Tucson Weekly 9.29.22

SEPT 1 - OCT 28

Tohono

The Tucson Weekly

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Tucson Weekly

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STAFF

ADMINISTRATION

To

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

Hope Peters, Staff Reporter, hpeter@timespublications.com

Katya Mendoza, Staff Reporter kmendoza@timespublications.com

Karen Schaffner, Staff Reporter kschaffner@timespublications.com

Contributors: Summer Aguirre, Brian Box Brown, Rob Brezsny, Max Cannon, Rand Carlson, Clay Jones, Andy Mosier, Xavier Otero, Dan Perkins, Linda Ray, Will Shortz, Brian Smith, Jen Sorensen

PRODUCTION

Courtney Oldham, Production Manager, tucsonproduction@timespublications.com

Tonya Mildenberg, Graphic Designer, tmildenberg@timespublications.com

CIRCULATION

Aaron Kolodny, Circulation Director, aaron@phoenix.org

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

Tyler Vondrak, Account Executive, tvondrak@timespublications.com

NATIONAL ADVERTISING

Zac Reynolds, Director of National Advertising Zac@timespublications.com

Cover image of DJ Jose Mangin, host on SiriusXM Octane. Photo by Alexander Bemis.

RANDOM

By Rand Carlson

NIGHT AND DAY AT SPEEDY MART

ON SOME NIGHTS THERE IS theater here. Tonight, it is the harmonica man. He pulls in behind the wheel of a Jeep compact SUV and The Who’s “Magic Bus” thunders from his car stereo. He parks, lifts a harmonic to his mouth and with a startling, kick-out-the-jams passion, involving his upper body, lungs, head and elbows, he transforms, pushing The Who tune to even greater messy heights. The song ends. He changes harps, and repeats to The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Outta This Place.” It is like he’s center stage in a packed hall, blowing mad melodies and lurching back and forth and it looks like catharsis, but he is alone in the front seat of a car on an otherwise warm and lonely night.

He stops, steps from the Jeep and into the store, big chest, sweaty brow, dark moppy hair. There is something introverted and taciturn about him. He purchases snacks, exchanges a few words with store

employee Jill Steventon and moves back out and into his car. Jill follows him outside and lights a smoke. The parking lot is silent and empty, nary a car motoring by on 5th Street. He scrolls through songs, finds Lenny Kravitz in a suitable key and blows hard. Soon he pulls the harmonica from his head and screams along: “Are you gonna go my way?” Lips pursed, eyes squeezed shut, he jerks his head out the car window to accent the final vowel, face aimed at the starry sky. “And I got to, got to knoooooooow!” Song ends, that’s it, show’s over. Jill and I, his only audience, clap at the performance. The harmonica man gives us a slight nod, stashes his harp away and motors off.

Jill, standing in the florescent glow of the Speedy Mart lights, turns to me, and said, “He’s here all the time. I think he’s coming home from work. This is his unwind time.”

THE HUMS INSIDE this Speedy Mart vary in tone but create a comforting nighttime hush, summer waning; the soda-dispenser ice machine, the floor icecream refrigerator, the lighted beer cooler, the store’s air-system. There is a cozy sleekness here that sidesteps sterility because, maybe, it feels opposed to change and arouses nostalgia, or maybe it’s the age of the building (1960s), or maybe because at night it is a tiny beacon on a dark strip of roadway, which cuts the mile in half between the Swan and Columbus intersections on 5th Street in Tucson.

No gas pumps outside so the store’s stoic standing as a straightup “convenience store” recalls days long before the sweeping gas-station minimarts muscled in on major thoroughfare corners, calculated for auto traffic and the quickest in-out purchases imaginable, all but killing the neighborhood store. This place was once a Circle

SORENSEN

K years ago, the vaguely mid-century modernist roof design and wooden ceiling beams intact.

Story & photos by Brian Smith

Mom and pop Speedy Mart owners Jason and Corin Redondo.

I’d step in here sometimes for one of my last remaining addictions, Diet Coke. The store’s recent changes are obvious; clean, well lit, lower-priced. On recent visits I would watch employee Jill, usually working alone, hair pulled back, jeans, benign face filled with stories. There is a humble, tender quality of egoless service about her, almost subservience, yet dignified. A manner one sometimes assumes when feeling lucky and thankful to be alive. Jill reveals genuine pleasure in meeting non-regulars and greeting the patrons, curious to all, an observer without prejudice. It was obvious, too, her dry yet genuine fondness for the hurting and defeated, and that she is well-acquainted with many in the neighborhood strapped for food and cash. Get people from all walks moving in and out of a small space and community can emerge. When she is here, Jill is queen.

Jill works fulltime, some days, some nights, been here since before the new owners took over, a holdover because, well, she is good. Her work is filled with seemingly needless tasks, wiping counters, cleaning the pop and coffee machines, collecting trash outside the store, with the skill and attention of an OCD housekeeper. She makes change and operates the behind-the-counter machines as instinctively as she inhales, born of work in grocery and clothing stores. I am told she’s a key reason the store’s floors shine so, why the aisles of goods gleam. She is rarely still, minus downtime moments where she can step outside for a smoke. She’s been on her feet six hours, since 2 p.m. today, two more to go, and she is going, if she is tired. You don’t know how hard this work is, each customer requires a degree of energy in thoughtful communication, beyond the trained greetings of “hey, how are you.” She knows many by name, their personal histories and gossips, which she keeps close to her chest. She’d make a winning drinkslinger in a neighborhood tavern, a set of ears attuned to the nuances of passengers who travel mostly unnoticed in daily life. Yes, fatigue sets in, but social interaction keeps her buzzing; beyond the store’s paycheck, she appears to be exploring connections beyond herself, and patrons respond in kind, even those impassive to the outside world. She is slightly nervous at first, get her going

and she is remarkably frank about her life.

A DIVERSE CLIENTELE CALLS

themselves regulars here, a mainstay from in the adjacent working-class neighborhoods; house painters and roofers, students from UA, frail men who live on fixed incomes, kids on bikes, women with leashed dogs or children, tattoo enthusiasts with facial creepers, unemployed with EBT cards, and pretty much every working-stiff sort you can name, sometimes in a suit. At night it is those dressed in home comfort, an old Slayer tee-shirt and PJ bottoms here, bead-head and headphones there, and the occasional neighborhood lonely-heart who sometimes hangs around for company. Ruddy-cheeked folk in unmissable hangover glows going for Milwaukee’s Best Ice 32oz saviors in cans. A lucky few cash out lottery winnings and walk out with packs of Eagle 20’s Red 100’s. Late-night liters of Mountain Dew and Pepsi, diapers and tortilla chips, sold and bagged in black plastic, swing out the big glass doors.

The regulars feel this place is their own. One protective gent, buzzcut, round jolly face, 40s, grilled me hilariously tonight on whether I was a cop. A surly woman in an ankle-length plus-size dress, who could take me out with one swing, is suspicious of a person with pen and pad keeping Jill company tonight, avoids eye contact with me and centers on Jill:

“Are you OK, Jill?

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure you’re OK? I’m just making sure.”

She exits, a suspicious eye on me.

There are a few halfway houses in the area and certain live-ins come here three, four times a day. “They have really good people in them,” Jill said. “Some ask to come stand in here at night to make sure I’m OK.” One guy who lives close by gave Jill his number and said “if anything goes down you can call me. I’ll bring a gun if I have to.”

Store robberies have been subjects of conversation among regulars. Things have gone south. Jill considers it her obligation to chase away the “zombies,” those whose obvious menace is amped up on crystal or whatever. She keeps pepper spray holstered on her hip. She tells a cryptic story of a night in which a car surveilled the store from a neighboring parking lot when she was all alone in the

store, they slowly pulled in. She knew what was up. The car had no plates, and “that got me.” She closed the store and went in the back and called the owner, and waited. The car pulled away.

The store circulates stills from the always-on surveillance cameras among other stores in the area; one guy who jumped the counter here, and later got popped at a Circle K. Since the new owners took over, several regulars and Jill tell me, robberies are on a swift decline, the “riffraff ” has moved on.

BEHIND THE REGISTER, working Speedy Mart’s nightshift, Jill explains her stroke in excruciating detail. She was 22 and her condition flummoxed doctors. She was too young, too healthy. In high school, at Tucson’s Flowing Wells, she was a star athlete chasing a child-

Hughes FCU.or g | 520-794- 83 41 Insured by NCUA. Certain restrictions apply.

SEE SALVAGE PAGE 6

Jill Steventon, Speedy Mart shift queen, and her high school state-champ ring.

hood dream; she ran track, a state champion and record holder, and accustomed to taking good care of herself. This stroke had nothing to do with booze or drugs, she steers clear, this was an inherited condition, a clotting disorder; her blood is four times thicker than the average person. Alongside that is the artery disease, heart problems and painful medullary sponge kidney disorder. “As my doctor said, I’m a ‘genetic screw-up.’” She suffered cervical cancer and a hysterectomy at 23. She knows well the lifeless interior walls of hospitals.

The health problems follow her now into her 40s, and she smokes (“I know I shouldn’t”).

She graduated high school in ’95, and, a few weeks before turning 18, joined a sales company who traveled the country peddling magazine subscriptions door to door. She wouldn’t trade the sort of coming-of-age experiences, the joys, the terrors, the idea of a traveling family separate from her own relatives, even if she was stalked by a creep in one state and held captive for hours by drug deal-

ers. “I grew up a lot,” Jill said. “I learned.”

In Kansas City she collapsed, the first sign of her health maladies. She returned home to attend college. At 19 she was pregnant with daughter Makayley, married the father, later discovering he was a cruel drug addict. He’d beat her up. She took her daughter at two months old and left him.

Jill was close to her parents, who died too young, especially her England-born dad (“he was my best friend”), a Nam vet, who guided her running. She later worked with him as a parts manager in his field of semi-trucks. When he died she broke up with a longtime partner, and parted from his child, whom she helped raise. She spiraled into the blackest of depressions. She sent her daughter to stay with a relative for two weeks, because she was too unwell to care for her. That added to the pain. In 2009, doctors told her she had three years to live. Her eyes wet when she talks of that era. But soon, she said, she met a good man, got married. “Stress gone, my stats went up, he pulled me out of a dark place.” In context, that part feels pretty simple.

