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Arizona band sues Apple, Chris Daughtry

LAKE HAVASU CITY — The lead singer of a local band is suing Apple and American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry and for copyright infringement over the song, “Feels Like Tonight.”

Randy Mazick, lead singer of The Asphalt, alleges Daughtry’s song “Feels Like Tonight” sounds like “Tonight,” which his band recorded a year earlier than Daughtry.

Daughtry was a contestant on the fifth season of American Idol, where he became a finalist and finished in fourth place. Record sales indicate he is the fourth most successful contestant in the show’s history. Daughtry’s first album, “Daughtry,” was released in 2006 and was the best selling album of 2007.

The Asphalt is a four-man band out of Lake Havasu City about four hours northwest of Phoenix. Mazick claims that songwriters Lukasz Gottwald, Martin Karl Sandberg and Sheppard Solomon’s song, “achieved worldwide success and notoriety since its release in November 2006,” according to the complaint.

The complaint also says the song’s hook is a copy of the copyrighted song “Tonight,” first publicly performed by Mazick’s band in 2005 and later performed throughout the Southwest.

The complaint was filed Sept. 17 and called for a jury trial. It states Mazick is “entitled to damages and to Defendant’s profits in amounts to be proven at trial, which are not currently ascertainable.”

Linda Schroeder, a court reporter for the U.S. District Court, said that the case could take up to three years to reach trial. In the meantime, the court could choose to take many actions, such as taking depositions of those involved, subpoenaing evidence, and getting sworn testimony.

Daughtry has yet to choose an attorney.

“A summons has been issued for each of the named defendants, and once they’re served, I’m sure an attorney will enter an appearance for them,” Schroeder said.

Jason Marino, guitarist and vocalist of The Asphalt, said in an e-mail that the band declined comment on the case.

Ray Harris, The Asphalt’s Phoenix attorney, said he could not comment on a case that is in litigation.

For more information on The Asphalt and to hear their song “Tonight,” visit www.myspace.com/theasphalt.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

MySpace BOTM: Arizona Street Fam

If MySpace teaches us anything about website design, the first lesson is, “Don’t annoy visitors.”

It’s a lesson Nogales/Tucson/Phoenix-based Arizona Street Fam would do well to learn as our MySpace Band of the Moment.

Visitors are greeted immediately with raining stacks of dollar bills, all subject to their own level of gravity. The problem is, the falling cash prevents those curious about Arizona Street Fam from clicking on the MySpace media player, thus preventing them from listening to tracks a second time or, more likely, to pause the music for just…one…second….

Other than that, it’s a great page. The “Mobsters” application indicates Street Fam’s accomplishments, which impressively include silver medals in Cash Deposits and Diploma Earning along with bronzes in the biathlon and Middle Eastern rabble-rousing. [Unfortunately, it also appears the Fam’s medals for electricity and running were later rescinded.]

At least Arizona Street Fam can fall back on their extensive weapons cache: a helicopter mini-gun straight out of Predator, a five-car garage and what appears to be a share of Vegas’s Mandalay Bay.

But album sales aren’t earned by web design, so let’s get to the music.

Arizona Street Fam only have one song, titled “Speedin Freestyle (featuring Caro)”.  “Caro” is an apt name, considering her vocals go down about as smoothly as the Nestlé instant beverage by the same name.

The lyrical flow has a few pleasant surprises, including lines like “Don’t call me a white girl/I’m a grown ass man”, or the one imploring a cop, “What’s the problem, officer, don’t you see that I’m white?” and insinuating their role in the rising cost of rubberbands.  Your guess on that last one is as good as mine, but it’s still clever.

Back to those chorus vocals by Caro, though. I’ve been told ProTools can fix this sort of thing. I’m chalking it up to the song being in the wrong key, because Caro can’t seem to quite nail her notes. Get that pitch right, and “Speedin Freestyle” is suddenly a decent track.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Local gumshoes pen tell-all book about finding lost loved ones

TEMPE — Most people never experience what it is like not knowing who their real birth parents are.

