AZ Chicks With Picks: Misc...

In addition to being a talented musician with an unforgettably great voice, Rhonda Hitchcock has a tremendous, inventive idea for Arizona music! Az Chicks With Picks is awesome, and it's happening at lightning speed! Check out their blog for all the details.

Rhonda, Pandy Raye and others affiliated with AZ Chicks With Picks and the AZ Songwriters Association brought their wonderful energy and inspiration to the AZ Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame Sept 2007 Induction Ceremony. Knowing what these folks are capable of, there is no doubt this will be a great success.

The AZ Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is very proud to have representatives of "AZ Chicks With Picks" on our Advisory Board. We will be there on March 2nd to support this great event. Everyone will have an opportunity to purchase the VERY cool limited edition 2007 AZ Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony t-shirts that Rhonda Hitchcock designed (her talents as an artist are something to behold too!) They're going fast and are sure to be collector's items.

There's a terrific line up of Arizona gals who are providing music entertainment for the March 2nd, 2008 AZ Chicks With Picks event. Arizona needs to get out there and see what AZ Chicks With Picks has to offer.

Being a native Arizona gal involved in music since I was a kid, without a doubt AZ Chicks With Picks is an event that will go down in our music history as pivotal for Arizona women in music. It's going to be one of the most important and unusual independent music events to happen here in decades.

Be there. Be part of Arizona music history or you're bound to say "How could I have missed that?!"

Mariah Fleming
Board of Directors
AZ Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame

GET IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR...THE CHICKS ARE COMING!
As you may or may not know...Every Tuesday night we feature a different woman in music. AZ Chicks With Picks is fast becoming a hot new platform! Every week we have a different artist...different ages, different genres. Check out who will be there this week! Come support Live Music!

March 2, 2008...We are holding our outdoor AZ Chicks with Picks Muse-ic Festival, featuring all the chicks we've had thus far and some surprise guests!

Mark your calendar and be there! We are rsvp'ing our friends...so make sure you let us know you are going to be there...You will be put into a drawing for free merchandise and we will put you on our VIP list. Check out our myspace or our website for more info and simply shoot us an email with your name and your guests names to RSVP ~ myspace.com/azchickswithpicks or www.azchickswithpicks.com.

We are currently looking for those that want to get in on the ground floor. Volunteers, Sponsors and Donations (monetarily or items), etc...

If you want to be a sponsor....it's easy....we are asking for a minimum fee of $100 to be on our print advertising, posters, flyers and/or website. If you yourself want to be a sponsor or if you know someone...just contact us for more detailed information via our myspace or website!

Thanks and Keep Rockin.

Biography
Sistah Blue comprises of 5 female musicians who reach audiences of all ages. Music ranges from blues to soul featuring covers along with a strong original repertoire. The band members do not claim to be blues purists but you can feel the raw evergy of the blues in their music. Audience members often come to see the band initially because of its all-female composition. However, Sistah Blue's great showmanship and music has won the band multiple awards and an ever growing crowd of loyal fans around the world. Influences include classic funk and soul, such as James Brown & Aretha, gospel to blues like Freddy King, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Etta James, Elmore James, War, as well as Bob Dylan and the Beatles.

KACEY JONES

Audiences have been laughing with Kacey Jones for decades. She's been laughed at outside the Nashville city limits by the likes of People Magazine, USA Today, Billboard, GAC Television, Entertainment Tonight, and on National Public Radio as Garrison Keillor's guest on "A Prairie Home Companion." With KACEY JONES there's a lot to laugh about.

Her latest project is the soundtrack to the play, "Nipples to the Wind" written by playwright, Paula Coco, and currently touring nationally. As Music Supervisor for the original soundtrack, Kacey contributed fifteen of the nineteen tracks on the CD. A follow-up to her last project, "Every Man I Love is Either Married, Gay, or Dead…LIVE!" her newest creation is stacked with comedy appeal and establishes the vocal talent, and genius, caught in the grooves.