When she speaks of her married

daughter and her grandchildren her face goes radiant. “You know,” she said, “she was my miracle baby. I was blessed. I was told I couldn’t have kids.”

She shifts to talk of dogs. A dying one she rescued here named Max. He was hanging around outside. She nursed him back to health and found him a good home with a customer.

IT’S A THURSDAY AFTERNOON and store proprietors Jason Redondo and his wife Corin are in, around a sectioned off desk. The store is an entire world for the Redondo family, a central act in a love story. An enterprise sparked on the idea of working for themselves. “We’re not getting rich, but we’d rather do this, and lay groundwork for our kids in the future,” Jason said.

Corin was Jason’s sister’s friend growing up. She had a crush on older Jason since she was a girl and it was inevitable they’d fall in love years later. After six months of courtship they moved to Elko, Nevada for his new job in a gold mine, got married a year later in ’06. The couple have a son, 14, and a daughter, 12.

In Nevada, while raising the children, Corin learned accounting, bookkeeping, did corporate taxes, eventually partnered in a business in Nevada. “She is a talented woman,” Jason said. “I’m lucky to be with her. She was a major part of how we were able to get the store, the payroll, the business entity, she set up the business for us.”

Corin, who grew up in tiny Oracle, Arizona, a daughter of a construction journeyman dad, is whip-smart, prepossessing, and a total mom; she laughs a lot, especially relating tales of their children, and talks safety of her own kids, and those who frequent the store on bikes. They adore each other, and, away from one another, say so out loud.

Last year the couple sold their Nevada home for a profit, with enough to purchase the store and live on for six months. Moved back to Southern Arizona, closer to cousins, aunts, nephews, nieces, siblings. One goal, after lifting the store from decline, was to earn back the neighborhood, which they’ve done with waterways of sweat and some tears;

If so,

in a University of Arizona research study of a novel psychotherapy for adults recently separated from their partners. The purpose of the study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of this newly developed therapy.

The therapy program will involve six 1-hour therapy sessions over three months, as well as completion of various surveys, streamof-consciousness recordings of your separation experience, and an exit interview. The total time commitment for this study is

He’s an upright guy, Italian-Latino, 43, a living embodiment of the word responsible; dutiful family man. A steady work ethic in his carriage and speech. Hell, he made a career as an underground miner, a driller, 20 years in before walking away. Born in Phoenix, Jason grew up in tiny San Manuel and Oracle, Arizona. Attended high school in Globe, Arizona, out with a GED. “Other than working for the military, that’s the only job you can get operating million-dollar equipment,” he laughs. Mining was in his blood, third generation, after his grandpa and dad. His dad recently retired from the Globe-Miami mines, spent years working in the smelter.

CLAYTOONZ By Clay Jones

If

meet these and other criteria in the screening survey,

may be invited to a phone screening interview where you will discuss your separation experience and learn more about the study. If after the interview the treatment is deemed suitable for you, you may be invited to enroll in the study and begin treatment at the University of Arizona Behavioral Health Clinic.

word-of-mouth, lowered prices, cleanliness, keeping employees like Jill, which isn’t easy. They’re down to two fulltime employees other than themselves, and are shocked at how hard it is find suitable folk looking for gainful employment.

They purchased the franchise in January from a gentleman who owned other Speedy Marts, who had purchased from the locally owned Quik Mart chain. The store opens at 6 a.m. closes at 10 p.m. Twenty-four hours is too much trouble, based around a fear of robberies. They each put in hours behind the counter, where it’s hard to imagine Corin employing muscle. “I had somebody hop the counter the other night on my wife,” Jason said. “This gentleman—well, you’re not a gentleman if you do something like that—jumped the counter to steal lottery tickets and she had to grab him and force him to leave, had to Mace him. I said to her, ‘You learned bookkeeping and corporate taxes and now shoplifters. You thwarted a robbery, you’re a superhero.’”

He pauses, adds, “It’s a little different

Free Concert

than what we’re used to.”

But it is nothing like the long days in the mine when Jason would miss his family and the “winters when you’d see zero sunlight.” The accidents, electrical fires, cave-ins. Once he was laid up for months after a mine incident required back surgery, another time trapped for 18 hours, saved by a 15-feet by 30-feet refuge chamber stocked with water, and breathable “scrubbed” air.

Jason plays this stuff off with a retiring shrug, suggesting the injuries and such are rites of passage in a miner’s life. Corin not so much. The money was sweet, sure, but she’s elated her husband is out of the mines. Especially for the family. “We do outdated family activities, the other day we went bowling,” Jason said. “But now I can reflect. Yeah, I sometimes miss the work, I miss the guys.”

“It feels like home,” Corin said, standing in the center of the family Speedy Mart, surrounded by that which keeps them afloat. It’s the anti-corporate simplicity of a life she left behind with Jason in Oracle.

To Register or Donate

Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 2PM

James D. Kriegh Park Oro Valley, Az

Local business sponsorships and tax deductible donations allow our heroes, their families and the public to attend this event at NO CHARGE.

hear your favorite music from Chicago and the greatest rock and pop groups!

Food trucks and beverages will be available for your enjoyment!

Bring your lawn chairs or blankets.

DJ JOSE MANGIN JUST WANTS TO DO GOOD

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Local Media

JUDAS PRIEST’S ROB HALFORD calls himself the “Metal God,” but Jose Mangin is the “Metal Ambassador.”

Born in Phoenix and raised in Doug las, the UA graduate shares his love of the genre on SiriusXM Octane, by host ing metal festivals and attending shows. Nothing is just for fun. He’s always work ing the room, pushing the genre and his new nonprofit, Headbang for Science, that provides scholarships to young met al fans.

The inked mogul with the gauge ear rings has become one of the foremost authorities on heavy metal. He helped create satellite radio’s Liquid Metal and Octane stations and celebrated his 22nd anniversary with the company on Sept. 21. He laid down guest vocals on a Sui cide Silence song, introduced Metallica at Yankee stadium, hosted a Korn concert in Los Angeles, and interviewed Ozzy Osbourne.

“The bands in our community are the nicest people in the world,” Mangin said via telephone from his Huntington Beach home.

“I love supporting the musicians them selves — not just their music, but the re cord labels and managers. These bands, these veterans, inspired me to be a metal ambassador.”

EARLY YEARS

Mangin was born in 1977 at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. He and his family lived in Phoenix, Si erra Vista and Tucson before settling in Douglas.

He was introduced to metal by older cousins when he was in kindergarten.

“They had a room in the back shack with cool metal posters,” Mangin re called. “I thought, ‘Wow. That looks awe some. What is that?’ There was a big met al scene in Douglas.

“There were a bunch of long-haired dudes. There wasn’t anything in Douglas

other than Mexican music, cowboy boots, Mexican language, and super, super Mexican dudes and chicks — then there were the in-betweens, who leaned toward rock and metal.”

His first concert was Iron Maiden and Anthrax at Compton Terrace, south of Chandler, in 1992. Mangin left school and took a bus from Douglas to Tucson, where he met his cousin and a friend. They drove to Compton Terrace and took the same route back.

“It was a big deal,” he said with a laugh.

Mangin wanted to attend other shows, but his parents weren’t too keen on it.

“I tried to go to other metal shows,” he said. “I wanted to go to Clash of the Ti tans, but I couldn’t go. I was too young. I didn’t have the means to do any of that. We were very poor as well.”

To commemorate his first concert, Paul Booth’s Tattoo Parlor inked “Persistence of Time” on the back of his leg as An thrax watched. It was during an episode of “Headbangers Ball,” which he hosted for four years.

After graduating high school with a perfect GPA, he attended the UA, where he earned a degree in chemistry, thanks to a full-ride scholarship. He then headed to Tennessee to pursue a doctorate.

While at the UA, he served as music di rector of KAMP, the studio radio station.

“Arizona is what made me into the metal person I am today,” Mangin said. “I love giving credit to Arizona. I wear Ari zona jewelry. I always have my stuff that I bought in Bisbee or Scottsdale. I have Native American jewelry, and turquoise jewelry. When people compliment me on my jewelry, I tell them it’s from Arizona. I’m proud and quick to point out where I’m from and bring it up in conversation.”

In 2013, Affliction Clothing named him director of artist relations, and Mangin has worked with artists on the company’s music branding. He also co-owns Riazul Tequila.

As an energetic presenter and conver sational interviewer, Mangin has on his resume eight years with the nationally syndicated LatiNation, in over 100 ma jor Latino markets, and multiple award shows. Programs broadcast with the likes of Amazon, AXS-TV and VH1 often uti lize his talent.

Recently, Danny Wimmer Presents signed Mangin to serve as “official host and backstage correspondent” at all of its rock festivals, including Louder Than Life in Louisville.

In a statement, Danny Wimmer Pres ents said, “He’s such an amazing ambas sador in our community, so to be able to have him at all our events exclusively is incredibly exciting. Jose’s energy is con tagious, and we know our fans will dig getting to see him at the festival, along with all the great content he’ll be grab bing backstage.”

Mangin is just as enthusiastic.

“I’m so excited about that,” he said.

Jose Mangin on SiriusXM Octane was born in Phoenix but raised in Douglas. He graduated from the UA. (PHOTO BY JEREMY SAFFER)

“I’m hosting all of Danny’s hard rock and metal festivals this year and next year. It’s just an honor. I’ve worked with Danny for over 10 years. I always wanted to be his main host.

“I’m a big ambassador for this music. My favorite part of being the host of these festivals is being able to say thank you to the subscribers of SiriusXM. I have meet and greets, talk to fans, take selfies, and give hugs and fist bumps. I feel a lot of love wherever I go.”

He recently returned to Arizona to attend the SiriusXM Octane-sponsored Memphis May Fire show at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix and, two days later, saw Anthrax, Black Label Society and Hatebreed show at the Van Buren in Phoenix.

