Benson Highway Band, Slow Body Beer Tucson 5/1/26

 

The apparent color coordination was not by design. Was the music reflective of this subconscious group choice in apparel? Perhaps. 

Photo by Chanelle Flori.

Benson Highway Band plays this Friday in Tucson!

 

Friday, 5/1

Slow Body Beer

31 E 17thSt.

Tucson 85719

7PM

Chick Blundy & the Tryin' Times

Sean Whalen & the Benson Highway Band

Free! 

This will be our last show for a while.

Benson Highway Band at Music Box Lounge in Tucson!

 

 

The mural on the side of their building though! Dope! Sean Whalen & the Benson Highway Band had a real fine time playing at the Music Box Lounge last night! New guitar player Evan fits right in. Our energy may have been a bit manic, but some people cheered and we are really grateful for that. Tons of fun on the East Side!

Below: still from an Instagram reel. Evan and Mark getting down on Rust Belt Rich, shot by Zaida. 

Below: Benson Highway Band rocking out mid set.

 

Benson Highway Band is going to be playing again real soon.

Benson Highway Band plays this Friday night in Tucson!

 

Free show at The Music Box Lounge! 

6951 E 22nd St.

7PM

Bear Down Bear

Alex Wilkerson & Them

Sean Whalen & The Benson Highway Band

Benson Highway Band will be debuted with our new guitar player Evan.

Zenzizenzo live audio up at Archive.org!

 

 

https://archive.org/details/zenzizenzo-4-17-26-miami-az-20260418-000628

 Submitted for some kind of audience somewhere.

Zenzizenzo-Miami AZ, 4/17/26

 

It seems safe to state that Zenzizenzo had a great time playing at Miami Loco Fest in Miami last Friday evening. It's always fun to drive over to that area from Tucson. The saguaro are noticeably older along the highway and Miami is kind of freak haven, at least it is in its small downtown area. I was happy to see that the twin towns are recovering from last year's terrible flood which destroyed a ton of property. They've dug out and just kept going. Zenzizenzo got to play our first gig as a Rock-based band, and we play we did, about forty minutes of electric guitar/drums instrumental sounds. I play from charts that Nathan prints out. Don't know how he plays all of the changes from memory, but he does, and pretty much without flaw. There weren't tons of people out there on Friday evening, but some people expressed appreciation for our music and we gave away a lot of stickers. After we played we hung around and watched the other bands of the evening at various Miami Loco Fest performance spots. Super stoked to have participated. Many thanks to Lob for hooking it up!

Below: drums and pedals. I put a hand painted bass drum resonator head, painted by visual artist Ilan Laks in 1999, onto my bass drum. 

Above: Nathan tuning up.

Below: Zenzizenzo dudes post set serious. Good thing we didn't get pulled over, Nathan's MDC shirt could have been a problem.

 It's our hope to get some shows happening in Tucson at some point in the near future.

Zenzizenzo plays this Friday evening in Miami, AZQ

 

We are one of the acts playing the 2026 Miami Loco Art & Music Festival this Friday, 4/17! Zenzizenzo will play at the Sullivan Street Stage at 6:30 PM sharp! Our first show in two years and our presentation will be very different. Looking forward to debuting our next sound evolution for some folks in Miami!

A couple of Shards tracks up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/02-the-one-drop

My drumming is kind of wonky at times, but George's guitar is fire and this duo project was good fun and kind of creative I think. Fun times at the end of a certain cycle.

Cosmists piece from 2011 up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/awash-in-mercury

One track from a Bandcamp release. I'm not sure that anyone besides me ever listened to this track, recorded fifteen years ago in the garage of an Oakland apartment building. I thought that we were making the music of "the future" but the future wasn't that interested. 

A couple stills of Jazzner Dumpster Fire at Golden Saguaro!

 

 

A fun, weird show. We played in the middle slot. I basically had one ring modulator working so I just used it for the entire set. Cullen played percussion and an electric drill. Films were made by us, too. Thanks to Tea Wizard for coming to the show and taking these shorts that were posted on Instagram. More good times in Tucson!

Performing this Wednesday evening at Golden Saguaro!

 

I will be adding sound to a short film this Wednesday at Golden Saguaro in Tucson!

The project is called Jazzner Dumpster Fire and we will be playing along to films that we've made. I will be utilizing ring modulators and not much else. There will also be percussion in our sound set up. 

Wed. 3/25/26

Golden Saguaro 

609 E 6th St. 

Tuscon 85705

Alea Jade

Jazzner Dumpster Fire

Whistler's Mother

Doors at 7 PM music at 7:30 PM

$

NOTAFLOF 

Footage of Benson Highway Band with Hayboy up at YouTube!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqygYb0e_T0

Recorded in January of this year in Los Angeles. Hayboy songs are fun to play!

One photo from Benson Highway Band show at Slow Body Beer!

 

...and it's not even of the band! We played a very short set on account of a strict time restriction for live performance at Slow Body. My usual sources were not able to get any shots of us. Cool set, too, as we played a few newly written songs. Maybe a few gaffs, but fun none the less. This is the most lovely time of year in Tucson, and it was great to be outdoors playing music in the evening.

