to $298

ROMEO AND JULIET

Owing to UA Professor Brent Gibbs’ international notoriety as a stage combat director, our imagination swerved to “West Side Story” when we learned of his “uniquely American” take on “Romeo and Juliet.” The world has turned again since Shakespeare’s time and again since 1957 when “West Side Sto-

by Linda Ray

ry” debuted on Broadway but love and tragedy abide. Gibbs strips things down and sets the play in Kentucky, just down the road from the notorious Hatfields and McCoys.

GILLIAN MARGOT WITH THE GEOFFREY KEEZER TRIO

Gillian Margot joins Grammy-winning pianist Geoffrey Keezer for four shows in the intimately stylish Century Room. A jazz prodigy, Keezer was backing Art Blakey by the time he was 18, and touring with the likes of Joshua Redman, Diana Krall and Benny Golson in his 20s. More recently, he produced and arranged three Grammy-nominated recordings with vocalist Denise Donatelli. Keezer’s latest album features original music with vocals by Margot.

7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, The Century Room, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, hotelcongress.com, tickets start at $25.

PLANT SWAP

Nick Curtis answers to “Plantney Spears.” For as long as he can remember, he has loved house plants and Britney Spears, equally and above all. His establishment, Plantney, is the Las Vegas of plant stores. Painted as if by Peter Max using an ’80s color palette, it’s chock-a-block with outsized icons of pop-culture. We are especially fans of his whimsical @plantneyspears Instagram account, but we think a plant swap IRL will be even cooler. There will be coffee and snacks. We are taking our poinsettia. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sunday, March 5, Plantney, 439 N. Sixth Avenue, Unit 153, plantney.com, free

“WATER IS LIFE” SOUTHWEST MUSIC AND RESISTANCE FESTIVAL

Indigenous issues and environmental concerns share the spotlight at this event, modeled on the annual “Water is Life Fest” in Duluth, Minnesota. It’s billed as “an indigenous peoples’ benefit concert” headlined by Keith Secola, who’s been likened to a native counterpart to Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, and featuring Papago Warrior, Rebel Diaz, XIXA, Giant Sand, David Huckfelt, Gary Farmer, DJentrification, One Way Sky, Cihuatl CE, Humblllianess, DJ Q and Lady Gugu. Indigenous artists and cultural experiences, and environmental activism, round out the event. Hosts are the Indigenous and women-led organization, Honor the Earth and KXCI Community Radio, sponsor. 1 p.m. Saturday, March 11, MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento, https:// bit.ly/waterislifesouthwest, $30 or $40 at the door

Multiple times and dates through Sunday, March 19, University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television, Tornabene Theatre, 1025 N. Olive Road, theatre.arizona.edu, $32, $15 students

STARTUP DRINKS AT WESTBOUND

Startup Tucson, an organization to encourage and support entrepreneurs, hosts a monthly mixer for making both business and social connections. Their online guide to Tucson’s startup ecosystem is comprehensive, and fun to peruse, but at some point, entrepreneurs need customers, vendors and colleagues. This monthly event helps serve that need as does their first-Thursday startup coffee and speaker series, educational programs throughout the year and the annual TENWEST conference. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Westbound, MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento, startuptucson.com, free

FOLK-ROCK/SURF/DREAMPOP

The good news/bad news about the atomization of music consumption is that somewhere in the world there may be new music that resonates just for you, and the internet can help you find it. Luckily, there are still live bands playing music we loved and hardly ever hear any more. Dawson Hollow is five siblings from the Ozarks with an “indie Americana” sound, openly nostalgic, and singularly hopeful, in five-part sibling harmony. Nite Tides opens. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 9, Sea of Glass, 330 E. Seventh Street, theseaofglass.org/calendar, tickets start at $8.46

MR. BING’S PRESENTS LIZZY AND HER CONTRA BAND

L.A. chanteuse Lizzy Shapiro has achieved diva status even on Broadway. Her repertoire is a parade of hits from the ’40s and ’50s, from Billie Holiday to Benny Goodman. She’s a perfect fit for the immersive retro experience of Mr. Bing’s. Hats? Gloves? Wear them if you’ve got them. Admission includes

KEITH SECOLA HEADLINES THE “WATER IS LIFE” FESTIVAL. (KERI PICKETT/CONTRIBUTOR)

THE GEOFFREY KEEZER TRIO FEATURES GILLIAN MARGOT AT THE CENTURY ROOM. (CENTURY ROOM/SUBMITTED)

NICK CURTIS HOSTS A POP PLANT SWAP. (NICK CURTIS/SUBMITTED)

LAUGHING STOCK CHANGES AFOOT AT TUCSON IMPROV MOVEMENT

By Linda Ray Tucson Weekly Columnist

Tucson Improv Movement has just embarked on its most ambitious season since it first took to the stage 10 years ago. With a cast now close to 70, the company offers seven different shows every week, Thursday through Saturday, including a recently expanded series of standup shows.

The company’s improv and standup training programs now include two levels each of standup and sketch, and five levels of improv, as well as periodic workshops.

TIM owner and executive producer Justin Lukasewicz is an evangelist for the benefits as well as the joys of improv and the school as an asset for Tucson. Lukasewicz is also CEO of Greater Tucson Leadership, an organization whose mission is “to inspire, develop, and promote leadership that impacts the Greater Tucson Region.

“The biggest new thing is that Jess Hill’s coming on as the comedy school director. I’m really excited about that because she got her PhD in teaching improv.” Then he laughs.

Technically, there was a lot more to it, but Hill’s PhD dissertation did involve using improv in team building. She also

has been, from its beginning, a member of TIM’s longest-running ensemble, The Soapbox. That show celebrates its 400th performance in June.