“I hosted the Memphis May Fire show and it was really good to be on stage in Phoenix and talk about my Arizona roots with the fans there,” he said.

“When I mentioned Douglas, there were three people who cheered really loudly. It was cool to get a big Douglas cheer.”

SPREADING THE WEALTH

Mangin founded Headbang for Science during the pandemic, but it was born out of an idea he had in a dream in September 2014 in New Jersey. He followed through with it when the world shut down.

“I was watching all this stuff happen,” he said. “Everything was happening with politics and global health and the division among us.”

“I was so hurt by all of that shit. I wanted to do something. I didn’t know what to do. I realized I had this dream of starting

a scholarship foundation for heavy metal nerds who want to be doctors and scientists. I thought if I did this, especially right now, it would uplift our community and help out in a unique and awesome way.”

To qualify, applicants must be a graduating high school senior who wants to major in medicine or science. They have to have a 3.5 grade-point average or higher, who “loves the hell out of heavy metal music” and shows financial need.

“My first taste of success was my grades and then winning scholarships,” he said. “My grades were the first things I was ever recognized for. It’s an amazing feeling to have.”

He said students need motivation from more than parents, teachers and counselors to “kick ass in school.” Instead, kids look up to idols.

“If I didn’t win a full-ride scholarship to UA, who knows what I would have done,” he said. “It gave me the confidence that carries with me to this day. I still have the feeling of winning those awards and I want to win more. It’s an addictive feel-

ing.”

Mangin promises to make “mini celebrities” out of the scholarship winners by putting them on the radio and social media. They’ll be the envy of their family and friends, he added. The first one will be named this spring.

His first fundraiser was held at a soldout Spiritbox concert. At the show, he received a $20,000 donation for Headbang for Science: two oversized checks, each $10,000, from Spiritbox and its label, Pale Chord.

“It was so fricking cool to get big checks. I’ve never held one of those checks in my life,” Mangin said.

“I was on stage at a sold-out venue, and everyone was cheering and clapping and rooting for the charity. It was really cool, very moving and surreal. I can’t wait to do more things like that and more fundraisers. I want more karma points. I want to have an awesome bank account of karma that I can always pull from. I just want to do good.”

Jose Mangin recently founded the Headbang for Science, which awards scholarships to students studying medicine or science who are heavy metal fans.(PHOTO BY ALEXANDER BEMIS)

Headbang for Science headbangforscience.org

CURRENTS

HUNGER LESSENED WHEN CAMPUS PANTRY IS OPEN

By Karen Schaffner Tucson Local Media

WHAT USED TO BE A SOCIAL room is now serving a higher calling.

Located in the Sonora Room is evident ly a needed service: The Campus Pantry.

Anyone with a catcard can use the free service in the lowest level of the Student Union Memorial Center across from the Esports Arena.

Student co-director RJ Reliford II knows firsthand the value of the pantry.

“For me, I was a (client),” he said. “I was struggling. I worked hard, manu al labor jobs and I had three jobs, and I still couldn’t eat enough food because everything was so expensive. One of my friends told me about the pantry and when I heard about that I volunteered and became a (client) the same day.”

Since 2012, students, staff and faculty have supplemented their larders at the student-run Campus Pantry. It’s been an official ASUA program since 2016. No one will ask for identification, nor will cli ents be asked about income, as there are no restrictions.

This is simply a place where a person with a catcard (anyone’s catcard) may get some food staples or personal care items.

Three days a week a line forms outside the Sonora Room and when the huge glass doors swing open, pantry staff be gin the process of filling customers’ bags. There is a point system, so on one day, for example, clients may be able to spend four points and the cereal they are giving out is a half point.

Then they move on to the next station where they are given a full point worth of something else. In this way, Yesenia Torres, the other co-director, can keep track of how much is given out, both for the sake of grant applications and so she knows how much to order for the next distribution day.

“The more people we have coming, be cause we report our data, the more mon ey we can ask for, the more grants we can write, to hopefully get some permanent

solutions for some issues we’re having here on campus,” Reliford said.

After all these years, it’s a well-oiled, if expensive, machine.

“We spend over $5,000 a week just on buying everything for the pantry space,” Reliford said. In addition, nothing is put on the shelves that is past its sell-by date, except some of the bread, which comes from a food bank.

Food comes from money donations, food drives and a yearly fundraiser.

When Reliford started, the number of clients was only in the hundreds. When the last spring semester ended, the pan try had served more than 1,300 people “a week,” Torres added.

“When I first started here (four years ago), we were serving about 500 people, 600 people,” Reliford said. “Then the pandemic hit. In that semester it went down, a lot of people were going home, but then a lot of the (clients) were the staff and faculty.”

In any given week, about 300 pantry clients will be university staff, Reliford said.

Around the Sonora Room are shelves filled with canned, boxed, bottled and bagged staples, such as oats, lentils, black beans, soup, beverages and rice. Torres buys a lot of rice.

“For example, I buy more than 300 bags of long grain white rice, at least,” she said. “That would probably only last me two days. That’s just the minimum of what I buy. Some weeks it really goes up.”

Clients can also get seasonings such as cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper blend and oregano. Much of what they have does not require refrigeration, but users can get fresh food, too, such as milk and eggs and produce, which is harvest ed from the student union’s rooftop ver tical garden.

Also available are frozen meals put to gether from Box of Hunger Meals, a pro gram that supplies untouched, cooked

food from the union’s catered events. The pantry has been getting those since 2019. It’s a popular program with clients.

“It’s a lot more convenient,” Torres said. “You know you’re going to have a long day, and you stop by. You might get supplemental groceries for tomorrow for you to make dinner, but for when you go home right away, it’s a meal that’s already ready. You just microwave it and it should be fine.”

Another set of shelves is filled with full size containers of hygiene items: tooth brushes and toothpaste, deodorant, body wash, and shampoo and conditioner.

“I want to make sure they’re full size because I feel like with travel sizes and only spending money on that, I don’t want our users to feel like that’s only what they deserve,” said Torres, who does the purchasing.

There are also boxes of sanitary pads, tampons, and period cups, including an instructional graphic in case a client has never used that particular product.

“It’s completely free,” Torres added. “Every time you come in you’re able to get one.”

Torres cannot buy toilet paper, but if they get donations, they give it out.

There is also an opportunity to access

some social services here.

“We do long-term solutions, helping with SNAP benefits,” Reliford said.

If more help is needed than the pantry can give, staff members have resources where they can refer clients. It’s just real ly all about filling in the gaps.

Campus Pantry is under an umbrella organization of the Basic Needs Center, and also includes the pantry’s neighbor, Campus Closet, which is open at the same time.

To donate, to find a wishlist or for in formation, visit campuspantry.arizona. edu.

Campus Pantry

WHEN: 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays while school is in session. Summer hours vary.

WHERE: Sonora Room, downstairs, The University of Arizona Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Boulevard, Tucson

INFO: uofacampuspantry@gmail. com, or visit, campuspantry.arizona. edu

The Campus Pantry provides food staples at no cost to anyone with a catcard. The pantry is located in the downstairs Sonora Room at the UA’s Student Union Memorial Center. (PHOTO BY NOELLE HARO-GOMEZ)

APPLE ANNIE’S ORCHARD CORN MAZE

Choose from three levels of difficulty, but you’ll never actually get lost in this 12.5-acre, 600,000-stalk corn maze. It’s the largest in Arizona. The fun is in competing with friends and family. Staff says the average visitor takes about two hours to complete it. Can you beat that? Flip flops are not advised.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, through Oct. 31, Apple Annie’s Pumpkins & Produce, 6405 W. Williams Road, Willcox, $12, $10 ages 3 to 11, free children 2 and under, includes a hayride

LEWIS BLACK: “OFF THE RAILS”

Grammy Award winner Lewis Black acts out our angry id and makes us laugh at it. For the 18 years since he debuted in the middle of Comedy Central’s “Best Standups,” he’s toured the world as an international treasure. But has he ever seen a socio-political environment so worth yelling about?

8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, foxtucson. com, $35 to $125

DUCT TAPE DRAG RACING

Former Hot Rod Magazine editor David Freiburger, best known for his podcast “Roadkill” and his YouTube series “Finnegan’s Garage,” leads a cruise from LA for some Battle of the Beaters at Tucson Dragway. Only a car that meets NHRA safety standards can compete. The trick is, it can’t be worth more than $2,999. The real competition may be in the ridicule. There’s also a doughnut pit, a Tri-Fives race, and bonfires.

4 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, “Duct Tape Drag Racing,” Tucson Dragway, 12000 S. Houghton Road, ducttapedrags.com, $25 per day admission, $95 full event pass

TUCSON PRIDE PRESENTS

“OUTOBER FEST 2022”

The Tucson Pride Festival is now the oldest and longest-running Pride Festival in Arizona. This year it returns to where it all started in 1977 — with a picnic. In 2019, it attracted more than 5,000 attendees and nearly 150 vendors and exhibitors.

Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, Demeester Outdoor Performance Center, Reid Park, 900 S. Randolph Way, $10 to $15

by Linda Ray

FALL ARTISAN MARKET IN ORO VALLEY

A curated selection of artists and artisans offer unique fine arts, fashions, home goods, jewelry and food items, amid pop-up musical performances and craft activities for all ages. Food trucks round out the experience. The website shows examples of every artist’s work and lists food vendors, details of workshop and craft activities, and the times for musical performances.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, and Sunday, Oct. 2, Oro Valley Marketplace, 12155 N. Oracle Road, saaca.org, free

OCTOBER FOOTHILLS

ART WALK

The Foothills Art District at Skyline Drive at Campbell Avenue hosts an art walk on the first Thursday of every month. Included are Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Sunset Interiors, Sanders Gallery, Settlers West Gallery, For Fine Art and Wilde Meyer Gallery, where harpist Vanessa Myers will perform ambient jazz on a Celtic lever harp.

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, Wilde Meyer Gallery, 2890 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 170, wildemeyer.com

VAMOS A TUCSON MEXICAN BASEBALL FIESTA

Obregon, Navojoa, Hermosillo, Mexicali and the Arizona Wildcats play a four-day tournament celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. There will be noise. Baseball fans dance in the stands, the refreshment vendors sell tacos, and generations of families sport T-shirts promoting their clans’ favorite teams.