The book, Back to the Beginning ($18.95, Perfect Paperback), gives readers an opportunity to do just that.  Co-written by Ava Friddle, Judy Andrews and Kristen Hamilton and Joe Bardin, the book is a snapshot of stories about adoption searches and reunions that the authors have experienced throughout their careers as private investigators.

Hamilton, along with her mother, Friddle, and sister, Andrews, formed a family-owned business called Research, Etc., Inc., in 1995 in Scottsdale. While the business specializes in adoption searches, they also conduct investigations involving all aspects of information research.

Hamilton states that it was after their first experiences in the business that the family realized that this was “something we really loved.”

Shortly after opening their agency, Hamilton and Andrews became certified as Confidential Intermediaries and were trained how to handle reunions between adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents.

Hamilton’s goal in writing this book was to show people the ins and outs of adoption searches and reunions.

But “every case is different, and no two people are the same,” Hamilton says.

The first chapter discusses their background as well as a brief introduction on how they typically handle adoption searches.  The authors write:

“It is our opinion, an opinion that we’ve formed through the years of experience acting as intermediaries, that contact, regardless of who makes it, should be approached discreetly, respectfully and considerately.”

Hamilton explains how emotional these situations can be for people, and the need for it to be handled slowly and carefully so that both parties have plenty of time to feel safe.

The following chapters in the book are separated by the different stories about individual searches.

Hamilton and her co-authors will be showcasing their book this Friday at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe.  The event will begin at 7 p.m. for a book signing and excerpt reading.

Todd Denen, a past client of Research, Etc., Inc., will also be attending the event with his birth mother.  He and his mother are one of the stories that are written in the book.  Hamilton wanted Denen to attend the event so that readers would be able to attach a real face to the stories.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Music fanatics rejoice with new Hoodlums

TEMPE — After 10 years as an on-campus fixture, Hoodlums record store is moving out of the Arizona State University basement and into the Tempe community.

The new location opens Sept. 20 at McClintock Drive and Guadalupe Road and will allow Hoodlums to wade into the live music scene.

“We have more space at this location, so we are going to start buying, selling and trading records in addition to CDs and DVDs,” Hoodlums co-owner Steve Wiley says in an email. “We also built a stage and purchased a PA, so we can host more bands.”

The store originally settled in 500 square feet inside ASU’s Memorial Union in 1998, according to the store website. It offered a wide collection of new and used CDs, then prospered and began selling DVDs, music posters, and various pop culture artifacts.

In 2001, it moved to a larger space inside the Memorial Union basement. This new location allowed Wiley and Luce to bring in more products including the expansion of DVDs and vinyl records, according to the store website.

The store remained open up until last November, when a fire on the third floor of the Memorial Union caused the entire building to be shut down for three months. Wiley says these were the prime months for Hoodlums’ sales.

The lease ran out while the Memorial Union was being repaired, Wiley says, and owners decided not to renew at a time when they had no customers.

“It was a tough way to end a great relationship,” Wiley says.

Some students still mourn the loss. Matthew Burrows, an ASU journalism senior, remembers seeing the signs on the store’s door announcing it was closing up shop on campus.

“That was convenient, that was on-campus, that was right there,” Burrows says with obvious frustration.

After hunting around for a new location, Wiley and Luce found a spot in the shopping center that is home to Trader Joe’s and Changing Hands Book Store.

Other new characteristics include an expansion of their music collection emphasizing the world and jazz genres and the use of their wall space to sell music and movie art. Local artists will have a spot on the walls on a bi-monthly basis, Wiley says.

At least one ASU student who hadn’t heard of the store was thankful it found a new home.

“People are really passionate about music, so it’s a good thing,” says ASU junior Ashley Chadwick.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Tucson author captures border life, history

TUCSON — For most folks, the 1,956-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border is a faraway place where the federal government intends to build a fence and halt illegal immigration.

This is just a fleeting moment in border history. In his latest book, Tucson writer/photographer John Annerino manages to explore the area’s rich flora, fauna, legends and tragedies to give an increasingly curious audience the bigger picture.