On the performance side, several new initiatives have been developed by cast members themselves, with encouragement from Lukasewicz, some support and guidance from the company’s artistic director Daniel Kirby, and the experience of the ensemble members themselves, finding ways to improve the show through rehearsals and trial runs.

Lukasewicz cited as an example, a new concept show, “Your Favorite Movie, Improvised.”

Led by Kate Herreras-Zinman, the show incubated on Zoom during COVID-19 lockdown. After a few trial runs, TIM added it to the lineup for a season.

He said, “I think that group has really solidified. They’re going on three years now. It has a good audience on a pretty regular basis.” He adds that over the past year, “Your Favorite Movie, Improvised,” has become one of TIM company’s

more popular shows.

Newer shows last season included “The Meeting” another Zoom-to-stage ensemble, and “Finding the Words,” “Teachers Lounge” and “LOL and Order,” a riff on the boom in true crime podcasts.

The spring season introduces new “pilots” and shows, including “Tastebuds;” “Spectacles;” “Toot-Pole,” which creates scenes and improvises songs based on audience suggestions; and “Punball Wizards,” which is exactly what you probably imagine.

Just this month TIM also has returned kiddie comedy to its stage with a new lineup and format. “Pretendy Time” now plays at 11 a.m. the first Saturday of every month.

TIM holds auditions for new members every January, then drafts a yearlong plan featuring two seasons. New shows may be brought in at mid-year and casts may be modified slightly at that time. “We do try to look at a year-long schedule so we can produce shows and get people more longevity with their team. The better people know each other, the better they are able to perform together.”

Besides “Soapbox,” TIM’s longest-running teams include “The Game Show Show,” “Cage Match” (under different names), “Shatfan,” “Improv Throwdown” and the Spanish-Language show, “Carcajadas.”

For all the new improv concepts, the shift in TIM’s approach to standup comedy may be the most noteworthy new development this season.

JUSTIN LUKASEWICZ,

ART COMES TO LIFE DURING PORTRAIT FESTIVAL

By Laura Latzko Tucson Weekly Contributor

Artist Lauri Kaye encountered a man experiencing homelessness. Like most everyday events, it inspired her, but this time it led to an entire collection.

“Tucson Portrait Stories” focused on the people, places and events that make the city distinctive.

She will display those pieces during a “Night at the Museum”-inspired event on Sunday, March 12, at the Jewish Community Center. Many of her subjects will attend and interact with festivalgoers.

“I want this to be different from any other art exhibit, where even people

who have no interest in art can find a story that they can relate to or an activity they can enjoy,” Kaye said.

“The subject material is so vast that whether you’re into sports, wildlife, food or music, there’s something for everyone, regardless of their age or interest.”

For the collages, Kaye created portraits of prominent Tucsonans such as Mayor Regina Romero, chef Maria Mazon, guitarist Gabriel Ayala and poet Sharon Byrd.

During the event, Mazon will have food samples for guests. Ayala will play the guitar, and Byrd will do poetry.

In her art, Kaye has also featured the

Hotel Congress, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Gates Pass, Loft Cinema, the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

A 25-year Tucson resident, Kaye created her first mixed-media collage in her series after meeting “Alberto,” the homeless man, in 2015.

“I was sketching at a café Downtown outside on a really nice day,” Kaye recalled.

his portrait. I learned so much from our conversation.

“This guy came over to my table. He showed me his tattoos that were on his arm… I invited him to sit down and have some coffee, and he told a story that he had just been released from prison. We sat for about an hour or so, and I asked if I could write down his story and take his photograph because I wanted to do

“It became my quest to share stories with a broad appeal to Tucsonans, with subjects ranging from artists to social issues to entrepreneurs, athletes, landscapes, wildlife, local businesses, the environment and so much more.”

A Help Button Should Go Where You Go!

COVER

LIFE COMES FULL CIRCLE FOR MUSICIAN BILLY SHAW JR.

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Weekly Executive Editor

Tucson native Billy Shaw Jr. has been playing music “forever,” but now he’s ready to release his debut record.

“It’s so weird,” said Shaw, donning his trademark black framed glasses.

“I’ve recorded a couple demo songs, never a full album. We — my wife and I — had kicked it around the past several years. I had just come to the conclusion that an album wasn’t going to happen.”

Until his wife, Jessica Northey, surprised him with a recording session in Nashville. Initially, he thought she was

FESTIVAL FROM PAGE 12

Kaye’s series is a collection of 60 mixed-media collages on metal.

“I always start with my hand drawings, which are with black architectural pens on sketchbook paper,” Kaye said.

“I do a detailed black and white drawing, and then, when I’m finished, I take a photograph of it with my cellphone, and then I send that image to my computer. In the negative space, I can add photographs and color digitally.”

It takes between four and six weeks to make each piece.

In her work, the artist includes three to four sentences that help to tell the stories of the people, places or events that are featured.

“When I was young, my mom would always ask me what my drawings were about because they were pretty crazy,” Kaye said.

“It would drive me nuts having to explain what was in my head. This is an homage to her, actually writing the stories of each piece so that people understand what the artwork is about. My hope is that it inspires people to learn a little bit more about whatever the subject material is, since what I have is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Inside the artwork, she will some-

messing with him and recalled saying, “Please don’t mess with me. Tell me this is not a joke.”

He was so shocked that he momentarily went silent.

“My wife used to work with country music artists, big names in the industry,” he recalled. “She worked with Jamie O’Neal at one point. Unbeknownst to me, she sent stuff to Jamie and said, ‘We’re interested in making an album. What do you think?’ She liked it. Her husband, Rodney Good, liked it. They said they would produce me and said,

times include words that help to tell the person’s story. For Alberto’s portrait, for example, some of his story is shared in the form of tattoos.

“A lot of what I learn about the person or the place, I will draw that information into the artwork, and it helps me remember what I learned,” Kaye said.