5:05 p.m. first of two games, Thursday, Oct. 6, to Sunday, Oct. 9, “Vamos a Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta, Veterans Memorial Stadium, 2500 E. Ajo Way, mexicanbaseballfiesta.com/games/tucson, $15, $20 box seat, $8 kids, seniors and military.

NIGHTFALL AT OLD TUCSON

Tucson’s most immersive spooky experience turns 30 with the return of Old Tucson’s Nightfall. It arrives with new enigmas and revelations for guests to expose. What mysteries might lurk in the traditional stunt shows? Or emerge from the Grand Palace Theatre stage in a scripted revue or musical performance? Are you brave enough to lure secrets from the wandering specters, apparitions and lost souls in your path? Nightfall is exactly as spooky as you make it.

5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 6, to Sunday Oct. 30, Old Tucson, 201 S. Kinney Road, nightfallaz.com, $35, $30 kids ages 5 to 11

OKTOBERFEST 2022 ON MOUNT LEMMON

Sample German culture and that country’s greatest contribution to partying: Oktoberfest. The beer will flow, the schnitzel will sizzle, and John Prokop’s Bouncing Czechs Band will have you polkaing with friends you haven’t met yet. Take a sweater, though. The temps can be 30 degrees cooler up there. Remember, too, that Mount Lemmon General Store has the only ATM, and fudge, for 30 miles. Seasonal fudge flavors now available include caramel apple pie, orange cream, pumpkin praline and s’mores. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, and Sunday, Oct 9, Oktoberfest, Mount Lemmon Ski Valley, 10300 Ski Run Road, Mount Lemmon, skithelemmon. com, free. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, Mount Lemmon General Store, 12856 N. Sabino Canyon Parkway, mtlemmon.com

The sheriff is missing in Old Tucson. Look for him at Nightfall. (OLD TUCSON/NIGHTFALL/ SUBMITTED)

CASEY BYNUM: THAT NICE YOUNG MAN BEHIND THE DESK

By Linda Ray LAUGHING STOCK

CASEY BYNUM GREW UP A comedy-club kid. “Back then it was a lot more of a party atmosphere,” he said. “Anybody that was in town that week, it was a foregone conclusion that ev erybody was going to be partying with them.” The party spot was often the fam ily home.

Bynum’s dad, Gary Bynum, had moved the family to Albuquerque from Wash ington State to open a comedy club with his brother-in-law. Casey still remembers that his hamster died in the moving van, but Gary had made a prescient move. In a 2018 interview with Tucson Weekly, he said that he sold everything he had and borrowed money from his parents to break into the comedy business with his wife’s brother. The first Laff’s comedy club opened in 1986.

“It was going like gangbusters,” Ca sey recalled. “All we had to do back then was open the doors and it was six nights a week. It was a new phenomenon. You could have a comedy club anywhere in the country as long as there were roads to it.”

The club was profitable enough that the senior Bynum soon opened clubs in Oklahoma City, Colorado Springs and, in 1988, Tucson, where he ultimately consol idated his interests. Casey now runs the Laff’s Comedy Caffe at 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard. Don Barnhart performs this weekend.

Laff’s is back to its pre-COVID-19 schedule, having survived not only the lockdown, and the long tail of pandemic precautions, but also a year of upheav al in the Broadway Boulevard widening project. Finding a way into the parking lot was a creative challenge even to reg ular patrons.

But find it they did. “It was definitely a pivotal time,” Casey said. “Thankfully, we’ve been in the same spot. Most of the people that are coming here have been here before and know where it is. That helped us and mitigated some of it.”

Now out of the woods, Casey has ideas for spiffing the place up. He spoke of new signage and a fresh coat of paint, maybe in shades of green.

Casey was never interested in being onstage, he said, let alone running a comedy club. He studied environmen tal issues and journalism at NAU. That could almost pass for rebellion in a com edy-club kid. But ultimately, he said, he realized that the best place for him is in the family business.

He could have been a social worker, though, and some may argue that he is. His father was a social worker and drug and alcohol counselor for the Air Force and the Navy after his tour of duty in Vietnam.

“My dad is very hands on,” Casey said. “He takes care of people. He taught all of us kids that. We’re all meticulous in that sense. I think it’s in our blood.”

trol in the works this weekend at Laffs’s Comedy Caffe. Performances are at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1. Tickets are $15, $20 pre ferred seating.

Barnhart’s Tucson visit is an excursion from his Las Vegas residencies where he takes pride in hosting a wide range of comedy. He’s quoted as saying, “It’s not about being dirty but about taking on subjects we should be talking about.”

As we know, that’s sometimes in the ear of the beholder, so your mileage may vary. But even his clean set on YouTube’s Dry Bar Comedy Channel is a rush of tightly written, topical twists with a mes merizing delivery.

In four sets this weekend, he’s likely to romp through every corner of the come dy spectrum. His decades of experience allow him to cast the widest possible web of good humor. Even Howard Stern is a fan.

8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard, laffstucson.com, $15, $20 preferred seating.

CURTIS COOK: DOUBLE THE FUN

1, The Screening Room,127 E. Congress Street, screeningroomdowntown.com, $10.

MORE COMEDY THIS WEEK BlackRock Brewers, 1664 S Research Loop, Suite 200, Tucson. 7:30 p.m. Satur day, Oct. 1, free. Mo Urban hosts Amber Frame, Charles Ludwig, Roxy Merrari, Rory Monserat, Steena Salido, Eli WT.

The Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Con gress Street, Tucson, foxtucson.com. 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 30, $44 to $154, “Lewis Black: Off the Rails.”

The Mint, 3540 E. Grant Road, Tucson. 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, The Joey G show with special guest comedians followed by an open mic, free.

Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Com edy Theatre, 414 E. Ninth Street, Tucson, tucsonimprov.com. Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m. “Shatfan.” 8:30 p.m. “Cage Match.” Friday, Sept. 30, 6:30 p.m. Improv Jam, free; 7:30 p.m., “The Soapbox Pride Edition;” 9 p.m. Pride Stand Up. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct 1, “The Match Game: Gay Icons;” 9 p.m. “A Big Wet Throbbing Queer Comedy Show.” $7 each show, $10 for both shows, same night, free jam and open mic.

Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, unscrewedtheatre.org. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, Family-Friendly Im prov; 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, Improv Ba sics Showcase; 7:30 p.m. Family-Friendly Improv. Monday, Sept. 26, Improv Dropins, free.

DON BARNHART AT LAFF’S THIS WEEKEND

Don Barnhart’s engaging physicality keeps all eyes on him as he spins out his set like a tease from a good-natured spi der. It’s easy to see how he also performs as a hypnotist, but there’s no mind con

Writer, actor and standup comic Cur tis Cook can play smooth or crunchy, learned or crass, wicked smart but sel dom silly. He won us over by casually, and fittingly, dropping the word zeitgeist into a joke about scoring cocaine in the bathroom of an art gallery. Some fans will remember him from Portlandia. We can see him this weekend in Bisbee and/or Downtown Tucson.

8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, Chuckleheads, 41 Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, chuckleheadsaz.com, $15. 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct.

Don Barnhart delivers mesmerizing laughs at Laff’s Comedy Caffe. (DON BARNHART/ SUBMITTED)

Comedian Steena Salido is on the bill at Black Rock Brewery (SUBMITTED)

Curtis Cook is double dipping in Tucson and Bisbee this weekend. (CURTIS COOK/SUBMITTED)

By Xavier Otero Tucson Local Media

MARK YOUR CALENDARS…

THURSDAY, SEPT. 29

Since Hed PE’s inception in Southern California circa 1994 mashing together gangsta-rap and punk rock, the act has spanned many subjects in its lyrics, including social justice, extraterrestrial life, criticism of organized religion, the 9/11 Truth movement, cannabis and sex, of course. Founding member Jared Gomes reflected on “Califas Worldwide,” the band’s 12th studio album. “When the first phase of the pandemic hit, rather than sit around, I decided to channel my energy, creating music and working with new artists.” Artists from Belarus, Russia, England, France, Argentina, Italy and Germany sent in tracks. “When finished I realized there were some really cool vibes here.” The record label agreed. “So, the album title was a way of tying together all the tracks from all over the world with my Cali vibes.” Hed PE offers a taste of “G-punk” at The Rock… In his salad days as an independent artist, country singer Kenny Feidler started out selling CDs from the trunk of a beaten Cadillac. Now, Kenny Feidler and The Cowboy Killers — a raw mix of brooding cowboy songs backed by a grungy rock ‘n’ roll band — accumulate hundreds of thousands of monthly streams and tour nationally. Kenny Feidler and The Cowboy Killers — with backing from The Cole Trains — stay true to their roots at The Maverick… Drummer/producer

Pete Swan’s Thursday night series continues. This week Swan introduces a new assemblage comprised of fine Tucson jazzmen: Keyboard-

ist Richard Katz, saxophonist Gary Love, double-bassist Evan Arredondo and Swan on drums. They make their debut at The Century Room… Venice Beach thrash metal trio Ottto features bassist Tye Trujillo, son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. Although not always easy to follow in the footsteps of giants, frontman Bryan Noah Ferretti said, “He’s really keen on just letting us do our thing. He knows it’s our band and really encourages us to own that.” Ottto — in lockstep with Tucson punks Soakset — crank out loco grooves at Club Congress…