Vanishing Borderlands (The Countryman Press, 1st ed., $30) is a breezy, 128-page read that covers the border in three parts. After a highly descriptive introduction about crossing over into Mexico on foot with his family, Annerino starts the adventure in West Texas and the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.

The first chapter is a model for the rest of the book. Stellar landscape photography anchors a storyline that weaves border history in with Annerino’s real-life experiences hiking, canoeing, camping and conducting interviews along the border.

Many of the photos feature scenes from state, federal and Mexican parks and biological preserves at sundown or sunup. The stories date back to the late 1500s and feature plenty of Spanish explorers, murderous encounters, greedy forty-niners and, of course, the famed Pancho Villa.

Annerino even dredges up the old tale of Ambrose Bierce, an American journalist who accompanied Villa during the outlaws forays. He apparently disappeared during a gun battle in January 1914. Annerino writes:

No one knows where he fell, but in an earlier letter, Bierce wrote: “If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it a pretty good way to depart from this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs.”

Vanishing Borderlands is full of these little gems, with wide margins and plenty of photos to speed along the adventure. Though some of the canoeing photos appear to be dated, it’s easy to ignore that considering the peril Annerino faced to get some of these images. Few would venture back for that “perfect shot.”

The historic tales, scenic photos and personal essays are a good setup for the final sections about crossing the border and a photo essay about smuggling’s toll on the environment and the human element. Annerino manages to avoid the politics while exploring how well-meaning residents and federal agents are caught up in a social exodus and criminal enterprises that do not respect political boundaries.

In summary, this book is a worthy addition to any border enthusiast’s library. The $30 price tag seems a bit much, but the imagery, personal essays and handy maps with historic blurbs make Vanishing Borderlands a good get for the coffee table or the reference library.

Arizona BOTM: Yuma Territorial Prison Guards

Our last review might have raised some concerns. Would Arizona’s underground MySpace music have anything to offer? Would it all be instrumental, 90’s-era gangster rap?

Fear not, my friends. For the latest installment of Arizona Band Of The Moment, we bring you Yuma Territorial Prison Guards.

Borrowing the name from a local historical landmark, this little gem of a band packs some fuzzed-out ferocity: a heavy thump and jangle of guitar turned up to 11 and distorted the hell out. You won’t find innovation or mood shifts from track to track, but this is solid rock ’n’ roll — a thick goulash of punk, rock and a country aesthetic befitting their hard-scrabble hometown.

This is probably how the rest of the country imagines Yuma to be, a place scratched in stone or dynamited out of the Arizona/Mexico/California border. Yuma is a prison town, and this is prison music, barked out by a guy who sounds like a whiskey-gargling jailer.

I’ll stop with the hackneyed descriptors and let the band describe themselves:

“Sounds Like: The snap of a mans neck bein hanged (sic).”

That’s about right.

And while the truth is that Yuma, even as a bordertown, is probably a bit cleaner than its early days, the Yuma Territorial Prison Guards are more drawn to the mythology.

It’s that ethos, eschewing reality in favor of the far more interesting grit, that draws people to bands like Drive-By Truckers and Whiskeytown. Mentions of Wal-Mart and Tastee Freez in contemporary country music might be accurate, but those of us outside the South want to believe there are still moonshiners running the Alabama/Tennessee state line. It’s what makes hip-hop so popular with white suburbanites.

Reality is nice and all, but sometimes you want to listen to a distorted guitar. Sometimes you want to picture yourself in a dust-swept town downing a shot of distilled rye, even if wrapped in swirling air conditioning, clicking away at a keyboard.

Yuma Territorial Prison Guards isn’t for everyone, and it’s certainly not a band I’d listen to frequently. But the jarring D-I-Y rock from their 2006 release, “Somerton Blues,” plays well even a few times around. The sound is reminiscent of San Francisco’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but with less sheen. While the lyrics are difficult to make out, the feel of a legendary frontier town brings a level of earnestness to the music.

Punk without a sneer isn’t so bad, you know?