“There’s so much information and detail that you will have to look at a piece over and over again to really get all of the information from it.”

Kaye has created artwork based on everyday people she has met, including a security guard at a strip mall and a couple who recently immigrated from Mexico.

“I’m introverted. It’s a stretch for me to go out and approach strangers, but it always ends up being totally worthwhile,” Kaye said.

“So many of them are in the portraits that I have on exhibit.”

Her artwork has been on display at other galleries, such as the SAAG Gallery, Arthouse Central, Why I Love Where I Live and the Tucson Gallery. This is the first chance to see the pieces together, and some of them have never been shown to the public.

Along with Kaye’s artwork, there will

‘Let’s get this done.’”

Shaw will celebrate the release of his self-titled debut with a song at The Maverick on Tuesday, March 14. The party will be emceed by DJ Brett “PorkChop” Miller from KIIM-FM.

O’Neal and Good will open the evening with an acoustic set. Members of the Billy Shaw Jr, Band include drummer Bobby Soto Jr.; bassist Amy Munoz and lead guitarist Johnny Pesqueira.

“The Maverick is my home base,” he said. “That’s where I started playing regular gigs. That’s also where I met my wife. She came into The Maverick one night and I was performing. She was into the social media and promotion side of music. We became friends and that was it. We met at The Maverick and we married there, too.”

Produced in Nashville by O’Neal — known for her hits “There is No Arizona,” “When I Think About Angels” and “Somebody’s Hero” — and backed by a group of top country musicians, “Billy Shaw Jr.” celebrates life, love, laughter and loss.

“It was surreal,” he said about the company he kept. “I had to stay on my game. They’re all cranking it out and it was a blur almost. I didn’t have time to think about it too much until after it was all done. It didn’t seem real.”

LONGTIME MUSICIAN

Shaw fell in love with music in the fourth grade, when he picked up a violin. His early talent was noticed by a member of the Tucson Symphony, who worked with him to develop his skills.

Singing came second nature to Shaw.

“As far as I can remember, I have been singing,” he said.

“My earliest childhood memories are of me running around the house singing Kenny Rogers’ ‘The Gambler.’ It was just burned into my head when I was a little kid. When I was 8 or 9, this lady came into our classroom and played the theme to ‘Star Wars’ on the violin. I ran home and told my mom, ‘I’m playing in the orchestra, mom.’”

The family didn’t have a violin, attempted to rent one, but couldn’t afford it. However, his grandmother found one in storage. It didn’t have a case, so

Shaw brought it to school in a paper bag.

Shaw was drawn into country music by its storytelling, inspired by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, as much as The Beatles and Barbra Streisand.

“We watched ‘Hee Haw’ and the ‘Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters,’” he recalled.

“My mom said, ‘That’ll be you one day.’ Later in life, I didn’t think that was going to happen. I gave up on the dream. I had this weird journey to get to where my mom always said I would be. I took the long road.”

At Pima Community College, he was gifted a track and cross-country scholarship. Injuries forced him to quit, transfer to UA and he considered pursuing music again.

While studying at UA, he expanded his musical repertoire to include guitar, bass, drums, mandolin, harmonica and a tambourine.

“I owe my grandma and my mom for giving me that gift of music and making sure I was able to play,” he said. “I played all the way up through high school. I was classically trained and picked up other instruments along the way. I always came back to the violin, though.”

BILLY SHAW JR. HAS BEEN A MUSICIAN MOST OF HIS LIFE, BUT, ON HIS WIFE’S ENCOURAGING, IS SET TO RELEASE HIS SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM ON TUESDAY, MARCH 14, AT THE MAVERICK. (JUSTIN HAUGEN/CONTRIBUTOR)

BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL IS ABOUT MUSIC AND COMMUNITY

By Laura Latzko Tucson Weekly Contributor

Bluegrass music takes on various forms, whether it’s traditional or “newgrass,” and can blend rock, folk or Americana.

From Friday, March 10, to Sunday, March 12, the Desert Bluegrass Festival at Gladden Farms Community Park will highlight these various forms.

The festival is organized by the Desert Bluegrass Association, an all-volunteer nonprofit founded in 1995. The festival debuted in 2000.

Board member Suzette Sommerer said the Desert Bluegrass Festival is an intimate chance to listen to music from bands from around the country. There’s an effort to book Arizona bands, however.

“We are trying to support and promote local bands,” Sommerer said. “We are lucky to have some great bands, so it’s not hard to find them.”

The festivities kick off Friday afternoon with a band scramble. Musicians put their names in buckets and their names are drawn at random to create new groups. They choose monikers and songs and perform.

Desert Bluegrass Association president Karen Dismachek said most bluegrass musicians can quickly adapt and play with their peers.

“That’s a big part of bluegrass is being able to jam with anyone,” Dismachek said.

The band scramble will be followed by the act Monsoon Sky.

The festival’s Saturday and Sunday lineups features the likes of Central Valley Boys, the Sierra Sweethearts, the Sonoran Dogs, the Buckjumpers, the Cross-Eyed Possum and North of Lonesome.

Audiences will also have a chance to hear youth bands such as Jam Pack Blues ‘N’ Grass Neighborhood Band and the Arizona Wildflowers, a homegrown family band made up of fiddle champi-

ons.

Several participating musicians will host workshops focused on specific instruments. Children and teens are also encouraged to take part in them.

“Even if the kid ultimately doesn’t decide bluegrass is what they want to do, the experience is something that’s going to put them in a good position for any music they want to do,” Sommerer said.

“Learning to play together this way and be mutually supportive in a group is a good thing.”

After the performances, the musicians will get together for jam sessions that are open to anyone with an instrument.

“It is a genre that is based on joining in and participating…Once the festival is done, people break into groups and start jamming,” Sommerer said.