Benson Highway Band plays this Thursday!

 

We'll be bringing our sounds to Slow Body Beer this Thursday! We will play at 7:30 or so! 

Slow Body

3/19/26

7PM

831 E 17th St., 85719

No cover

 

Cloud Shepherd live in Santa Cruz audio up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/cs-mp-at-f-kulpa-sc

If memory serves correctly we all drove over to Santa Cruz on Route 17 together. 

More Crow Crash Radio sounds up at Archive.org!

 

 

https://archive.org/details/ccrunknown

 I have no idea when or where this Crow Crash Radio set was recorded. The first three minutes or so feature me pontificating about Elvis which I will not deny doing and if you don't like that well that's alright mama. 

A shot of the Benson Highway Band playing at 191 Toole in Tucson!

 

Well two actually. Quite a treat to play on that big stage that 191 Toole has. Thanks to Michael of The Working People for taking and sharing the full band shot to me!

Benson Highway Band play this Friday in Tucson!

 

We will be opening for Vandonliers at 191 Toole on Friday! 

Fri. 2/27/26

191 Toole

191 E Toole Ave.

Tucson 85701

Doors at 7PM show at 8PM sharp. 

Tix are kind of expensive which makes me hope that some Vandoliers fans will get to the venue early enough to see Benson Highway Band play. Guess we'll find out on Friday evening.

Live ebolabuddha tracks up at Archive.org!

 

 

https://archive.org/details/01-purge-the-snakes

Recorded live at Oakland's venerable Stork Club. ebolabuddha is playing again apparently. Perhaps someday they'll travel to Arizona or perhaps I'll find myself visiting California at a time when they're playing. 

Some video up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/img-0172-1

Recorded on iPhone inside of the garage of the apartment that I lived in, Oakland CA 2011 or '12. This may have been uploaded to YouTube at the time. The apartment was tiny but the neighborhood was sweet. I hosted Cosmists and Crow Crash Radio practices there a lot. 

More Failure Cock audio up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/failure-cock-live-at-godwaffle-3-12-16

Ok, so I fibbed a bit about posting Failure Cock sounds up at the Archive. Was listening to some of our clips the other day, and, well.......

New Crow Crash Radio audio up at Archive.org!

 

https://archive.org/details/crow-crash-radio-oakland-8-12-18

Crow Crash Radio playing for friends and family at a house party in Oakland, 2018. A real fun party and I think that comes across in the sound. Fine memories of fond times.

A couple of shots of the Benson Highway Band last weekend!

 

Top photo from Time Out Lounge in Tempe. There were some people in the bar, not too many, and it felt to me as if they were not really interested in our music for the most part. I recorded this set and it shows the band's dipping into new textures through Sean Whalen's pedal board. An exciting development. The bottom shot is at Che's Lounge in Tucson. It looks as though there are no people but we did have some kind of an audience to play to. The night air was pretty cold by the time that we played but I think that we played well. 

Absolutely fun to share a bill with Barefoot on Bumblebees. Stryker and Gianna are true independent music producers and it's flattering to be involved with them in any way. They are the good guys if you get my drift. Terlingua do all of the Rock Star stuff that I never really evinced (not capable) or understood but that's their way I guess. 

A fun couple of shows, albeit somewhat manic for me by the time that they were concluded. I'm alright though.

Two Benson Highway Band shows this weekend!

 

Fri., 1/16/26

Che's Lounge

350 N 4th Ave.

Tucson 85705

Barefoot on Bumblebees

Sean Whalen and the Benson Highway Band

Terlingua

9PM

Free

Sat., 1/17/26

Time Out Lounge

3129 S Mill Ave.

Tempe 85282

Barefoot on Bumblebees

Sean Whalen and the Benson Highway Band

Terlingua

Free

Warmer weather coming into Arizona, go out and experience some live music! 

A couple of shots of Benson Highway Band playing at the Smell in downtown Los Angeles.

 

 

This morning I find myself back in Tucson after playing two shows in Los Angeles. As mentioned, we played at the Smell in downtown and at the Harvard Yard Bar right outside of Korea Town. The former is really wonderful and we had a fine time playing. The latter is a very strange place that could do better in regards to their treatment of people but it was clear that that sort of thing doesn't really matter to their owner and staff. So yeah fuck the Harvard Yard Bar. As always it was great fun to play the music of the Benson Highway Band! Thanks to Danny for taking these photos and sharing them with me! Los Angeles is a total trip and pretty bonkers! 

Below: a shot from Baldwin Hills Park after a really nice hike to its topmost point. 

Benson Highway Band in Los Angeles this week! Plus a bonus set as a backing band!

 

 

Wed. 1/7/26

The Smell 

247 Main St.

Los Angeles 90012

8PM

Terlingua

Buddzerro

Sean Whalen & the Benson Highway Band

$15 at door

Fri. 1/9/26

Harvard Yard Bar

1400 S Western Ave.

Los Angeles 90006

8PM

Terlingua

Spencer Someday

Sean Whalen & the Benson Highway Band

Hayboy 

$10

Benson Highway Band will be backing Hayboy

 

Looking forward to playing some music in Los Angeles!