One photo from Benson Highway Band July 2025 road trip.

 

And not a particularly good one at that. Taken in South Central Los Angeles, outside of a warehouse wherein I'd just slept. I tried to take more photos but that just did not transpire. Another tour within the independent circuit done. It's a scene that's fraught with chaos and uncertainty, that's for sure. Still it was a real good time and very interesting as usual. Pretty sure that I played the music as well as I could and it's satisfying to feel that. I guess we'll see what comes next in this so far rather intriguing year of 2025 for yours truly.

Benson Highway Band West Coast/Southwest Tour dates!

 

Wed., 7/16

SPACE

3519 El Cajon Blvd.

San Diego 92104

8PM

with Priscilla Priddy & the Pretty Boys and Terlingua

Free!

Thu., 7/17

The Virgil

4519 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles 90029 

8PM

with Terlingua, Pio Gabriel, The Sea Monks, Tommy Touzel

$

Fri., 7/18

Linger Longer Lounge

6522 N. 16th St. #6

Phoenix 85016

8PM

with Morphia Slow and Terlingua

$

Sat., 7/19

Che's Lounge

350 N. 4th Ave.

Tucson 85705

8PM

with The Working People and Terlingua

Free!

Sun., 7/20

Room 4 Bar

43 Brewery Ave.

Bisbee 85603

3PM

with Terlingua

Free!

Mon., 7/21

Black Wall Gallery

2125 San Mateo Blvd. NE

Albuquerque 87110

7:30 PM

with Terlingua

Free! 

 

Benson Highway Band played at Che's Lounge in Tucson last night.

 

And I was happy to participate in such a great Independence Day party! Benson Highway Band had the added skill of Gus on electronics. I couldn't hear much of anything but bass and vocals and drums, but it's cool because Gus and I have some interesting mutual connections and adjacent experiences from time lived in 'frisco during the 1990's.  Tucson gets down in ways that are so magical that if makes my heart fucking ache. Yes hell yes.

Benson Highway Band will play Che's Lounge in Tucson this Friday!

 Fri., 7/4/25

Benson Highway Band (other bands too)

Che's Lounge

350 N. 4th Ave., Tucson

8PM

Free!

Played at Hotel Congress and it was grand!

A real good time was had playing with Benson Highway Band at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson!

No photos by me, but perhaps one or two will emerge. 

Very grateful to Tucson Community Food Bank coordinator Carmen for including us. There are so many amazing people and musicians in this town.

Benson Highway Band will play a short set at Hotel Congress!

 

Benson Highway Band will participate in the Summer Community Cover Fest at Hotel Congress this Saturday! We will play three versions of Wilco tunes. Currently we have a modular synth player, and these versions have been very interesting in rehearsal! 

Club Congress

311 East Congress St, Tucson 85701

6/28/25

Doors at 5PM, show at 5:30PM

$10 day of show, $15 advance

All proceeds go to Tucson Community Food Bank

Ovipositor live at Balazo Gallery in San Francisco up at Archive.org!

 https://archive.org/details/02-hobbies

Sounds like Matt Carter on bass, I could have sworn his last show with Ovipositor was in June of 2005. This show was in August of that year. 

 

Live audio of Devil Comet Ensemble up at Bandcamp!

 

https://capturedbylob.bandcamp.com/track/devils-comet

This short lived trio, recorded live and raw by Lob Instagon in Miami AZ! Thanks Lob!

Infinite Plastic Internal live at Wonder Valley Experimental Music Festival audio up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/infinite-plastic-internal-wonder-valley

Good times at a fun festival in Twentynine Palms CA!

Broken Whole live audio up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/01-20190715-broken-whole-pro-arts

This group played twice, both times with different members. I don't know if Pro Arts in Oakland is still in existence. A cool place in a cool town in a cool time. A few months later, so much was destroyed. 

Memories of a Friday night show in Sierra Vista

 

A really lovely drive from Tucson to Sierra Vista, the terrain illuminated by a near full moon. Especially the views of that town from about ten miles out. Punchy's Tavern was a cool place in which to spend a few hours listening to music, people watching, and playing a set of music with the Benson Highway Band. A kind of jittery set, made so by a somewhat problematic PA system, and a broken bass drum pedal (a crucial part of it seems to have snapped off in the gear bag).  The drummer for Dedd Horsemen was a total life saver and let me use his pedal, even though it looked as if he wanted to leave after his great band's set. Thanks a million Danny. Even with the stated issues, the performance felt alright to the band members. We played, got paid, and laughed all the way back to Tucson.

Benson Highway Band playing in Sierra Vista this Friday night!

 

Sean Whalen will bring his band of Benson Highway men to Sierra Vista this Friday night!

Punchy's Tavern

1939 Frontage Rd. Suite A

Sierra Vista AZ, 85635

Dedd Horsemen

Laura Jean Band

Sean Whalen & The Benson Highway Band

8 PM-12 AM

I can't say that I know anyone in Sierra Vista but I look forward to making some new ones.