The Desert Bluegrass Festival is about more than music. It’s a community. Artisan vendors will sell handmade jewelry. Children can take advantage of the musical instrument petting zoo and kid’s zone with games and rock painting.

Many guests make the festival into a weekend-long event, bringing their RVs or tents for onsite camping.

Food vendors will sell items such as tacos, kettle corn, fish and chips, burgers, barbecue, ice cream and lemonade.

Many bands have formed because of the festival. Sommerer and Dismachek perform with the Notorious No-Gig Girl Band.

Also a member of Hamilton Beech, Sommerer is a longtime musician, who started playing bass in high school but put the instrument down until retirement. They play at noon Sunday.

“I was looking for people to play my fiddle with,” Sommerer said.

“I had been playing about three years. The community is just so welcoming, and I loved the music.”

Dismachek had played the guitar for most of her life but rediscovered her love

of bluegrass and the fiddle after moving to Tucson. She was introduced to the genre at a young age.

“I came from a musical family. My grandfather was from Canada, and he was a fiddler,” Dismachek said.

“He knew bluegrass and old-timey music. He would play records, and we would sing along with them. There was a local TV show with local bluegrass music, and we would sit and watch it.”

Dismachek is a member of Ocotillo Rain as well. They play at local retirement homes and give donations to local charities.

Dismachek said the festival is a great way to connect with other musicians.

“It’s a way to network. You meet lots of people, and you have a common interest. A lot of groups got together from jamming together or meeting each other at the workshops,” Dismachek said.

On Sunday morning during the festival, there will be a gospel open mic,

SHAW FROM PAGE 13

At university, Shaw also explored new genres, ranging from alt rock to hiphop. But as he made his way through UA, he drifted back into country.

Through church, Shaw realized he enjoyed singing and found his true calling when he took the stage at a karaoke contest. A few contest wins later, he joined a band.

In 2016, after winning Cumulus Radio’s Nash Next Country Star locally, he placed Top 5 in the nation and then started his namesake band. The Billy Shaw Jr. Band won Arizona’s 2017 Nash Next Winner as well as other awards, including a spot at the Nova Arizona Bowl.

“We do play a lot of covers, but we

which is open to anyone. Dismachek said this is a good space for newcomers to get their start.

“It gives them a chance to get their group together, practice some songs and get some experience playing at the festival on Sunday morning,” Dismachek said.

Desert Bluegrass Festival

WHEN: 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 10; 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 11; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 12

WHERE: Gladden Farms Community Park, 12205 N. Tangerine Farms Road, Marana COST: $30 for weekend pass; $20 for Saturday or Sunday day pass; $40 for camping, people younger than age 16 are free. Friday evening free admission INFO: desertbluegrass.org

sneak in originals,” Shaw said with a laugh about his regular gigs. “When we open for acts or play festival shows, that’s when it’s heavily originals.

“But we do this little countrified ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard, or ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ We add a little ‘Crazy Train’ by Ozzy Osbourne. We like to do things like that and make them our own.”

Billy Shaw Jr. Album Release Party

WHEN: 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 14

WHERE: The Maverick, 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson COST: Tickets start at $10 INFO: 520-298-0430, tucsonmaverick.com

MEMBERS OF JAM PACK BLUES ‘N’ GRASS NEIGHBORHOOD BAND WILL RETURN TO THIS YEAR’S DESERT BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL. (SUZETTE SOMMERER/SUBMITTED)

also be pieces created by students from Arts for All, an organization that works with people with physical and cognitive disabilities.

Kaye made two sculptures for the festival, which will be displayed in the sculpture garden.

UA basketball games hold a special place in Kaye’s heart, as she has attended them with her son. Her son also went to summer basketball camps at the university.

The university’s rich basketball history is explored in one of her pieces.

Kaye often gets ideas for new Tucson Portrait Stories from members of the community, who contact her via email and social media with suggestions. She also posts images of her work on social media to encourage viewers to share their stories about people or places.

COLORFUL EVENT

A number of businesses and organizations featured in her work will be at the event.

Staff from Loft Cinema will bring a popcorn machine and play an animated film featuring Kaye’s work.

“That’s a video that I worked on with an animation studio. They took all of these pieces of art and animated them with voiceover for the stories,” Kaye said.

The event will also feature chocolate samples from Monsoon Chocolate, a vintage Chevy from a local car enthusiast, an endangered Gila topminnow exhibit from the Sonoran Desert Institute, a demonstration and activity from the Tucson Audubon Society, a reading-themed activity from Bookman’s Entertainment Exchange, a display of oil paintings and ceramics from DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, samples of an agave drink from Hotel Congress, free art raffles from the Tucson and SAAG galleries and a live exotic animal exhibit from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Profits from all sales during the festival will go to Tucson nonprofits Arts for All, the Primavera Foundation and Casa Maria.

Kaye said she hopes to have similar events that will benefit local Tucson charities and allow others to share their own locally inspired artwork.

“I would love to see various communities, whether it is students, seniors or motorcycle enthusiasts create their own Tucson Portrait Stories, to have them be the exhibitors in various forms, whether it’s art, video, music, poetry,” Kaye said.