FRIDAY, SEPT. 30

Born John Anthony Gillis in Detroit — aka Jack White — the youngest of 10 children, was raised Catholic and became an altar boy. White’s earliest musical influences were his older brothers who played in a band. He began playing the drums in the first grade after finding a kit abandoned in the attic. But his young life could have taken a very different turn. “I’d got accepted to a seminary in Wisconsin, and I was going to become a priest,” he told “60 Minutes” in 2005. “But at the last second, I thought, ‘I’ll just go to public school.’ I had just gotten a new amplifier in my bedroom and I didn’t think I was allowed to take it with me.” Years later, after enjoying consistent critical and popular success with The White Stripes, Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, in 2012, the New York Times lauded White as “The coolest, weirdest and savviest rock star of our time.” Unafraid to take a bold stance, upon learning that Donald Trump, then presidential candidate, was using the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” in a campaign video, White denounced Trump and began selling T-shirts

reading “Icky Trump” — a play on the White Stripes’ “Icky Thump.” Now, on the heels of “Entering Heaven Alive,” his sixth solo album, like “A Tree on Fire from Within,” White brings The Supply Chain Issues Tour to The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall. Rock ‘n’ roll revivalists Ichi-Bons open the show… Apocalyptica — a Finnish cello quartet of neoclassical deconstructionists — formed in 1993, at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Then, a mere clique of heavy metal enthusiasts who, when not enmeshed studying classical music, would gather to jam on Metallica covers. Like the character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in “Hesher” — loosely modeled after Metallica’s deceased bassist Cliff Burton — the members of Apocalyptica embody a convulsion of anarchy. Despite renditions of Metallica songs being the quartet’s initial draw, as composers they are masterful in their own right. In search of new frontiers, “Cell-0,” their ninth studio album revolves around the concept of a “God particle.” “Millions of notes combine to create music just as millions of cells combine to create life, and when you visualize the whole thing, similar patterns appear.” Traveling deeper into the universe of instrumental music, Apocalyptica returns to the Rialto Theatre… Known for its sentimental ranchera-style ballads and powerful brass-laden big banda sound, Banda MS has risen to become one of the most influential Latin musical groups. In support of its latest all-acoustic album “Positivo: Versión Acústica,” Banda MS brings the sound of Mazatlán, Sinaloa to the AVA Amphitheater… According to Forbes, Chris Daughtry is one of the top-grossing “American Idol” alums, after Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. Now performing as a band, Daughtry’s faith-friendly songs like “Home” have helped them reach mainstream and Christian audiences. Continuing an upward trajectory, in September 2021 Daughtry released “Dearly Beloved,” its sixth studio album, with plans for a tour

in the works. Everything was shelved, however, when tragedy befell. The singer lost his stepdaughter Hannah to suicide in November 2021, followed by his mother to cancer after a lengthy battle, exactly one week later. “Heavy is the Crown,” Daughtry usher “The Dearly Beloved Tour” to the Desert Diamond… On a mission to tell stories from the fringes, Boiler Room started with a webcam taped to a wall, in 2010, opening a keyhole into London’s underground scene. Showcasing a new wave of emerging artists, Riobamba, Stoneypie, Sonido Tambó and Los Esplifs christen Boiler Room X — a collaborative U.S. tour with the of connecting local dance floors to the wider world — on the plaza at Hotel Congress… While attending the Manhattan School of Music, violinist Heather Hardy used to perform on subway platforms embarking on a lifelong journey of experimentation to develop a unique voice on her instrument. Cross-pollinating genres seamlessly, Heather Hardy & A Taste of Jazz perform two sets at The Century Room… Pür000 is a sonic exploration of musical icons from the 2000s mashed together with hard techno beats. Sonic alchemist/ DJ/producer Zpheen reimagines and remixes an era at 191 Toole… Transplanted to the desert Southwest from the Ivory Coast, international African roots reggae artist General Tchefary’s message traverses international borders and all aspects of humanity. “Music sends a message in every song,” he said. Mixing traditional African melodies with Jamaican reggae rhythms, General Tchefary proffers “Jah is Love,” his full-length album release, at Chicago Bar… Spinning sounds from the underground, DJ Mijito hosts Queer Goth Night — with a drag performance by Vendetta Vixen — at The Royal Room… Let’s get it right this time, shall we? Prom Night 2: Electric Feel Good provides an opportunity to relive the bittersweet days of high school, this time with much cooler music, a drag show, costume contest and state-of-theart visuals by InRave. EDM DJs Atom Energy, Dmoticon, NRG, Sora Morbid, Quin Flow, Chris Tiano soundtrack this “formal” affair at The Rock…

SATURDAY, OCT. 1

In 1971, Bonnie Lynn Raitt released her self-titled debut album. In the years that

followed, the blues/roots singer/guitarist went on to release 18 studio albums, picking up 12 Grammys along the way and culminating with an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Not a bad run. Raitt’s sole companion through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows — which included years of alcohol and substance abuse and ultimately recovery — “Brownie,” an unpainted 1965 Fender Stratocaster, which she has used for every gig since 1969. Known for her lifelong commitment to social and political activism, Raitt is inspired by her Quaker roots and family ties to the American Friends Service Committee to lend her voice for social justice, equality, compassion for the suffering and protection of the air we breathe and the water we drink. She has performed concerts around oil, nuclear power, mining, water and forest protection since the mid-’70s. Returning to the stage with music from her new album, “Just Like That…,” Bonnie Raitt performs at The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, with special guest Marc Cohn With songs ranging from boleros to Peruvian waltzes — accompanied by tango dancers, a violinist, classical guitarists, ballet folklórico and mariachi — singer/ pianist/composer Carlos Zapién presents “Canto Latino: An evening of traditional songs, music and dance from Latin America” at Leo Rich Theater… Making outsider music that is as thought provoking as it is hard hitting, Drug Church is a contradiction. “But Does It Work?” Their sound is a frenzied mix of punk energy and ’90s alt-rock melodicism, half sung, half shouted by frontman Patrick Kindlon. Inhabiting the darkest corners of the human psyche, Drug Church loudly put forward “uncomfortable truths.” Now, on its fourth LP, “Hygiene,” the band insolently doubles down. Drug Church at 191 Toole. Bite The Hand opens… Forerunners of the Riot Grrrl movement — active opposers of nuclear testing and the right-wing agenda — Burning Bush was a Phoenix all-female power trio active from 1987 to 1993. Returning to the stage after a long hiatus, Burning Bush — along with Fat Gray Cat and Yvonne Champagne — embark on the “7 Year Itch Arizona Tour.” They make a stop at Club Congress… Last Night’s Makeup presents “My Friends Over You: An emo, punk and indie dance party.” DJs Alice. km and NGHTFVR create a vibe at The Jackrabbit Lounge… Acclaimed jazz pia-

nist Cynthia Hilts performs solo for happy hour in The Century Room… Specializing in the music of the Benny Goodman Sextet — featuring early electric guitar hero, Charlie Christian — “Tucson’s ambassadors of the Swing Era,” The Wholly Cats Swing Club celebrate the release of “Jumpin’ and Jivin’” on the plaza at Hotel Congress… Despite a career punctuated by controversy — a dispute with Trap Veterans over a sample on a collab with the Suicideboys, a Twitter post of a fan performing fellatio in a Las Vegas hotel room the photo of which was made into a T-shirt and sold on his Trippy Burger website, followed by a Twitter rant disparaging local acts and how they are “potentially ruining the full tour experience” — EDM DJ/producer Tanner Petulla, aka Getter, rose to fame with his heavy dubstep style. In 2019, following the release of “Visceral” — his debut album in which he experimented adding new colors to his sonic palette — Petulla canceled his tour early and called it quits. “Imagine working toward something...that you feel could finally separate you from the rest...all to just get yelled at, booed and have shit thrown at you because it’s not the cookie-cutter bullshit they are used to.” Petulla’s announcement resounded throughout the music community. DJs and fans reached out, offering their support. Getter returns to drop “Napalm,” his latest LP, at Encore… The artful, jazz guitar-driven sounds of the Matt Mitchell Quartet usher the descent into the dead of the Late Night at The Century Room…

SUNDAY, OCT. 2

Barely out of high school when they debuted with 2006’s “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child” — with songs centered around deeply personal, seemingly confessional lyrics and a compelling Southern gothic post-hardcore rock sound, the brain trust of childhood friends and primary songwriters singer/guitarist Andy Hull and guitarist/keyboardist Robert McDowell — Manchester Orchestra’s star began to ascend. See related story about their show at the Rialto Theatre. … One of Italy’s finest exponents of blues music, and ostensibly a musical ambassador — he was the first western artist to play at the Kremlin after the Berlin Wall fell — Zucchero Fornaciari has sung on five continents, in 69 countries and 628 cities. Zucchero proudly took part in “46664, a

series of AIDS benefit concerts played in honor of Nelson Mandela by South African and foreign musicians between 2003 and 2008. Now, The World Wild Tour brings Italian singer-songwriter, “The father of Italian blues,” Fornaciari to the Fox Tucson Theatre… With a penchant for sonic exploration, San Diego indie-pop trio Sitting on Stacy serves up a slice of “Apple Pie” at Club Congress. Jakob Nowell opens the show… Rooted in blues and early rock ‘n’ roll, Rumble King formed in southern California in 1996. The band’s rollicking upright piano and saxophone-driven sound, together with their unconventional approach — as one of the few combos performing on the blues circuit without a guitar — soon found a place during the rockabilly and swing revival of the late ‘90s. In 2019, a quarter of a century after their initial meeting, Rumble King welcomed The 44’s guitarist Johnny Main as an official member. Rumble King present “They Don’t,” its new EP, at Monterey Court… Rooted in Chicago blues — a raucous electrified sound based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues — Whose Blues adds a distinct spice into the mix for the Congress Cookout on the Hotel Congress plaza… A musical wunderkind, equally adept at performing on both brass and woodwinds, composer and multi-instrumentalist Max Goldschmid hosts the Jazz Jam Session at The Century Room…

MONDAY, OCT. 3

The origin story behind “This is a Photograph,” Kevin Morby’s seventh studio album, begins in his childhood home in Kansas City after his father collapsed at a family dinner and was rushed to the hospital. Later, as existential fear still coursed through his bones — absentmindedly flipping through a box of old family photos — he meditated, conflicting thoughts churning together. As his father began to regain strength, Morby headed to Memphis and checked into the historic Peabody Hotel. It was there — with just a guitar and microphone on a makeshift recording setup — while confronting his own fear of death, that the outpouring of songs that would eventually comprise his latest album began to coalesce. The singer-songwriter performs at 191 Toole. Ambient folk-pop artist Cassandra Jenkins

opens the show… Rolling Stone describes 25-year-old Madison Cunningham’s music as “a new spin on West Coast folkrock, with classical tendencies, electric guitars, jazz-school chord changes and alt-rock strut all living under the same roof.” Two-time Grammy-nominated artist Madison Cunningham presents “Revealer,” her sophomore release, at Club Congress…