A couple of Benson Highway Band live shots!

 Below: Benson Highway Band at Che's Lounge Tucson, 5/16/25.

Above: Benson Highway Band at Tumbleroot Brewery Santa Fe New Mexico, 5/18/25.

A couple of road shots!

 Over last weekend the Benson Highway Band played shows in Phoenix and Santa Fe. Here are a few shots of most of the band as we traveled. 

It was cool to see the band name on this marquee, but a Sunday night with cool weather for a band that's never played in area equals low turnout. The recording I made with my phone seems good. A learning experience. Some heads rocked in Phoenix at least. Hello to my new pal El in that town.

Playing this Friday night in Tucson!

 

Benson Highway Band is playing at Che's Lounge in Tucson! 

Three cool bands for free! Check it!

A couple of shots of The Benson Highway Band at Bashful Bandit Barbeque.

 

Hella enjoyable to play while watching the sun set over Tucson. While I did not play flawlessly, the two sets felt very "transparent" to me in that Jerry Garcia kind of way. Went home and listened to Nurse With Wound albums.  A fun evening indeed.

Playing this Saturday in Tucson!

 

I will play with The Benson Highway Band this Saturday at the Bashful Bandit Barbecue!

The Bashful Bandit

3696 E. Speedway Tucson 85716

6:30-10 PM 

Free! 

This set will be an acoustic set. 

Infinite Plastic Internal-Live at the Palms Restaurant

Reminiscences and photos from early April 2025 shows.

 

 

Phucsonic Quartet-ArtSpace West ASU, Phoenix AZ 4/3/25

Steev Hise named the quartet of himself, Gabby Isaac, Erin Allen, and myself Phucsonic on account of two of us being Tucson people and two, Phoenix people. There's a naughty word in the moniker too, but we try not pronounce it as such. The drive to the west ASU campus was telling in that it reminded just how massive Phoenix is, and how traffic can get truly knotty there. I saw the beginnings of a minor bit of road rage in my rear view window. When you're stuck in traffic, you really just have to roll with it. Steev and I made it to the venue with minutes to spare, as did Gabby and Erin. We set up and played pretty much right away, amid artist Tra Bouscaren's great sculptural work. A satisfying set of Electro-Acoustic improvisation followed. All players got chances to take the lead, I think as a result of all of us utilizing our listening skills. The set felt great to me. Erin's saxophone playing is just right, and Gabby had some sick passages from her simple electronics rig, very percussive and cutting. Steev with his guitar set up a sonic ballast upon which we rode into the abstract regions of sound. Hella fun experience all around. 

Below: Phucsonic Quartet at ArtSpace West.

Above: getting down on my improvising kit.

Infinite Plastic Internal-The Palms Restaurant, Twentynine Palms CA 4/5/25

After a lovely drive during which I observed the changes between the Sonoran and Mojave deserts and the snow capped San Gabriel Mountains on final approach into Twentynine Palms, The Palms Restaurant was reached. Such a groovy venue, it feels like the Roadhouse At the End of the World. Wonderful staff, too. My performance for the Wonder Valley Experimental Music Festival was called Wonder Valley Piece; it consisted of two bass drums, a floor tom, ring modulators, and voice. The latter was used in recitation of a cut up poem, sourced from an article in the New Yorker Magazine, about noise in music. This poem was composed last Summer. The stage was a bit wonky (as it was made up of three pieces which sat rather awkwardly on the sand of the Palm's back yard area), which made balancing of the bass drums a challenge. This, and the fact that I'd never played a proper double bass drum set, made me a bit nervous. Still, I performed the piece in its entirety even after having my set time cut a bit short by staff. Some positive feedback was had from those in attendance which was gratifying. Recording to be uploaded at Archive.org at some point in the near future. The rest of the day was spent having a great time listening to numerous other acts, some conversations in between sets and just generally freaking out under the initially warm sun and then the cool, clear night air of the California desert. It's all about layers. 

Below: Infinite Plastic Internal rig for Wonder Valley Experimental Music Festival 2025

Amanda Chaudhary graciously agreed to take some photos of me, with my wife's Canon camera. I had the exposure setting set to too long, and, paired with the fact that she was shooting pretty much directly into the afternoon sunlight, the photos below have a bleached out thing going on. Apropos, because they kind of match how I was feeling during this performance. 

It was a fun weekend of music and driving. More shows coming soon.

A couple of shows coming up!

 

 Two sets of Electro-Acoustic sounds in early April!

Thursday 4/3/2025

6:30 PM

ArtSpace West Gallery

Arizona State University West Campus

University Way N., Phoenix 85051

Steev Hise/Gabby Isaac/Erin Allen/Mark Pino

Saturday 4/5/2025

5 PM

The Palms Restaurant

83131 Amboy Rd.

Twentynine Palms CA 92277

Infinite Plastic Internal

This set will be in participation with Wonder Valley Experimental Music Festival 2025. 