Tucson Portrait Stories Live Art Festival

WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 12

WHERE: Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Road, Tucson

COST: Free admission

INFO: createforthepeople.com

LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR

By Connor Dziawura Tucson Weekly

MARCH 9

Deke Dickerson & the Whippersnappers w/Frank and Deans

Hotel Congress Plaza, 7:30 p.m., $15

Emily Xander Quartet

The Century Room, 9 p.m., free-$10

Instrumental Golden Boots

LaCo Tucson, 6 p.m., free MattstaGraham and Raccoon Tour

Club Congress, 6 p.m., $12

Rob Boone Quartet

The Century Room, 6 p.m., free-$10

MARCH 10

Data Data, Lu, Sadchke and Feedback Machines

Groundworks, 7 p.m., $10

Gillian Margot w/the Geoffrey Keezer Trio

The Century Room, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., $25-$40

Greg Morton and Jim Stanley

LaCo Tucson, 5:30 p.m., free Krooked Kings

191 Toole, 8 p.m., $15

Lizzy and the Triggermen

Hotel Congress Plaza, 7:30 p.m., $25-$30

Los Lobos

Fox Tucson Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $37.50-$75

Skeletal Remains

The Rock, 7 p.m., $15

MARCH 11

Eugene Boronow

LaCo Tucson, 6 p.m., free

Gillian Margot w/the Geoffrey Keezer Trio

The Century Room, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., $25-$40

Glitterer

Club Congress, 8 p.m., $15-$17

Jameson Clay Koweek

LaCo Tucson, 10:30 a.m., free

Meltt

Groundworks, 7 p.m., $12-$14

Shwayze

191 Toole, 8 p.m., $20

MARCH 12

Cheekface and Sad Park Groundworks, 7 p.m., $15

Enumclaw

Club Congress, 8 p.m., $13-$15

Mik and the Funky Brunch LaCo Tucson, 11 a.m., free

MARCH 13

Boyo, Cherry Avenue and Matarraz

Groundworks, 7 p.m., $10

Century Room Jazz Orchestra

The Century Room, 7 p.m.,

$10-$15

MARCH 14

The Fabulous Thunderbirds

Fox Tucson Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $20-$72

Flogging Molly

Rialto Theatre, 8 p.m., $42.50-$58

Miss Lana Rebel and Kevin Michael Mayfield

LaCo Tucson, 5:30 p.m., free

Songwriter Saloon hosted by Mamma Coal featuring JD

Graham and John Coinman

The Century Room, 7 p.m., $7

MARCH 15

Acoustic Alchemy

Rialto Theatre, 8 p.m., $28-$36

America the Beautiful DesertView Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m., $30

Dicqbeats, Fairuza Suik, Destruido and Trash Lizard Groundworks, 7 p.m., $10

Mysterious Babies

The Century Room, 7 p.m., $10

North Mississippi Allstars

191 Toole, 8 p.m., $28

Oscar Fuentes

LaCo Tucson, 5:30 p.m., free

Lukasewicz said the company’s standup offerings are its best sellers. But he takes a broader view of TIM’s potential role in helping local people who are serious about working on a comedy career to achieve their own goals.

“I think that people who are getting into (comedy) and being more serious about it are working harder to get better, quicker,” he said. He thinks TIM can bridge a gap in those people’s trajectory by offering shows with opportunities to do longer and longer sets.

Most Tucson open mics offer three to five minutes. Showcases typically offer 5- to 10-minute sets. Showcase headliners may get as much as 15. The show order and lineups are similarly arranged

CITY

WEEK FROM PAGE 10

a live swing band, dancing and Lizzy’s floor show as well as a buffet of fine Italian cuisine.

5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11, Mister Bing’s Supper Club, Savoy Opera House, Trail Dust Town, 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road, Suite 13, misterbingspresents.com/ supperclub, tickets start at $40

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES EXPO

This family-friendly event is designed to help us get smarter about efficient

By

Clay Jones

everywhere, as a list of people coming up to the stage.

TIM has offered a weekly open mic for some time, and in the last year or so they added a showcase. This season, though, the company is looking at its standup offerings as a collection, curated to give comics next steps to strive for.

The TIM open mic is every Thursday at 8:30. The first Friday of every month will be a curated, by-invitation standup showcase with six comics each getting 10 minutes. The second Friday of the month will feature a new concept, “Improv vs Standup.” To cultivate crossover skills, the first half of the show will feature standup comedians performing improv, and improvisers performing standup comedy. In the second half, the performers switch back to their comfort

water use and sustainable landscaping. For kids, there’s Mr. Nature’s Music Garden with music and dancing. Tucson water conservation icon Brad Lancaster will give a presentation about rainwater and neighborhood forestry and there will be interactive activities, food trucks and giveaways, including 200 free trees donated by Civano nursery.

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 11, 4210 N. Campbell Avenue (enter from Roger Road), pimasmartscape. arizona.edu, free, but registration is requested.

zone.

“I’m really excited about it because I think it’ll be a fun switch,” Lukasewicz said, as he verbalized a vision of the mild-mannered TIM comedy school standup teacher Rory Monserrat in a sink-or-swim virgin improv set.

Beginning March 17, the third Friday will feature another new entry in TIM’s monthly lineup. “Femme Drop” will be a curated show featuring female-identifying comedians. It will be hosted by longtime improviser and stand-up comic, and current TIM cast member, Amelia Amie Gabusi.

Lukasewicz said, “She’s looking at different formats and ways to (engage) a whole lot of people with shorter sets, almost more like a variety show. It’s ‘let’s get anybody who’s female-identified and get as many of them as possible on this show and make this a fun space for them.’”

The highlight of the monthly standup calendar will be its fourth-Friday showcase, with a headliner invited to do a 25-minute set. Two openers will get 10 minutes each. This will then be the only show in town where a comic who feels ready to launch a career can make the 25-minute reel that might open the door to clubs and booking agents outside Tucson.

“Our hope is to mirror places where you get those longer sets,” Lukasewicz said. “There aren’t a lot of places in town where people are doing longer sets in a curated environment.” There are, in fact, exactly zero.

OTHER SHOWS THIS WEEK

Black Rock Brewery, 1664 S. Research Loop, Suite 200, blackrockbrewers.com, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 11, $5, Mo Urban hosts and the lineup includes Stephanie Lyonga, headliner, and Mia Krupetsky, Maggie O’Shea, Steven Black, Cory Lytle and LuxShree.