Fortunately, denizens of Arizona’s larger cities have a chance to see YTPG live. According to the band’s MySpace site, it may split its time between Yuma and Tempe.The band will be playing a show at the Grumpus Room in Tucson on Friday, Aug. 8.

If the show is half as energetic as the music, attendees are in for a treat.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

‘Lucha libre’ shows American wrestling the ropes

PHOENIX — As the lights dim, Queen’s “We Will Rock You” blares over the loudspeakers. A crowd of 1,500-plus roars as the luchadores are introduced. Fans of all ages have gathered for yet another Sunday afternoon lucha libre matchup at La Gran Mercado to cheer on their favorite masked wrestlers.

Spanish for “free fight,” lucha libre is filled with acrobatic maneuvers, choreographed kicks, slaps and tag team assaults. It’s a slight departure from American wrestling, which is heavily promoted using the chiseled athletes of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and its knockoffs via cable television and pay-per-view main events.

This brand of entertainment, however, is a bit more bare bones. It has been around for decades in Mexico and now found success inside and outside the city’s core of Latino wrestling fans.

“It’s something new,” says Taylor Santos, of South Phoenix. “This is my first time seeing lucha libre live and I must admit, the luchadores put on quite a show for the crowd. I like how rowdy the crowd gets here. It’s kind of funny watching moms, dads, teens and toddlers cheer on their favorite masked fighters.”

The luchadores – or “wrestlers” – vary in age from teens to late 30s. Each luchador performs “in character” to the event. Unlike most American wrestlers, they wear decorated masks and prefer not to reveal their true identity to the audience.

However, Sergio Vega is one of the few luchadores at La Gran Mercado who prefers to be unmasked when performing.

“He is my favorite,” says lucha libre fan Aaron McCauley. “I attend this event on a regular basis and I love how energetic Vega is with the crowd. He uses his charm and athletic ability to excite the audience. I feel he works really hard to be the best.”

The luchadores practice three times a week to perfect their stunts and routines for Sunday’s event. It is a physically demanding sport that can cause serious injuries to luchadores if they are not properly prepared.

But most wrestlers find the enthusiastic fans worth their pain and time.

“It’s a great place for the family. The atmosphere is fun and admission is affordable,” says Lauren Elaine of Central Phoenix , who brought her husband and 10-year-old son to the event. “I even find it entertaining when the wrestlers are introduced. It’s a show any age can enjoy.”

The events are held every Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at La Gran Mercado, a swap-mart venue near 35th Avenue and Buckeye Road. Admission is $1 but free for children 12 and under.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

MySpace AZ band review: The Arizona G’s

The democratization of music through digital file-sharing has its upside.

For one, it’s much easier for unknown bands to break out. One review with a rating of 8.0 or higher at Pitchforkmedia.com can send a band’s stock soaring, at least with hipsters in Westlake and Williamsburg. As Radiohead proved last year, major label machinery and even set prices are no longer necessary to sell albums.

But there’s a downside to the new digital democracy, too, as A&R guys at any record label across the country can tell you. For every decent band birthed on Internet buzz, there are 20 more who would’ve been better off keeping their dead-end job. That’s what we’ll be exploring here: the good, bad and mediocre of Arizona’s MySpace underground.

We’ll begin our MySpace Arizona Band Of The Moment column with the Arizona G’s of Buckeye, Arizona.

In case the MySpace layout featuring a logo for “The Bank of Ganja” and songs titled “So High” and “Time to Roll” don’t tip you off, Arizona G’s loooove weed, man. Unfortunately, they’re not apt to write lyrics about their favorite plant, instead crafting hip-hop-themed instrumentals complete with beats and synth notes.

It’s a shame, too, because the beats and instrumentals aren’t half bad. A smooth flow of lyrics about living in Buckeye and hitting the bong might fit well.

Currently, the best the Arizona G’s should hope for is to become intro music for the Phoenix Suns. I suggest their most popular tune, “Won’t leave me alone.” It worked for the Chicago Bulls and the Alan Parsons Project. Why not Buckeye’s big act?