TUESDAY, OCT. 4

Smashing together jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, funk with EDM and house music, drummer King of Sludge branded the band after recognizing that no existing musical genre could possibly accommodate their utterly unique sound; brasshouse was coined. “Brasshouse is a high energy musical conversation,” trumpeter Matt Doe insists. Born in the subways of New York City, Too Many Zooz is a busking phenomenon. They exploded in 2014 when a video of one of their performances, shot by a passer-by at the Union Square station, went viral. “I don’t really care about what’s happening in music. I just make art that I enjoy making,” stated King of Sludge. It’s this attitude of indifference to trend that has garnered Too Many Zooz a “fanatical” fanbase. See for yourself. Too Many Zooz is at 191 Toole. Cameron Greaves opens… Batushka is an enigmatic Polish black metal band. Inspired by the Eastern Orthodox Church, their lyrics are written in Old Church Slavonic — the first Slavic literary language standardized by 9th century Byzantine missionaries to translate the bible. Band members wear hooded habits and Eastern Orthodox schemas during performances to conceal their identities and deepen the mystery. The North American Pilgrimage Tour brings Batushka — along with Hate, Hideous Divinity and Swarm of Serpents — to The Rock… Equal parts Iggy Pop and Hank Williams, the Viagra Boys are a Swedish post-punk band who churn out spastic PTSD disco and bass-driven absurdum with a sense of dark humor. Viagra Boys and Shame join forces at Club Congress…

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5

Inspired by the rock gods that came before — Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Guns n’ Roses — for the Los Angeles’ Dirty Honey, success came right out of

the gate. Their debut single, “When I’m Gone” — bluesy, nasty rock ‘n’ roll, brimming with frontman Marc LaBelle’s sexy swagger and guitarist John Notto’s wicked ’70s-inspired rock riffs — became the first song by an unsigned band to rocket to No. 1 on Billboard’s rock chart. Although, they may not be the saviors of rock ‘n’ roll. They certainly are next to carry the well-worn torch. Dirty Honey is at the Rialto Theatre. Dorothy and Mac Saturn lend support… Hailed by Eric Clapton as “a genius,” since first appearing on the NYC music scene in 1991, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has gained international recognition for his artistry. The Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet performs two sets at The Century Room… An insightful and prolific Canadian singer-songwriter — whose music mirrors Nashville’s countrypolitan and 1960s psych-rock eras — after a hiatus Daniel Romano returns with “La Luna” — an expansive two-song album that clocks in at 33 minutes. Daniel Romano’s Outfit — with guest Carson McHone — is at Club Congress… Adept at playing the role of beer-sodden teenagers even as they’ve grown into haggard middle-aged men, The Queers are a punk rock band from New Hampshire who’ve been delivering fast, loud and snotty music since the early 1980s. Never far from controversy, frontman Joe King — aka Joe Queer — rationalizes some of his more contentious opinions over the years. In a 2017 interview, King stated, “I get called a Nazi and racist because of our name, and then because I had an opinion about the Ferguson thing,” he said. “I’m liberal as hell, and I was taken aback by how quickly people attacked me. To this day, I’ll get snide comments.

I was jumped by Nazis as a ‘gay’ person, even though I’m not gay. I fought Nazis, so to be called a Nazi is lame by this altleft.” Teeming with cavity causing early bubble-gum pop covers, The Queers bring “Reverberation,” its latest LP, to 191 Toole. Venomous Pinks and Mercy Music open the show…

Until next week, XOXO…

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MUSIC

MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA FACE THE ANGEL OF DEATH

By Xavier Omar Otero

THE MEMBERS OF MANCHESTER

Orchestra were barely out of high school when they debuted with 2006’s “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child.”

With inky songs centered around deeply personal, Southern gothic-style lyrics silhouetted against a compelling post-hardcore rock sound — the brain trust of childhood friends and primary songwriters, singer/guitarist Andy Hull and guitarist/keyboardist Robert McDowell — their star began to ascend.

Now with the addition of drummer Tim Very and bassist Andy Prince, Georgia’s Manchester Orchestra returns with “The Million Masks of God.” The album’s title derives from “Gold Leaves,” an early poem by G. K. Chesterton that details the narrator’s shifting relationship with God as he ages.

Exploring themes of birth, death, religion and what may lie beyond, “The Million Masks of God” is the band’s most ambitious work. The tracking for the album took place at Echo Mountain Recording studios in Asheville, North Carolina.

“There is something about being up there, in the mountains, in this beautiful old church converted into a studio,” McDowell said.

McDowell had just returned from the United Kingdom, having completed dates at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London and the Manchester Academy. He was enjoying a few days at home with family in Atlanta.

“It was great. We played some of our best shows ever,” McDowell enthused.

Native to the suburbs of Atlanta — singer Andy Hull and McDowell now live short miles from the homes where they grew up — it was a fey music from 4,000 miles away that would inspire the band’s name.

“Andy and I had gone through different phases, musically. But, it was The Smiths and Morrissey and everything that came out of Manchester that really resonated with him,” McDowell adds. “We are not

from a hip city. But this city shaped who we are.

“I met Andy when I was 14 and he was 16. We went to high school together. We immediately understood each other and the chase to create something great.”

McDowell grew up in a musical household. His father was a singer and songwriter who encouraged his son to discover the passion behind music above all else.

A lesson that has served McDowell well.

“It was when I used my dad’s 1980s Tascam (four-track cassette recorder) with my cousins, recording music for the first time, that opened my eyes. ‘This is limitless,’ I thought. You can play music. But if you create music, it unlocks this whole new world.”

After 18 years of existence as a band, it may be that Saraswati — the Hindu goddess of creativity, music, art and wisdom — continues to whisper in their ear.

“You know if it was cash. I think we probably would have made different decisions a long time ago,” McDowell stated. “I obsess over the next thing and what can be. Andy and I are good and bad for each other. We love to chase what we can’t see yet.”

Written and recorded over four years, Manchester Orchestra’s latest album, “The Million Masks of God” — described as a “loose story of a man’s encounter with the angel of death as he’s shown various scenes from his life” — began to coalesce as McDowell’s father’s cancer worsened.

“We were writing it during his final two years. Three months before we went into the studio to record is when he passed away.”

The fictional intent behind the album changed, at that point.

“It shifted the mood of where you’re at as a band,” McDowell said, reflectively.

“It was a muse, rather than a central point. But, that album is not the way it is without that event, unfortunately.”

From Manchester Orchestra’s earliest works — “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child” and “Mean Everything to Nothing” — McDowell’s father was always privy to their demos and rough mixes as the songs began to unfold.

“There is inspiration and ways that you can use creativity to process grief,” McDowell reflected. “My dad was a musician. He would have wanted it to have not gone to waste.”

Hull hopes that the album is a work of healing.

Akin to swimming “A Black Mile to the Surface” to ultimately arrive in the light.

Raised in The Bible Belt, the four members of Manchester Orchestra were socialized in religious homes. Hull’s father and grandfather were pastors.

Yet, McDowell and Hull have stated unequivocally that Manchester Orchestra is not a Christian band. McDowell reflects, “But as people, we want to find God. It’s in the core of our DNA. It’s something that we will always be chasing.”

As the tour winds its way through North America, Manchester Orchestra audiences can expect to see a concert that draws from “The Million Masks of God” and its predecessor, “A Black Mile to the Surface” and other works.

McDowell says, “Last week, after the London shows, we started to kind of put our heads together to figure out what it’s going to be. We are not sure, yet. Our goal at this point is to play songs that the crowd will enjoy. But that we also enjoy

playing.

“That’s one thing I love. We are able to pull from songs that are 15-plus years old. It’s exhausting for everyone if we just play loud bangers. So, we treat a concert like a movie where you have different emotions.”

After six studio albums, with forays into different musical styles — the rougher edges of punk and emo, dance rhythms, and softer sounds, folk music and dream pop — McDowell is speculative about the future.

“Rather than defining ourselves and putting ourselves into a corner. We will leave it a little blurry. Aim for the moon and see where we land,” McDowell said.

“We want to figure out a new thing. We want to keep pushing in a new direction, while using the tools we have acquired in our tool belt. I wish I had the answer for you. That would make my life a lot less stressful. But we’ve got it figured out.”

Keeping “both feet on the floor,” the Manchester Orchestra is set to “Let It Storm.”

Manchester Orchestra w/ Petey and Creeks

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2

WHERE: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, Tucson COST: Tickets start at $30 INFO: 520-740-1000, rialtotheatre.com

Manchester Orchestra is, from left, drummer Tim Very, bassist Andy Prince, vocalist/guitarist Andy Hull and guitarist/keyboardist Robert McDowell. (MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA/SUBMITTED)

MUSIC

LAUREN MONROE, RICK ALLEN BRING HEALING TO 191 TOOLE

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Local Media

AFTER SPENDING THE SUMMER on the Stadium Tour with his band Def Leppard, drummer Rick Allen is stepping back into clubs to support his wife, Lauren Monroe.

Monroe is celebrating the release of “Messages from Aphrodite” at 191 Toole on Thursday, Oct. 6. Allen will be part of her band.

“We’ll be playing for the evening and telling stories of empowerment and healing and playing original music,” Monroe said.

“I empower people through energy and drumming. I like to weave that through the whole set to explore some of the things you go out to escape. We wanted to bring everyone together in the venue. Now is the time where people are coming out more. We’re on the heels of experiencing something very traumatic.”

The world is divisive and worrisome, she added. Monroe uses music to heal.

“Lauren’s music, in particular, speaks to community and shows us what we have in common,” Allen said.

During the performance, the couple will raise funds for suicide prevention and veterans programs.