Corbett Brewery, 309 E. Seventh Street, facebook.com/goodenoughcomedy, 7 p.m. Friday, March 10, free, Deep Enough Comedy hosted by Good Enough Comedy, Off the Deep End Comedy, free, Joel Martin and Cory Lytle host, lineup includes Anthony Jenkins, Sylvia Remington, Darry Graves, Holly Hilton, donations encouraged including canned food and non-perishable food for local food banks and shelters.

Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard. 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, and 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11, laffstucson.com, $15, $20 preferred seating. Caleb Cynan, small-town preacher’s kid’s done USO and “Conan.”

Marana Laughs, Coyote Trail Stage, 8000 N. Silverbell, maranalaughs.com, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, $10, Gilbert comic Isaac “Doc” Farm

Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, 414 E. Ninth Street, tucsonimprov.com, $7 each show, $10 for both shows, same night, free jam and open mic. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 9, “Harold Eta” and “TIM Teacher’s Lounge;” 8:30 p.m. Open Mic.; 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m. “The Soapbox;” 9 p.m. Improv vs. Stand Up; Saturday, March 11, 11 a.m. “Pretendy Time” (bring the kids!), 7:30 p.m. “Your Favorite Movie Improvised” and “The Meeting”; 9 p.m. “Improv Madness”

Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, unscrewedtheatre.org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids. 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, family-friendly improv; 9 p.m. Unscrewed Fridays After Dark (pay what you will); 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 11, family-friendly improv; 9 p.m. Uncensored Improv Comedy with house teams NBOJU (Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed) and The Big Daddies.

CLAYTOONZ

HOLLY HILTON PERFORMS AT THE CORBETT BREWERY. (HOLLY HILTON/SUBMITTED)

BASSIST SHREDS THE PRE-ROLL COMPETITION WITH 22RED

By Hope Peters Tucson Weekly Contributor

When System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian founded 22Red, his fans and friends said he should have a strain named after him. But he was quick to nix that because he wanted to establish a lifestyle brand, not just a celebrity effort.

The company’s mission is to create an amplified cannabis lifestyle that celebrates the creatives of the world.

“I was like, I don’t know the grower, I don’t want to put my name on anything,” Odadjian explained. “To me, it’s all about quality. It’s not about making money, putting my name on something just like most celebrities. So being referred to

sometimes as a celebrity brand is really a handicap.”

He said he created 22Red, which is now available in Tucson, because he was tired of the shake, stems and leaves of cannabis that is often found in pre-roll joints when it is already ground.

“I happened to be a musician who got famous,” he said.

“But I personally curate it like a business and the culture. I try to feed the culture. I tried to give everybody what I think is the best.”

The menus at 22Red reflect what Odadjian smokes all day. He is comfortable and confident in the quality of his flower because he chose it. He now knows the

growers and some of the genetics are proprietary to him.

“As we move forward, I am focused on proprietary genetics,” Odadjian said. “I will come up with the next greatest genetic in the next few years, I will be part of that.”

Odadjian and a handful of growers are working on the finest cannabis genetics.

“It’s just about sharing the best,” he explained. “I’m not saying I know how to grow (it), but I could probably do it. I’m not the best. I try to work with the best and get the best. It’s about putting a team together. It’s not about doing everything solo.” SEE 22RED

SYSTEM OF A DOWN BASSIST AND 22RED FOUNDER SHAVO ODADJIAN INSPECTS THE FLOWER AT THE GROW FOR HIS CANNABIS PRODUCTS. (22RED/SUBMITTED)

Odadjian’s journey and hunt for the greatest cannabis began when System of the Down visited Amsterdam on tour. It was there he met cannabis entrepreneur Arjan Roskam, who invited him to that year’s harvest tasting.

He said that encounter changed his life and his quest for the perfect cannabis flower.

“I sat at a table with 20 of the most important cannabis influencers at that time, like the first guy to open the coffee shop and creator of the Super Lemon Haze,” Odadjian said of Roskam.

“I got to taste about 30 or 40 different strains in front of me in big bowls and rate them and write the names on them. It was an experience…It wasn’t about getting high anymore, it was about taste and smell and everything about it. Then, I became a connoisseur.”

Odadjian compares his search for quality flowers to that of the hunt for the perfect bottle of wine. It’s necessary to know the vintner and the quality of the winemaker’s grapes.

“It’s not that I became a weed snob,” he

said with a laugh. “I just became more advanced, where I knew what was out there and I wanted the best.”

At the time cannabis was legalized in California, Odadjian was only interested in enjoying weed and making music with his bands.

“That was my life,” he said. “I was the artist. I wasn’t a businessman…that wasn’t my focus.”

Things changed in 2019 when he and his friend founded 22Red as a lifestyle

brand. They soon added cannabis to the menu and specialized in creating premium products in music, art, fashion and cannabis.

22Red is committed to ingenuity and believes that cannabis is more than a plant, but a means to honor creative minds.

To expand into Arizona, 22Red partnered with Lonestar Select for cultivation and genetics. Lonestar Select has been cultivating cannabis since 2011 when Arizona was for medical use only.

Lonestar Select has been cultivating cannabis since 2011 when the state was medical only. Unlike many other cultivation facilities in Arizona, Lonestar Select was built from the ground up to grow cannabis.

“I love the science behind it,” said Lonestar Select’s Spencer Keim.

“For all of the years I have been growing cannabis commercially, I have never stopped learning. There are always new and improved ways to cultivate, and I feel like we have just scratched the surface.”

The partnership was created in tandem with 22Red launching a new preroll pack in Arizona. It is the first time the brand has created a multiunit product specifically designed for sharing and social use. Each pack has seven pre-rolls filled with .5 grams of top-notch, indoor-grown flower.

