The Scoop

An Excerpt from Tucsonan Lydia Millet’s New Novel

June 1, 2020 |

A Children’s Bible

Lydia Millet has lived in Tucson since 1999, a year before her second novel, George Bush, Dark Prince of Love, appeared. In the years since, while working as a writer and editor for the Center for Biological Diversity, she has published 16 more books of fiction for young and adult readers. Of her latest, A Children’s Bible (Norton, $25.95), Washington Post books editor Ron Charles writes, “I swear on a stack of copies that it’s a blistering little classic: ‘Lord of the Flies’ for a generation of young people left to fend for themselves on their parents’ rapidly warming planet.” Alternately dark and comic, it’s told from the point of view of a young woman who grows to maturity in a time that, like our own, is full of threats and terrors—but also great beauty. Copies of the book are available at Antigone Books (411 N. Fourth Ave.); call 792-3715 to reserve your copy for curbside pickup. Evoking a world of missing things that is all too recognizable, here’s a glimpse inside the covers. —Editor

By late winter all the vegetables we ate were coming from the hydroponic nursery and the indoor garden in the basement (what used to be the squash court). Fresh produce could no longer be ordered online—no refrigerated trucks were running, at least not for the average rich person in our neck of the woods—so we had to eat what we grew.

We didn’t have fruit, of course. We’d planted apple trees, but it’d be years before they were fruit-bearing: that planting was a Hail Mary. No citrus at all, and we missed our orange juice and lemonade. The parents missed their slices of lime.

And we had dry and canned goods, a trove far more extensive than the one in the silo. We had made sure of that.

When the day’s work was done we got into the habit of preparing dinner for everyone, with the help of some mothers whose highest-rated skills were cooking. We’d all sit around in the vast sunken living room of fake Italy, with its wall of glass that opened onto the patio and the pool. We held our plates on our laps, eating and talking about the things we missed. The peasant mother was allowed to recite a blessing. Nondenominational.

She’d turned out to be no one’s mother at all. All she had was the cat. But I still thought of her as the peasant one.

Then we’d go through our missings. That was what my little brother called them. We figured it was healthy, for the parents especially, not to try to deny the fact of what had been lost but to acknowledge it.

Someone would mention a colleague or an ex, a grandparent or a bicycle or a neighborhood or a store. A beach or a town or a movie. Someone would say “ice cream” and someone else would say “ice-cream sandwiches, Neapolitan,” and we’d riff on it, go down a list of favorite ice-cream novelties that couldn’t be had anymore for love or money.

“Bars,” a parent would say, and they’d rhyme off the bars they’d been to, the dive bars, the Irish bars, the cantinas. The hotel bars, the bars with jukeboxes, the bars with pool tables or views of parks and rivers. The bars that revolved. The bars at the top of glittering skyscrapers far away. In the once-great cities of the world.Excerpted from A Children’s Bible: A Novel by Lydia Millet. Copyright © 2020 by Lydia Millet. Published with permission of W. W. Norton. All rights reserved.

Zócalo Magazine Hiatus

April 12, 2020 |

Zócalo Magazine is currently on hiatus. We will be back in print when more of our marvelous advertisers and distribution outlets are unshut and experiencing more traffic. If you subscribe to the print magazine, your subscription will be extended. In the meantime, we’ll be working on some digital assignments which we hope to bring you in the coming weeks. Stay safe, Tucson. We love you. Stayed tuned.

RIP, Lisa Kanouse

April 11, 2020 |

We are terribly saddened to learn of the death of our friend Lisa Kanouse Art, a tremendously talented artist whose work appeared on the covers of Zócalo. Lisa was a thrill to work with and we were truly inspired by her enthusiastic embrace of Tucson’s culture, history, architecture and natural surroundings. RIP, Lisa.

Why I Love Where I Live Launches New Store Virtually

March 21, 2020 |

The health crises is forcing many small Tucson businesses to think outside the box. Once such business, Why I Love Where I Live, was unable to launch their new physical store as planned, so they’ve decided to do it virtually instead! With the help of Zocalo Magazine’s publisher, they’ve created an innovative and interactive virtual shopping experience where you can “walk” through the new store and explore their products online. Check it out below!

Robbie Fulks and Slaid Cleaves Hit the Old Pueblo

March 13, 2020 |

(photo: Robbie Fulks, photo by Andy Goodwin)

NOTE: We regret to say that because of the current health crises, the Robbie Fulks/Slaid Cleaves show has been postponed until further notice. We’ll post the rescheduled date as soon as we know it.