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Arizona G’s have only been on MySpace since March. They may still have some surprises in store.

In the meantime, here’s a suggestion to Arizona G’s: Get rid of that enthroned Death figure. First, an ax is a weak substitute for a scythe. Second, the black and white pit bull logo when visitors click on “Won’t leave me alone” is much better.

For more information, check out http://www.myspace.com/arizonags.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Graffiti becomes art in South Phoenix

PHOENIX — Vandalism is the third most-committed crime in Phoenix. So when Luis Miranda wanted local taggers to paint the perimeter of his custom car shop, it was no surprise when city officials swooped in to shut it down.

But Miranda, an artist in his own right, saw things differently. When he refused to sign a form requiring all graffiti to be painted over, he kicked off a graffiti art revival of sorts in the Grant Park neighborhood south of downtown Phoenix.

“The neighbors stop by and say thank you,” Miranda says. “From Latinos to blacks to whites, everybody has great things to say about it.”

That includes residents like Armando Gandarilla, president of the Grant Park Neighborhood Fight Back Association. He says he knows graffiti is a problem downtown, but much of the art has gotten a bad rap.

Like Miranda, Gandarilla sees it as a healthy outlet that could spark life in Grant Park, which is bordered by Central and Seventh avenues, between Buckeye Road and Lincoln Street.

“We need to have artwork (like that on Miranda’s property) in the community,” Gandarilla says. “If people are genuinely trying to do something positive, I would never criticize them. But people who support gang activity is negative for the community. I do not approve of breaking the law, but if that adrenaline could be channeled…”

Though statistics on graffiti waivers were not available, local artists suggest graffiti-to-art is becoming a culturally enlightening trend.

Jim Covarrubias, for example, has created murals at numerous locations throughout Phoenix and agrees that graffiti can be a positive outlet for people but is not a substitute for being a good citizen.

“Public art does enhance the urban landscape and allows for artists to personally identify the city where they live,” Covarrubias said in an email. “Graffiti does the same as long as it isn’t a badge of identity for gang affiliation. Like many new forms of modern art, it is readily acceptable by younger citizens and jarring or maybe even threatening to older citizens.

“There has been criticism of murals,” he adds. “Of more concern to me are elected officials who lump graffiti, crime, gangs and every thing bad into the same side of the fence. We need to be more responsive to art and the transient methods that many young artists feel is their chosen technique, but we certainly shouldn’t be creating criminals from artists. Art heralds change and change needs artists to express the face of that change.”

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Backstage with Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers

Last night, I had the opportunity to go behind the black velvet curtains at Phoenix’s Celebrity Theater to spend some QT with Arizona’s quintessential independent rock band, Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers.

Not knowing what to expect, I’m fairly certain this was the *mellowest* backstage party in the history of backstage parties. A room full of about 30 people ate Doritos, pretzels and drank four cases of Rolling Rock and Dos Equis [myself included — you know, just to blend in] without ever catching a glimpse of the band. I saw Steve (guitarist), who quickly ran out. PH (drummer) was nowhere to be found 20 minutes to showtime. The bassist was in the parking lot, and Roger was in the hallway looking harried.

“I gotta go memorize the words to my songs,” he told me before bolting for a dressing room.

Not exactly what you want to hear from the lead singer moments before playing the city’s classiest venue. They played 31 songs in 2.5 hours. [Actually, it was more like 30 since Roger forgot at least two verses.]

But that’s part of the fun at a Peacemakers show, where Roger indulges the crowd by drinking whatever flask, beer or other mysterious alcoholic beverage it offers up during the set. He is a true warrior, but the all-night sing-along ends up helping him out later in the show. Everyone realizes this, and musical purists would be alarmed. But in the eyes of fans, it’s part of Roger’s rock star charm. [The band has now played 16 times in Rocky Point at a block party concert they call Circus Mexicus.]

The band is touring for its new album, Turbo Ocho. Check it out, and be ready to hear a mix of heavier rock and a five-man section of trumpets, bongos, and Latin timbales. Vivan los Peacemakers!

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