It is the same flower found in 22Red’s premium indoor jars, as opposed to the shake and leaves common in most preroll products.

pack.”

He wanted to do this earlier, but preroll packs were not a thing when he started his brand.

“We are a boutique brand,” Odadjian said. “We are not a brand that raised $100 million.”

The pre-roll packs are an eighth of an ounce rolled into seven “little point fivers,” he said.

“We have jars of eighths for those who want to roll their own joints, or pack it in bowls or smoke it in bongs,” Odadjian said.

He explained they don’t do smalls, or shakes; the weed in the jars is the exact same flower strain that’s rolled into the packs of seven .5 gram pre-rolls.

“We are calling them personal,” Odadjian said. “Not everyone wants to share a 1-grammer with everybody. But .5…you have your own. You open the box. You give one to whomever you’re smoking with, you don’t have to share (the joint). Especially with COVID…I think passing the joint thing is kind of old at this point.” 22Red’s personal packs have launched with six strains: Shred 22, So Delicious, Kush Cake, Meno Breath, OMG and Oreoz. Odadjian’s favorites are Shred 22 (sativa), So Delicious (hybrid) and OMG (hybrid).

Odadjian’s 22Red 7-pre-roll packs contain no trim, no shake, no sugar-leaf making these doobies free of garbage like many other pre-rolls, which contain the worst quality weed inside. Odadjian’s goal is to bring the highest level of quality to each of their products, and their prerolls are no exception. Each pre-roll contains the same quality flower they sell in their cannabis 1/8 of an ounce jars making the smoking experience sharable and convenient to carry to the next party.

“From the inception of the brand, I always wanted to bring packs, because I smoke joints, that’s how I get high,” Odadjian said. “I would always roll seven Js for the day, and I would put them in a

BLOOM TUCSON

South: 2075 E. Benson Highway

4695 N. Oracle Road, Suite 117

520-293-3315; bloomdispensary.com

Open: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

BOTANICA

6205 N. Travel Center Drive 520-395-0230; botanica.us

Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily

DESERT BLOOM RE-LEAF CENTER

8060 E. 22nd Street, Suite 108 520-886-1760; dbloomtucson.com

Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily Offering delivery

DOWNTOWN DISPENSARY

221 E. Sixth Street, Suite 105 520-838-0492; thedowntowndispensary.com

Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

D2 DISPENSARY

7139 E. 22nd Street

520-214-3232; d2dispensary.com

Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

EARTH’S HEALING

Two locations: North: 78 W. River Road 520-253-7198

520-373-5779 earthshealing.org

Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays; Offering delivery

GREEN MED WELLNESS CENTER 6464 E. Tanque Verde Road 520-886-2484, greenmedwellness.com

Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

HALO CANNABIS

7710 S. Wilmot Road

520-664-2251; thegreenhalo.org

Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

HANA GREEN VALLEY

1732 W. Duval Commerce Point Place

520-289-8030

Open: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

HARVEST OF TUCSON

2734 E. Grant Road

520-314-9420; askme@harvestinc.com; harvestofaz.com

Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

NATURE MED

5390 W. Ina Road

520-620-9123; naturemedaz.com

Open: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

THE PRIME LEAF

Two locations:

• 4220 E. Speedway Boulevard

• 1525 N. Park Avenue

520-44-PRIME; theprimeleaf.com

Open: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays

TUCSON SAINTS

112 S. Kolb Road

520-886-1003; medicalmarijuanaoftucson. com

Open: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily

COMICS

LEGALIZATION NATION By Brian Box Brown

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19)

Repressed feelings and dormant passions are rising to the surface. I bet they will soon be rattling your brain and illuminating your heart, unleashing a soothing turbulence of uncanny glee. Will you get crazy and wise enough to coax the Great Mystery into blessing you with an inspirational revelation or two? I believe you will. I hope you will! The more skillful you are at generating rowdy breakthroughs, the less likely you are to experience a breakdown. Be as unruly as you need to be to liberate the very best healings.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20)

PLEASE REVIEW PROOF CAREFULLY!

Submit any changes or approve your ad via the link attached to this proof.

Advertiser: Behavioral Awareness Proof Timestamp: 12:28p - 3/8/19

Representative: Kristin Chester Proof Number: 1

Date: 3/14/19

Designer: OM

You finally have all you need to finish an incomplete mission or resolve a mess of unsettled karma. The courage and determination you couldn’t quite summon before are now fully available as you invoke a climax that will prepare the way for your awe-inspiring rebirth. Gaze into the future, dear Taurus, and scan for radiant beacons that will be your guides in the coming months. You have more help than you know, and now is the time to identify it and move toward it.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20)

SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT & COUNSELING

• On staff physician certified in addiction treatment

• Individual and Group Counseling provided by licensed drug & alcohol counselor.

• Group Topics: Relapse prevention, Peer Support, Crisis interventions, and Family dynamics

• Liquid methadone, tablets, diskettes, and suboxone

• Walk-ins welcome no appointment needed

• Mon-Fri 5AM-6PM Sat 7AM- Noon NOW ACCEPTING AHCCCS

we should favor the simplest explanation with the fewest assumptions. While that’s often a useful approach, I don’t recommend it in the coming weeks. For you, nuances and subtleties will abound in every situation. Mere simplicity is unlikely to lead to a valid understanding. You will be wise to relish the complications and thrive on the paradoxes. Try to see at least three sides of every story. Further tips: 1. Mysteries may be truer than mere facts. 2. If you’re willing to honor your confusion, the full, rich story will eventually emerge.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22)