Robbie Fulks is stuck in traffic on I–395 in the heart of Washington, DC, when I reach him by phone. It’s a familiar condition for him: he’s been a road warrior musician for decades now, usually mounting small tours by car that take him from city to city in a well-worn car. He’s in no hurry, which suits his amiable, relaxed manner of self-presentation, but even so, he’s relieved to hear that the highways leading to Tucson are a lot less crowded.

I’ve seen Robbie Fulks play in Chicago a couple of dozen times now, for it seems that every time I hit town he’s on one stage or another in his hometown. The tour he’s on now is taking him out to different corners of the country, especially in the South, from which he’ll head to Tucson, arriving here to play on April 2 at 191 Toole. (Tickets are available here, at $25.00.) Sharing the bill with him will be the Maine-by-way-of-Austin singer Slaid Cleaves, whom Fulks characterizes as “a fine guitarist and poet.”

For his part, Fulks’s tour commemorates the 25th anniversary of the release of his debut album, Country Love Songs, which is now being reissued on vinyl. It’s country, for sure, if filtered through the likes of Joe Ely and The Clash, marked by exceptionally literate songwriting dealing with country tropes such as death, as with “She Took a Lot of Pills (and Died),” and heartbreak, as with “Tears Only Run One Way.” Greil Marcus, the rock historian and critic, has called Fulks’s later composition “In Bristol Town One Bright Day” a bona fide classic of Americana, and it’s a haunting piece for sure, one that could have been written in the Scottish highlands or Appalachians in the 1700s instead of bowing in with Fulks’s 2001 release Couples in Trouble.

“From going to nothing with all the attention given to Country Love Songs was both ego-enhancing and stressful,” Fulks says. “But it’s given me a way to live my dream, which is to play whenever I want. Now, 25 years later, I’m going back to my roots, so expect to hear a lot of bluegrass- and country-flavored stuff.” When the show starts at 8:00, he says, either he or Cleaves will hit the stage—they’ll alternate playing first and second—and then the other will follow, with a third set featuring both artists playing together. Whatever they play and in whatever order, expect an impressive night of fretwork and songcraft. For a taste of Robbie Fulks’s music, see a recent mini-set at Chicago’s Audiotree, which opens with the supremely lovely song “Alabama at Night.”

Zócalo Magazine – February 2020

February 3, 2020 |

Read the February 2020 edition of Zócalo Magazine

Powerhouse Women Reflect on Tucson’s Evolving Music Scene

January 27, 2020 |

It is great, and there’s still more work to do. 

“We can miss the ladies. Why do we miss the ladies? Because it has taken a really long time for women to get to the forefront of the music scene.” 

Cathy Rivers, general manager of KXCI and a singer/songwriter/guitarist, reflects on a comment I just made about sending out interview questions to over 40 professionally established and talented women for this article, and I was still coming up with names of musicians I missed while we were chatting. 

Rivers and I are sitting in her backyard, reviewing the Tucson music scene through the lens of local women artists over the last 30 years. The number of women performing has increased significantly from the 1990s to now.

As Maggie Golston, a singer/songwriter/guitarist and writing and humanities faculty at Pima Community College, shares: “Women songwriters and performers have positively dominated the scene of late, whereas in the ’80s and ’90s, having women and LGBTQ members made a band an exception, or worse, a novelty.”

Keyboardist/guitarist Uma deSilva, who plays with bands Max Parallax, Smallvox, and The Sapiens, notes that “there has been a strong wave of women coming into their own as musical powerhouses in the last decade. When I first joined the music scene in 2006, there weren’t many females making the kind of music I was trying to make. Any opportunity where female-led bands were playing, my band would get a call to join, but not necessarily because we fit the genre of the night’s show. I’ve performed in a few shows as a ‘token lady,’ but that doesn’t undermine the musicianship.” 

Keyboardist/guitarist Uma deSilva shares that “there are some amazing younger ladies (in their teens) joining the stage and I can’t wait to see and hear more from them in the years to come. With all the seasoned professional female musicians here in Tucson, I can only imagine that more and more young ladies will gain the confidence to share their musical talent. I can’t wait to see what happens!” photo: SpryTime

“In the ’90s and 2000s, there were very few local female-fronted bands,” singer/songwriter LeeAnne Savage explains, “and in turn many of us felt we were constantly fighting an uphill battle to be recognized and taken seriously. Women today are still fighting to be heard, however there is power in numbers and there are a lot of talented, energetic, fearless female artists that are making their mark in Tucson’s musical landscape! I am thrilled to see so many more women fronting and/or leading bands nowadays.” 