Looking forward to making some sounds!

More Infinite Plastic Internal music up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/02-murky-aquarian-moon

These 2014 Infinite Plastic Internal sounds were recorded to be posted at a music site run by a Vlad Afrikan. His label was called Beard of Snails Records. It was nice of him to offer his platform for the presentation of my music. IPI will be doing a gig announcement very soon.

Some shots of The Benson Highway Band in Bisbee AZ, 3/15/25!

 

Photos by and courtesy of Deetroit Drew.

The Benson Highway Band-City Park, Bisbee AZ 3/15/25

 

A grand old time was had by me and hopefully the other The Benson Highway Band dudes at City Park in Bisbee this afternoon! I know for sure that the spots during the songs' arrangements that needed extra care were hit, this giving much satisfaction because I'd been worrying about that. One stick drop moment was quickly overcome. Not sure how much of a niche market The Benson Highway Band will find with the Southwestern biker scene, but the gig had tremendous value to me for stated reason. It can be good for a band to face indifference: what does it mean to you? Can you throw down and jam out even in the face of that? It seemed like a few people dug the sounds and we played well. And got paid. Many thanks to The Prowl!

Below: Benson Highway Band guys tuning up on some such.

Above: gear post set. So much of music is just moving objects from place to place. 

Also: beautiful drives to and from Bisbee. What a lovely day.

Playing this Saturday afternoon in Bisbee AZ!

 

I will be drumming again for The Benson Highway Band this Saturday. The show is under the auspices of The Prowl Motorcycle Show. 

Saturday 3/15/25

Bisbee City Park

1:30 PM

The Benson Highway Band

Sonoran Sunsets

Valley Fever

This show is free!

A few shots from my first gig with The Benson Highway Band and some musings.

 

February of 2025 was a strange month in my musical life. It started off the disbandment of a group that I'd been playing with since October of 2022. We never played out, but jammed a lot and wrote a clutch of tunes that I really liked. One of the members of the group had decided that he'd had enough, though, and we had a strange text chain that finished that particular project. Dismayed, I went pretty much immediately over to Craigslist and posted an ad: "Avant Garage Drummer Seeks..." That approach seemed dubious at best: I swear that there's an underground sex hookup component to Craigslist musicians ads here in Tucson. A few years back I had some pretty, ah, strange emails after posting a similar ad. Much to my surprise, Sean Whalen, singer of The Benson Highway Band responded to me, and we set up and audition. It transpired that they had a show booked for 2/28, at St. Charles Tavern, and were in great need of a drummer. Rehearsals happened. I learned a relatively short set of originals and one cover song. We played the gig. It was great fun, and it seemed as though I mesh well with the group. Plus, the music is cool and fun to play. Stoked! 

Below: two shots by Melissa. Thanks my love!

Next gig announcement for The Benson Highway Band coming very soon!

Playing live this Friday in Tucson!

 

I will be drumming for The Benson Highway Band this Friday at St. Charles Tavern in Tucson! 

Friday 2/28/2025

St. Charles Tavern1632 S 4th Ave., Tucson 85713

8 PM

Barefoot On Bumblebees

The Benson Highway Band

Priscilla Priddy

Free show!

Looking forward to this gig!

PAC Trio live audio up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/vru-20200207-215849

Five years to the day since this show occurred. Why Josh Allen is not given more recognition within the Jazz/Improvised Music scene I don't know but it's a shame. The man was built to play the tenor saxophone. Doing music with Josh was draining but worth it. Over Christmas time I was in the Bay, and actually at the Downtown Berkeley BART station, a place where Josh has been known to busk over the years. I hoped to have seen him but he was not there, sadly. 

 

Allen/Cohen/Pino trio music up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/allen-cohen-pino62719sf

With hindsight there may have been some political feathers ruffled by this grouping. It was fun though and challenging and oh how I wish I could play with those two slayers again. 

Update on 1/22 Golden Saguaro show

 Due to illness I will not be performing. I am suffering from a bad and painful flu bug. A tough decision but out of an abundance of caution...

Performing this Wednesday at Golden Saguaro!

 

This Wednesday, 1/22, I will be a participant in an event called Drums Against Fascism. Currently I'm reading Anti-Oedipus by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, a work which posits itself as being one of anti-fascism. Interesting. 

1/22/2025

Golden Saguaro

7PM

Gym Shower

Cullen Chadwick/Mark Pino Duo

Drums Against Fascism open improvisation

$10 NOTAFLOF

There will also be a set from Tucson Marxist band The Working People after this event. I may have to leave early because I have a job that has me arising at 5:20 AM in order to get there on time. They played a live set on KXCI last Sunday and were sounding great. A two-tiered evening of musical community in Tucson!

Spectrum Study 01022025