In 2001, they founded the Los Angeles-based Raven Drum Foundation, which serves, educates and empowers veterans, first responders and trauma survivors to prevent suicide through innovative wellness-support programs. They do so through advocacy, storytelling and the promotion of complementary and alternative medicine.

At shows, they partner with local organizations to provide free tickets to veterans, and raise funds by auctioning their mixed-media art.

Released in September, “Messages

from Aphrodite” was recorded in 2021 and “all the songs are about love in some facet and how we use our ability to love through various stages of life and circumstances,” she said.

“Aphrodite is a goddess of love and she’s a warrior goddess, too. All of these songs reflect attributes of her. She became the icon for the album, and she brings about a point of view that’s from the higher feminist.”

The two spent time at home “using our gifts and talents to rehearse.”

“We love our band,” she added. “To be with everyone together is great. To look behind me and have him there (is great). I like to tease him when we are on stage.”

Allen added with a laugh, “The only thing I get to see is behind her. It’s kind of a win-win. I actually really love it. I play acoustic drums, which I hadn’t played in Def Leppard since 1984. That’s what inspired me to play in the first place. I don’t have to rely on electronics. I get up there and play. It’s a great way for me to hone my skills on acoustic drums.”

Allen and Monroe said it’s also a victory when Def Leppard fans come to the show to see him not knowing what to expect and leave a fan of hers.

“It’s nice when there’s a crossover,” he said. “We have an awesome band. We sound really good. We’re happy about our live performances.”

Lauren Monroe

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6

WHERE: 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole, Tucson

COST: Tickets start at $20

INFO: 520-445-6425, 191toole.com

Lauren Monroe is celebrating the release of “Messages from Aphrodite” at 191 Toole on Thursday, Oct. 6. Husband Rick Allen will be part of her band. (PHOTO BY TRACY MOYER)

ARTS

PORTRAIT GALLERY GALA HONORS WOMEN OVER 50

By Summer Aguirre Tucson Local Media

LOCAL WOMEN OLDER THAN 50 will be honored by the unveiling of an empowering project celebrating their stories and wisdom.

The first Wise Women: 50 Over 50 Experience is coming to Tucson, thanks to Michelle Beaumont Owens, owner of Artifact Photography Studio. As the project’s photographer, stylist and interviewer, her vision is to spotlight 50 local women over the age of 50 and recognize their experience, individuality and power through a collection of creative portraits.

The gallery of their photographs will be unveiled at the Wise Women: 50 Over 50 Portrait Gala from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, alongside the release of a portrait magazine featuring each participant’s individual story.

“Women at our age are stepping into our own power, and we’re doing things in our community and in our personal lives to really change the lives of people around us,” Owens said.

“I wanted to capture that and really shine a spotlight on these women and talk about the amazing things that they are doing, and also find out what their aspirations are, what’s left on their bucket

list, and what else they would like to accomplish in the second half of their lives.”

The Wise Women: 50 Over 50 Portrait Gala will be held at Savoy Opera House at 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road in Tucson. Portraits will be illuminated and displayed on easels with the women in attendance to mingle and chat.

The event will feature a buffet dinner, dessert and a no-host bar with cocktails, wine, beer and nonalcoholic beverages.

Entertainment includes dance music by DJ Jonas Hunter and magic by master illusionist Rodney Housley. There will also be a special raffle for a makeover, photoshoot and portrait portfolio with Owens valued at $1,200.

Tickets to the gala are available on eventbrite.com.

The Wise Women: 50 Over 50 Experience is one of many events across the world influenced by Forbes Magazine’s 2021 national list spearheaded by Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe co-host. It highlighted 50 influential women over the age of 50 who defy the idea that their golden years are behind them.

Owens was inspired to undertake a project in Tucson by her own life-chang-

ing experience opening her photography studio when she was 50. When photographing other women in their 50s and older, she met many in the midst of dramatically changing their lives and wanted to explore that common theme.

Through networking and many referrals, she gathered women from all over Southern Arizona, including Tucson, Oro Valley, Vail, Benson and Bisbee. One participant is Carlotta Flores, chef of the El Charro Restaurant Group in Tucson, who was on Forbes’ 2021 Vision List.

Owens began photoshoots in January 2020, with the final interview wrapping up in September 2022.

“There’s this myth that once we’re over 50, we’re kind of over the hill,” she said. “These women are fun. They are making differences in our communities. Some of them have started nonprofit organizations, others are working on their own businesses. Some are retired and are taking up art projects and doing other things with their free time.

“I really wanted to show the vibrancy of these women and how much more we all are ready to give and are giving at this time in our lives.”

The 50 Over 50 Experience is not a “cookie cutter project.” To capture their true selves, Owens allowed each woman to drive her photoshoot and explore different sides of her character through clothing, makeup and accessories.

The resulting gallery features a unique representation of each woman. Some incorporated their pets, careers, hobbies or meaningful treasures into their portraits. Others requested their photos to be enhanced with digital art — one woman even portrayed a phoenix rising from flames.

“There are layers of meaning in these photographs that make them deeply personal to these women, and I think that

will also show and exhibit,” Owens said. “I think viewers will be able to see that and pick up on it.”

She also said she believes that the photographs are “legacy images” for the women, and that the following generations in their families will be able to feel connected and see their personalities.

“I want to capture images that we put time, effort and attention to detail into and so they do stand the test of time and they are a part of our legacy that we leave behind,” said Owens.

The project received rave reviews from its participants, which were accompanied by significant interest in Owens tackling another 50 Over 50 collection of local women. As a result, she is pondering the idea of transforming it into an annual event.

She plans to create a group offering outings, get-togethers and other events throughout the year as opportunities for women over 50 to connect and build a community.

Owens hopes that the group will attract a younger crowd to attend, as she feels that they would benefit from socializing with accomplished, driven women.

Wise Women: 50 Over 50 Portrait Gala

WHEN: 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, October 13

WHERE: Savoy Opera House, 6541

E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson

COST: Tickets start at $45

INFO: the50over50experience.com

Chef Carlotta Flores and styleographer Michelle Owens pose for a quick capture together during the project’s 50th photoshoot.

(PHOTOS BY MICHELLE BEAUMONT OWENS)

Jan Froeschle is a ballroom dancer and healthy lifestyle advocate.

FILM

TUCSON, UA GET FIRST SCREENING OF FILM ‘LUTE’

By Hope Peters Tucson Local Media

“LUTE,” A DOCUMENTARY BY

Podium Pictures honoring the legacy of legendary UA men’s basketball coach, Lute Olson, will hold its world premiere at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at Centennial Hall.

Shown ahead of the annual UA RedBlue Game, the film is a definitive documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker/producer Brett Rapkin, a UA alum, that celebrates Olson on the 25th anniversary of the Cats’ 1997 national championship.

Olson’s career with the Wildcats spanned decades and racked up four Final Four appearances, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and 11 Pac-10 titles, aside from the 1997 national championship. Olson became one of the greatest coaches in college basketball, compiling a 781-280 career record and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.

“The history of Arizona basketball is so rich,” Rapkin said. “And there are so many NBA stars and great people who

have come out of the Arizona basketball program. It is always a great opportunity to tell a story that is about somebody building something from the ground up.”

Rapkin explained when Olson arrived in Tucson, the team had its worst season; they won four games.

“What a lot of people don’t know is he came from the University of Iowa where he had gone to the final four,” Rapkin said. “So, he already had some success”

In the early 1980s, Olson quickly rebuilt the basketball program from the ground up, making appearances at the 1988 and 1994 NCAA Final Four. The scrappy 1997 team was led by future NBA players Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and Miles Simon, Olson’s 1997 championship Wildcat team was nicknamed the “Cardiac Cats” — with cause.

“They really won in dramatic fashion,” Rapkin said. “A significant portion of this film details their tournament run in 1997. Every game would give you a heart attack, right down to the national tournament where they won in overtime.”

This documentary weaves the arc of Olson’s coaching career with a detailed behind-thescenes look at the building of the 1997 national championship team and its unlikely run through March Madness. The film features interviews from the likes of Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Bibby, Terry (an executive producer of the documentary), Kenny Lofton, Andre Iguodala, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye and is narrated by former Wildcat player and NBA star, Luke Walton.

Walton, Rapkin added, was hesitant about nar-

rating.

“He said, ‘You should ask Richard (Jefferson), he likes the sound of his own voice a lot more than I do,’” Rapkin recalled.

Rapkin said he reponded with, “‘Come on Luke, you sound like Tom Petty. You’ll be great.’”

Terry and the UA athletic department introduced former Wildcat and NBA star players to Rapkin to help with the documentary.

“For the players, when they found out this was happening…there is so much love for Lute and for Bobbi (Olson’s wife who died January 2001 of cancer),” Rapkin explained. “They wanted to participate.”

The film was primarily funded through a donation for the project by former UA alum and executive producer Andrew Braccia and his wife, Kirsten

“Kirsten and I are thrilled to play a small role in helping to bring Lute’s story to life,” Braccia said. “Lute’s lasting impact on his family, his players, the University of Arizona community and the game of college basketball will forever be cherished.”

Rapkin said the story cannot be told without Bobbi, Olson’s high school sweetheart.

“Bobbi is a huge part of this story,” he said. “You can’t tell this story about Lute’s era with Arizona basketball, without including Bobbi, she was such a pivotal

figure.”

One of the biggest challenges of making this document, Rapkin said, was taking four decades of the coach’s story and condensing it into a one-hour film.

“One of the themes we really tried to instill, most people don’t know this but, Lute lost both his brother and his father in farming accidents, when he was young,” Rapkin explained. “So, I think building a family atmosphere was something that he was trying to do to regain that sense of family.”

The film took about two years to make, Rapkin explained. He said the seed was planted right after the coach’s death in August 2020.

“There has never been an ESPN ‘30 for 30’ or an HBO sports documentary about this story of this man, of (him) building a perennial contender in this desert town,” he said.