Traction has been made insofar as balancing the gender scales on stage, though there’s still a lot of ground to cover to make things more equitable – gender wise and for women of color. Overwhelmingly, the musicians I contacted to contribute to this article – more than space allows – shared how supportive and talent-rich Tucson is, with a lot of opportunities for cross-pollination and craft development. However, there are still many issues that specifically vex women artists; there are glaring blind spots in a culture struggling with unconscious biases.

One bias in particular: “It is still a noteworthy aspect to be a female artist, and I do not think that should be the case,” shares vocalist Katherine Byrnes – a native Tucsonan who has been performing for the last 20 years. “We never say ‘the all male band’ or the ‘male artist,’ and it should be the same no matter what gender identity the artist has.”

Diane Van Deurzen and Lisa Otey, of The Desert Divas, agree. “Women artists don’t see themselves as ‘women artists’ until they look at a festival lineup or music calendar at local clubs and see only one woman on the bill. Fortunately, in Tucson, women artists don’t seem to feel held back by the oversight of these venues. As women, we have to make it happen for ourselves. You still see the token female act on many festival stages, not just in Tucson. We have to create our own opportunities. Our Desert Divas and Sabra Faulk’s Angel Band are examples of groups organized by local women who want to showcase other female musicians.”

“If you’re a musician and you’re building a bill, take a second look at the artists at the top,” advises Jillian Bessett of Jillian and the Giants. “Do you have women/femme people on the bill? Do you have people of color on the bill? If you don’t, think about whether it’s an anomaly or not. When was the last time you shared a bill with a woman or a person of color? If it’s been a while, ask yourself the difficult questions about your unconscious biases.”

Jillian Bessett, photo: Julius Schlosburg

Another bias that several musicians talk about surrounds sound.

“Stop with the assumptions about us,” asks vocalist Olivia Reardon. “Because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I don’t know how to turn on, set up and tear down the PA, or how to adjust the sound… because I can. As well as sing the hell out of a Zeppelin song.”

“The mansplaining. Oy,” groans Abby Corcoran of Moontrax and PIPELiGHTS. “This is rarely an issue for us in Tucson, however we encounter this often when we travel. We use a lot of electronic gear and it is wildly frustrating to have someone ‘teach’ us about a process with which they are unfamiliar. I know this sort of thing happens to female artists quite often. I wish our fellow male musicians would realize we are capable of plugging things in and pushing buttons as well.” 

Violinist Samantha Bounkeua adds, “In live performance, it is far too often we are put in a position of being afraid to voice our concerns for fear that we would not be taken seriously or that the engineer we’re working with might passive aggressively sabotage the mix. This is why so many of have come to rely on and request very specific individuals who we know and trust, but those numbers are so few.”

“It’s always difficult to advocate for yourself, and especially when you’ve got that artistic vulnerable side, it’s even harder,” reflects Cathy Rivers. “I think that we need practice using our voices, and there are spaces for women to start having these conversations and together we should create more spaces to make this happen.” 

It is also imperative that venues consider safety. Drummer Maggie Rickard of The Surfbroads and Sugar Stains explains that “women artists are frequently left vulnerable to fans that do not respect their personal or physical boundaries, especially after a performance. I appreciate any venue that offers some form of support to buffer these situations and step in to protect the artists when it is necessary.” Jillian Bessett offers that “a real practical solution would be security at clubs. If a club had a policy of having a staff member walking artists to their car if they’re alone, that would be such a comforting, proactive gesture.”

The beauty of the scene continues to be the cooperation and guidance musicians provide one another, through networks and groups – such as the Music Biz and Shoptalk Facebook group started by Jillian Bassett. 

“I think this is a good time to be an independent female artist in Tucson,” shares vocalist and songwriter Najima Rainey of Just Najima, pictured above. “There is a community of supportive and experienced women who often support and boost other women in the scene. I literally would not have been able to record my CD if it hadn’t been for the kindness and encouragement of folx like Jillian Bessett, Miranda Schubert, Olivia Reardon, and other musicians who gave me advice and guidance the whole way through!” 