“There are no unsacred places,” wrote Leo poet Wendell Berry. “There are only sacred places and desecrated places.” Poet Allen Ginsberg agreed. “Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!” he wrote. “Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers and pavements! Holy the cafeteria! Holy the mysterious rivers of tears under the streets! Holy the sea, holy the desert, holy the railroad.” With Berry’s and Ginsberg’s prompts as your inspiration, and in accordance with current astrological imperatives, I invite you to invigorate your relationship with sacredness. If nothing is sacred for you, do what it takes to find and commune with sacred things, places, animals, humans, and phenomena. If you are already a lover of sacred wonders, give them extra love and care. To expand your thinking and tenderize your mood, give your adoration to these related themes: consecration, sublimity, veneration, devotion, reverence, awe, and splendor.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22)

Our sun is an average star in a galaxy of 100 billion stars. In comparison to some of its flamboyant compatriots, it’s mediocre. Over 860 light years away is a bluewhite supergiant star called Rigel, which is twice as hot as our sun and 40,000 times brighter. The red supergiant Antares, over 600 light years away, has 12 times more mass. Yet if those two showoffs had human attitudes, they might be jealous of our star, which is the source of energy for a planet teeming with 8.7 million forms of life. I propose we make the sun your role model for now, Gemini. It’s an excellent time to glory in your unique strengths and to exuberantly avoid comparing yourself to anyone else.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22)

The philosophical principle known as Occam’s razor asserts that when trying to understand a problem or enigma,

My favorite Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, wrote the following: “In us, there is a river of feelings, in which every drop of water is a different feeling, and each feeling relies on all the others for its existence. To observe it, we just sit on the bank of the river and identify each feeling as it surfaces, flows by, and disappears.” I bring this meditation to your attention, Virgo, because I hope you will do it daily during the next two weeks.

Now is an excellent time to cultivate an intense awareness of your feelings—to exult in their rich meanings, to value their spiritual power, to feel gratitude for educating and entertaining you.

LIBRA

(SEPT. 23-OCT. 22)

How might your life come into clearer focus when you uncover secrets that inspire your initiative and ingenuity? What happens when resources that had been inaccessible become available for your enjoyment and use? How will you respond if neglected truths spring into view and point the way toward improvements in your job situation? I suspect you will soon be able to tell me stories about all this good stuff. PS: Don’t waste time feeling doubtful about whether the magic is real. Just welcome it and make it work for you!

SCORPIO

(OCT. 23-NOV. 21)

It’s not the best time to tattoo a lover’s likeness on your abdomen. Maybe in May, but not now. On the other hand, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to see if your paramour might be willing to tattoo your name on their thigh. Similarly, this is a favorable period to investigate which of your allies would wake up at 5 am to drive you to the airport, and which of your acquaintances and friends would stop others from spreading malicious gossip about you, and which authorities would reward you if you spoke up with constructive critiques.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV.

22-DEC. 21)

Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. They may grow as high as 350 feet. Their roots are shallow, though, reaching down just six to 12 feet before spreading out 60 to 100 feet horizontally. And yet the trees are sturdy, rarely susceptible to being toppled by high winds and floods. What’s their secret? Their root systems are interwoven with those of other nearby redwoods. Together, they form networks of allies, supporting each other and literally sharing nutrients. I endorse this model for you to emulate in your efforts to create additional stability and security in your

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN.

19)

What’s the best way to be fulfilled? Hard work and discipline? Are we most likely to flourish if we indulge only moderately in life’s sweet pleasures and mostly focus on the difficult tasks that build our skills and clout? Or is it more accurate to say that 90 percent of success is just showing up: being patient and persistent as we carry out the small day-to-day sacrifices and devotions that incrementally make us indispensable?

Mythologist Joseph Campbell described a third variation: to “follow our bliss.” We find out what activities give us the greatest joy and install those activities at the center of our lives. As a Capricorn, you are naturally skilled at the first two approaches. In the coming months, I encourage you to increase your proficiency at the third.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18)

Mackerels are unusual fish in that they must keep swimming nonstop. If they don’t, they die. Do they ever sleep? Scientists haven’t found any evidence that they do. I bring them up now because many of you Aquarians have resemblances to mackerels—and I think it’s especially crucial that you not act like them in the coming weeks. I promise you that nothing bad will happen if you slow way down and indulge in prolonged periods of relaxing stillness. Just the opposite in fact: Your mental and physical health will thrive as you give your internal batteries time and space to recharge.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20)

A financial advisor once told me I could adopt one of three approaches to running my business: 1. Ignore change; 2. always struggle with change, half-immobilized by mixed feelings about whether to change or stay pat; 3. learn to love and thrive on change. The advisor said that if I chose either of the first two options, I would always be forced to change by circumstances beyond my control. The third approach is ultimately the only one that works. Now is an excellent time for you Pisceans to commit yourself fully to number three—for both your business and your life.

CASTING FOR FEATURE FILM

We are looking for actors for a indie feature film shooting in Southern Arizona. Need all types 18 to 80. Shooting for one week in April 2023. Please submit photo and phone number.

Email: Markheadley12@yahoo.com There is pay.

EMPLOYMENT-GENERAL

Freeport Minerals Corporation seeks MANAGER GEOMECHANICAL ENGINEERING in Tucson, AZ.

Manage designated engineering projects & processes ensuring successful conclusion of all phases within budgeted timeframe & cost. Send resumes to Ron Ostrom <rostrom@fmi.com> and must reference Job #166 in subject line. Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veteran/Disability.

and

Best full body rub for men by a man. West Tucson. Ajo and Kinney. Privacy assured. 7AM to 7PM. In/Out calls available. Darvin 520-404-0901. No texts.

Best full body rub for men by a man. West Tucson. Ajo and Kinney. Privacy assured. 7AM to 7PM. In/Out calls available. Darvin 520-404-0901. No

Edited by Will Shortz

PUZZLE BY ADDISON SNELL