“Lute” sneak peek screening

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 WHERE: Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Boulevard, Tucson COST: $15 students; $20 alums; $30 general admission; $500 VIP. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the Lute Olson Endowment for Excellence in Men’s Basketball

INFO: ticketmaster.com

Former UA Men’s basketball player Gilbert Arenas, left, shares his story with director Brett Rapkin of his 1999 to 2001 seasons under the tutelage of Lute Olson. (PODIUM PICTURES/COURTESY)

Director Brett Rakin weaves his tale of legendary Coach Lute Olson and his leadership of the Wildcats and their 1997 National Championship win. (PODIUM PICTURES/COURTESY)

TUCSON’S FIRST BRANDED DISPENSARY HAS A MISSION

By Hope Peters

Tucson Local Media

TRULIEVE CANNABIS CORP. HELD a grand opening of its third, but first Truileve-branded dispensary in Tucson, on Sept. 17.

Last October, Trulieve Cannabis Corp. acquired Harvest Health & Recreation, Arizona’s largest cannabis retailer. Trulieve opened its first Trulieve-branded dispensary in Tucson, located at 4659 E. 22nd Street at Swan. It is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The two existing dispensaries in Tucson under the name Harvest, will soon be rebranded to Trulieve.

“Over the course of the next year Har-

vest locations in Tucson and across Arizona will be rebranded to Trulieve,” explained Steve White, president of Trulieve and founder of Harvest Health.

Trulieve stores are more than cannabis dispensaries. The brand has a mission.

“Trulieve dispensaries have a mission to be a part of the communities they serve and to employ staff who want to be a part of the community and give back,” said Ashlee Singleton, executive director, business development and publicity of the Felice Agency stated in a press release.

“For example, at their newly owned

Roosevelt Row location in downtown Phoenix, they’ve hosted water bottle drives to collect water to hand out to the ever-growing homeless population and provide some relief and hydration from the scorching summer heat.”

She said the new Trulieve dispensary in Tucson plans to have this mission with the same impact on this area.

The current Harvest House of Cannabis (HOC) dispensaries in Tucson are located at 2734 E. Grant Road and 1010 S.

Freeway, Suite 130.

Trulieve is a publicly traded company so White could not disclose store sales.

“But Tucson has been, and remains, a very strong market for our company,” White said.

In making the decision for opening an additional dispensary, White said they look at market dynamics and access for patients and customers.

Employees celebrate the grand opening of the new Swan-Tucson location. (TRULIEVE CANNABIS CORP./COURTESY)

“As the second-largest market in Arizona, we believe the Tucson marketplace supports this additional dispensary,” he said. “We look forward to expanding our reach to serve the community with our high-quality products and customer centric approach to cannabis.”

Trulieve came into the Arizona market in October 2021 after procuring Harvest Health. During the next year, existing Harvest locations will be rebranded to Trulieve. Harvest and Trulieve-affiliated dispensaries in Arizona are in Tucson, Casa Grande, Chandler, Guadalupe, Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Avondale, Glendale, Peoria, Lake Havasu and Cottonwood.

The new location on Swan and 22nd, offers a variety of popular products, including Trulieve brands such as Alchemy, Avenue, Co2lors, Loveli, Modern Flower, Muse and Roll One.

“Customers can also choose from a broad assortment of products from partner brands including El Blunto (also, Alien Labs, Connected),” White said. “We also believe in providing truly exceptional customer experiences and our focus on

giving back to this community where our team members live and work.”

White explained, by providing innovative, high-quality products across the brand portfolio, Trulieve delivers optimal customer experiences and increased access to cannabis.

“Trulieve’s retail employees are trained to provide personalized support to individuals at every stage of their cannabis journey,” White said.

Trulieve-Tucson on Swan

4659 E. 22nd Street, Tucson 520-640-4600

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

Additional Trulieve/Harvest

Tucson dispensary locations: Blenman-Elm

2734 E. Grant Road, Tucson 520-314-9420

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

Menlo Park

1010 S. Freeway, Suite 130, Tucson 520-398-7338

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

NATION By Brian Box Brown

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

By Rob Brezsny. Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY HOROSCOPE 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700 $1.99 per minute. 18 and over. Touchtone phone required.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19) Poet Susan Howe describes poetry as an “amorous search under the sign of love for a re membered time at the pitch-dark fringes of evening when we gathered together to bless and believe.” I’d like to use that lyri cal assessment to describe your life in the coming days—or at least what I hope will be your life. In my astrological opinion, it’s a favorable time to intensify your quest for interesting adventures in intimacy; to seek out new ways to imagine and create togetherness; to collaborate with allies in creating brave excursions into synergy.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20) Social re former Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) had a growlery. It was a one-room stone cabin where he escaped to think deep thoughts, work on his books, and literally growl. As a genius who escaped enslave ment and spent the rest of his life fight ing for the rights of his fellow Black peo ple, he had lots of reasons to snarl, howl, and bellow as well as growl. The coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to find or create your own growlery, Tau rus. The anger you feel will be especial ly likely to lead to constructive changes. The same is true about the deep thoughts you summon in your growlery: They will be extra potent in helping you reach wise practical decisions.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20) “Conduct your blooming in the noise and whip of the whirlwind,” wrote Gemini poet Gwen dolyn Brooks. I love that advice! The whirlwind is her metaphor for the chaos of everyday life. She was telling us that we shouldn’t wait to ripen ourselves until the daily rhythm is calm and smooth. Live wild and free right now! That’s always good advice, in my opinion, but it will be especially apropos for you in the coming weeks. Now is your time to “endorse the splendor splashes” and “sway in wicked grace,” as Brooks would say.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22) “Don’t look away,” advised novelist Henry Miller in a letter to his lover. “Look straight at every thing. Look it all in the eye, good and bad.” While that advice is appealing, I don’t en dorse it unconditionally. I’m a Cancerian,

and I sometimes find value in gazing at things sideways, or catching reflections in mirrors, or even turning my attention away for a while. In my view, we Crabs have a special need to be self-protective and self-nurturing. And to accomplish that, we may need to be evasive and elu sive. In my astrological opinion, the next two weeks will be one of these times. I urge you to gaze directly and engage point-blank only with what’s good for you.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22) Tips to get the most out of the next three weeks: 1. Play at least as hard as you work. 2. Give your self permission to do anything that has integrity and is fueled by compassion. 3. Assume there is no limit to how much generous joie de vivre you can summon and express. 4. Fondle and nuzzle with ea ger partners as much as possible. And tell them exactly where and how it feels good. 5. Be magnanimous in every gesture, no matter how large or small. 6. Even if you don’t regard yourself as a skillful singer, use singing to transform yourself out of any mood you don’t want to stay in.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) In the coming weeks, you should refrain from wrestling with problems that resist your solutions. Be discerning about how you use your superior analytical abilities. Devote your self solely to manageable dilemmas that are truly responsive to your intelligent probing. PS: I feel sorry for people who ar en’t receptive to your input, but you can’t force them to give up their ignorance or suffering. Go where you’re wanted. Take power where it’s offered. Meditate on the wisdom of Anaïs Nin: “You cannot save people. You can only love them.”

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22) Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh was born under the sign of Libra. He said, “The root-word ‘Buddha’ means to wake up, to know, to understand; and he or she who wakes up and understands is called a Buddha.” So according to him, the spiritual teacher Siddhartha Gautama who lived in ancient India was just one of many Buddhas. And by my astrological reckoning, you will have a much higher chance than usual to be like one of these Buddhas yourself

in the coming weeks. Waking up will be your specialty. You will have an extraor dinary capacity to burst free of dreamy illusions and murky misapprehensions. I hope you take full advantage. Deeper un derstandings are nigh.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21) I invite you to be the sexiest, most intriguing, most mysterious Scorpio you can be in the coming weeks. Here are ideas to get you started. 1. Sprinkle the phrase “in accor dance with prophecy” into your conver sations. 2. Find an image that symboliz es rebirth and revitalization arising out of disruption. Meditate on it daily until you actually experience rebirth and revi talization arising out of disruption. 3. Be kind and merciful to the young souls you know who are living their first lifetimes. 4. Collect deep, dark secrets from the inter esting people you know. Employ this in formation to plan how you will avoid the trouble they endured. 5. Buy two deluxe squirt guns and two knives made of foam rubber. Use them to wage playful fights with those you love.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21) There’s an ancient Greek saying, “I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed.” I regard that as a fine motto for you Sag ittarians. When you are at your best and brightest, you are in quest of the truth. And while your quests may sometimes disturb the status quo, they often bring healthy transformations. The truths you discover may rattle routines and disturb habits, but they ultimately lead to greater clarity and authenticity. Now is an excel lent time to emphasize this aspect of your nature.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19) Let’s imagine you are in your office or on the

job or sitting at your kitchen table. With focused diligence, you’re working on solving a problem or improving a situ ation that involves a number of people. You think to yourself, “No one seems to be aware that I am quietly toiling here be hind the scenes to make the magic hap pen.” A few days or a few weeks later, your efforts have been successful. The problem is resolved or the situation has improved. But then you hear the people involved say, “Wow, I wonder what happened? It’s like things got fixed all by themselves.” If a scenario like this happens, Capricorn, I urge you to speak up and tell everyone what actually transpired.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18) To honor your entrance into the most expansive phase of your astrological cycle, I’m call ing on the counsel of an intuitive guide named Nensi the Mercury Priestess. She offers the following advice. 1. Cultivate a mindset where you expect something unexpected to happen. 2. Fantasize about the possibility of a surprising blessing or unplanned-for miracle. 3. Imagine that a beguiling breakthrough will erupt into your rhythm. 4. Shed a few preconcep tions about how your life story will unfold in the next two years. 5. Boost your trust in your deep self’s innate wisdom. 6. Open yourself more to receiving help and gifts.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20) Author Colin Wilson describes sex as “a crav ing for the mingling of consciousness, whose symbol is the mingling of bodies. Every time partners slake their thirst in the strange waters of the other’s identity, they glimpse the immensity of their free dom.” I love this way of understanding the erotic urge, and recommend you try it out for a while. You’re entering a phase when you will have extra power to refine and expand the way you experience blend ing and merging. If you’re fuzzy about the meaning of the words “synergy” and “symbiosis,” I suggest you look them up in the dictionary. They should be featured themes for you in the coming weeks.

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