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Gabi Montoya, who performs with Juju Fontaine, Taco Sauce and Gat Moony, says, “There’s a real sense of community, everyone makes an effort to reach out to up-and-comers and give others opportunities to get great gigs. There are growing communities of woman/non-binary, queer and Black musicians creating spaces and opportunities for each other, so the local scene is gradually becoming less of a boys’ club. Black Renaissance is an amazing new organization featuring Black musicians and creators around Tucson. Everyone should definitely follow them, because it feels like Black artists haven’t been given the same platforms in the Tucson scene, but this collective has made it impossible for us to ignore these incredibly talented artists anymore.”   

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Gabi Montoya

It is vital to mention that so many men in the music scene do considerately and robustly embrace and uplift women musicians, and it is crucial that men remember that they need to continuously be allies. 

KXCI’s Hannah Levin, host of The Home Stretch and director of content, states that “we need more male allies actively involved, visibly supporting female-identified artists. Share their work on social media, create space for them on bills and within live programming in general, and perhaps most importantly, recognize the privilege you have and the space you take up, literally and figuratively. This isn’t ‘women’s work,’ this is Tucson’s collective obligation if we want to be a truly inclusive creative community.” 

Resources 

To get involved with the Music Biz and Shoptalk Facebook group, email Jillian Bessett at jillianbessettmusic@gmail.com. LeeAnne Savage plans to start a consistent women-led showcase in 2020. Contact her at SavageMusicGirl@gmail.com or 520-471-5450.

Zócalo Magazine – December 2019

December 3, 2019 |

A Conversation with Mayor Regina Romero

December 2, 2019 |

On December 2, 2019, Regina Romero made history when being sworn in as Tucson’s first female and first Latina mayor. At the end of November, I spoke with her about her background and what led her to the mayor’s seat, along with conversing about political, gender and racial power structures; environmental issues; Tucson’s arts, culture, and history; and the city’s transportation concerns. Some quotes have been edited for length and clarity. 

Born in Yuma and raised in Somerton, Arizona, Regina Romero has been a Tucsonan since 1992—drawn here both by siblings who moved to Tucson for education and economic opportunities, and by her being accepted to study at the University of Arizona. While taking classes at UA and Pima Community College, Mayor Romero became inspired to get involved with politics after taking a Chicano studies class at Pima with Professor Lupe Castillo.

“We talked about Chicanismo, about the history of the land and Mexican-Americans living for many generations in the Southwest (pre-Gadsden Purchase), and activism. We also talked about policy and needs, and the lack of participation of women and people of color in our democratic process. That really sparked a nerve with me,” Mayor Romero recalls.

Through her studies, Mayor Romero became a student activist. In 1995, she was invited to get involved with the Ward One City Council race, help with voter registrations, and go door-to-door to talk to constituents about issues and ask for their votes. 

“I started getting involved with community, and that’s what started my passion for the political process, in electing women and people of color that would represent the needs that I felt were important to me,” Mayor Romero says. 

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 42.9 percent of Tucson’s populace identifies as Hispanic or Latina/o/x. Considering that Romero was Tucson’s first Latina elected to the Tucson City Council in 2007 and is now the first Latina mayor, we discussed the power structures that keep women and people of color, and especially women of color, from running for and being elected to public office. 

“It took a lot of years for me to even realize, ‘Oh, I could do this,’” Mayor Romero shares.

It took 12 years from becoming politically activated to her running for and winning her Ward One City Council seat in 2007. Through her deep involvement with community, when the position vacated, she was called upon to fill it. 

“People started calling me saying, ‘Hey, you are the cofounder and the chair of Las Adelitas,’ a group that encourages political participation with Latinas and our families. So, they were saying, ‘Isn’t that the mission of your organization?’”

Romero heeded the call with some concerns, especially since she had an 18-month-old son at the time. The support of her husband and family was, and is, key considering that city councilors are paid $24,000 and the mayor’s salary is $42,000—a wage that hasn’t changed since 1999. Again in this year’s election cycle, voters said no to raises, thereby directly affecting the ability of mayor and city councilors to concentrate full-time on Tucson, since they have to work outside of their elected positions to make ends meet. The current gross annual salary of a councilperson is equivalent to a full-time, minimum wage job in Tucson as of January 1, 2020— at $12 an hour.

“That lack of living wages for elected officials—that’s both for the state and for city mayor and council—has been an impediment for other women and other workers of the community to step up and run,” Romero explained. “What we’ve seen is that either independently wealthy males or retired males have been ready and willing to not care about that pay to be able to serve. For me and my family, it’s been a struggle.

“In terms of why we see such lack of participation of women, especially women of color in our political processes, it’s because we continue perpetuating a cycle of racist systems that were not created for us. If you’re a working person, if I were a single mom with my two kids, there’s no way I would have ever been able to run. My husband is the breadwinner. I’ve also had to work, and for the last three years, I’ve had an amazing job with Center for Biological Diversity as the director of Latino engagement, which has been very flexible with me.”

At the top of Mayor Romero’s platform is addressing environmental concerns such as recycling, sustainability, and resiliency in the face of climate change. She explained that it is important for the city to partner with entities such as the UA, local and national environmental nonprofits, and ASU on these issues. 

“It is about finding solutions together for the biggest problems that we have as a society and a city. We have to change our mentality from ‘I can consume whatever I want and I can recycle it’ to ‘How do we reduce waste?’ Reduce, reuse, recycle. We have to reeducate our community and find a better way, because Trump is fighting with China, and China says, ‘No, we’re not going to take your trash.’”

When campaigning, Mayor Romero said that Tucsonans shared their climate change concerns, such as the rising temperature, the heat island effect, and water resources.

When it comes to water stewardship, Tucson Water has led the way in Arizona with its water-saving incentives such as offering rebates for residential rainwater and greywater harvesting systems, along with installing high-efficiency toilets and clothes washers. This fall, mayor and council passed a green infrastructure plan that will help direct stormwater that collects along Tucson’s streets into streetside basins. These efforts will provide water sources for planting and establishing trees in neighborhoods, which will help mitigate flooding and the heat island effect.

Tying into the above climate issues includes tackling carbon emissions. According to a 2017 study by the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation (cars, trucks, ships, trains and planes) accounted for 28.9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Mayor Romero’s platform calls for transitioning the city’s vehicle and bus fleet to 90 percent electric by 2032, reducing single-occupant vehicle commuters from 76.5 percent to 50 percent by 2035, and implementing a transit system that is affordable and reliable.

“The City of Tucson hasn’t seen a bus rapid transit system. Once one is implemented, it is much less expensive than rail and as effective, and sometimes even more effective, because the most effective rapid transit, in any city, has the fewest stops. You want to get people moved fast to where they need to go. And so the City of Tucson is thinking about a tapping into federal transit-oriented development funds.”

In November, Romero was in Washington, D.C. for a conference and took the opportunity to set up meetings with federal agencies and met with the Federal Transportation Administration Administrator K. Jane Williams to discuss rapid transit, what makes those systems work well, and what to include in Tucson’s application for FTA funding.

“It was awesome to be able to have that conversation with her. It’s about diversifying our transit and mobility choices in Tucson. And as we look at the possibility of a potential expansion of a streetcar, we can’t forget that there is bus rapid transit that is successful in other cities. We’re studying the highest-used transit lines in the city, and of course we’re going to get input from the community.

“It’s important to start thinking as a jurisdiction about what makes sense and how to do it equitably, to make sure that we do not displace families, that we create affordability and maintain affordability to those lines that we want to see happen. We have to plan ahead and look holistically at how it’s going to affect the city of Tucson.

“We have to look beyond what we’ve traditionally done to move to the next level of progress.”

What do you love about Tucson, and its arts, culture, and history?

I love that Tucson is surrounded by mountains. I love the desert. I love the culture in Tucson. It feels like a small town, like everyone knows each other. Even if you don’t, people treat each other like they know each other. The food is amazing, and that’s why we’re a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. The history is amazing and so rich. It has been Tohono O’odham territory and Yaqui land. We were Spain once, then Mexico, then a U.S. territory. Tucson has always been very multicultural, with deep roots of Chinese, Mexican, Irish, and Jewish people. It’s a basin of different cultures here.

The arts scene is so awesome. It has its own unique funk and vibe. Tucson has a history of muralists and painters. We need to make sure that we follow and continue the tradition. What I’ve loved recently was seeing those murals throughout the community, especially concentrated in downtown, become again an attraction to people. People love them. We should expand on that and expand on making sure that we’re inclusive in celebration in arts of both color and the representative communities. We could make art available and easy to access for students and for working families throughout the city of Tucson. We need to continue investing not only in that but also arts programming in our parks; continue investing in the local talent that we have here and make art available and accessible, maybe by partnering with the school districts with their arts programs.

And, street art. Why not use art on the street? There’s this movement happening right now, called tactical urbanism, that promotes art on the street and that actually provides safe spaces for bicycles and pedestrians to use. It’s really cool. So, there’s many, many ideas and concepts that we can push on to expand that investment that we do as a community in the arts.

Zócalo Magazine – November 2019

November 1, 2019 |