In the hard work-a-day world of carving a national name as one of the brightest new musical humorists to break through in recent years, Kacey Jones is used to breaking the mold. Singer, songwriter, musician, producer, publisher---all distinct descriptions that fit only one unique piece of this puzzle. When completely assembled, the one that emerges is one of a delightful, born and bred in the San Francisco Bay Area, madcap redhead who sees the world at large with laser perception and a funny tilt. She can also render a ballad that'll bring tears to your eyes. Witness, "Kacey Jones Sings Mickey Newbury." Released in 2006, this critically acclaimed masterpiece was eligible in five categories in the 2007 for a Grammy nomination. There's nary a titter of laughter on this collection of beautiful and tragic Newbury songs but, it reaches into the places that run deep.
Kacey even enlisted Newbury’s close friend, Kris Kristofferson, to perform a cameo part in her music video “San Francisco Mabel Joy.”

"I'm a singer-songwriter-musician first," says Jones. “I don't consider myself a stand-up comedienne but I enjoy making people laugh…more in the tradition of musical humorists such as Roger Miller, Mae West, and Tom Lehrer. I also enjoy a good ballad…that's why I recorded the tribute to Newbury. I love to see people laughing so hard at my funny songs that tears run down their cheeks. I also love to see their eyes well up when I sing a ballad that reminds them of someone or something they've lost. Tears of laughter, tears of sorrow...they're all good. They let us know we're alive.”
If it all seems off the wall, it's totally sane in the world of Kacey Jones. Hers was, after all, the brilliant mind that conceived one of Nashville's most unique and revered cult groups, the all-girl group, "Ethel and The Shameless Hussies," who broke above the waves in the late 80's to mainstream nominations as "Comedy Act of the Year" on MCA Records. As lead singer and lead comedy writer, Kacey put the Shameless Hussies on America's national radar.

In 1997 Kacey signed with Curb Records and recorded one of the few original music and comedy albums ever released by a female artist in Nashville. "Men Are Some of My Favorite People," considered a classic by collectors, yielded two music videos, "1-900-Bubba" and "I Hate Your Lousy, Rotten, Stinkin' Guts But, I'm Not Bitter."

Further proving that her talents could produce more than just a few good laughs, Kacey entered the studio with legendary cult artist, Kinky Friedman, only to emerge as the producer of his critically acclaimed project, "Pearls in the Snow." Featuring Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Tom Waits, Lyle Lovett, Delbert McClinton and others, the album reached the # 1 spot on the Americana radio chart in 1999. In 2000 Kacey and Delbert recorded a duet titled, "You're The Reason Our Kids are Ugly." The single stayed at the top of the European country chart for nine weeks.

Movies were next to fall under her spell. Kacey contributed three original songs to the soundtrack of the multi-award-winning cult film, "Sordid Lives" starring Beau Bridges, Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke, and Leslie Jordan. Could Broadway be next? "I would love to see "Nipples To The Wind" make it to Broadway" states Kacey. "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play!"

Along with her other ‘responsibilities’ Kacey is the “Official Songstress of The Sweet Potato Queens” an organization with 75,000 members worldwide, born out of five best-selling Sweet Potato Queen books (Random House). She is also a favorite or the “Red Hats” and has been the featured performer at several of their regional events, including the forthcoming Arizona Red Hat Convention, March 1, 2008 in Phoenix.

www.KaceyJones.com

‘Chicks With Picks’ starting to click
Performers bring own large crowds
By Curtis Riggs
CAVE CREEK – The Arizona Chicks With Picks concert series has shown there are many fans of the female musicians series promoters were trying to showcase in an attempt to tie the Valley music scene together.
The Standing Room Only concert crowds Cave Creek’s own singing/songwriting sensation Daisy Mallory and Prescott singer Susie Hopman attracted to the Buffalo Chip recently shows the series has become more successful than Chicks With Picks founders Pandy Raye and Rhonda Hitchcock ever expected.
Hitchcock says the concert series is “bringing a new light” to the Buffalo Chip.
“It’s amazing how all of these girls are coming out of the woodwork. Everybody has a fan base and they bring them when they come,” Hitchcock said about the large crowds at the Chip on any given Tuesday night.
“Many people are now wanting to be a part of it and that’s exactly what we wanted.” Raye is pleasantly surprised about how the concert series has been received.
“I knew all that talent was out there,” she said. Some fans already knew how good some of the Chicks With Picks musicians are. “The crowds are absolutely indicative of the talent that is out there.” Chicks With Picks concerts are held at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the Buffalo Chip. The individual Chick With Picks series will culminate in a March 2 concert that will include many more female musicians. It will be held in the Wagon Camp behind the Buffalo Chip.
Tempe singer/songwriter Laura Sawosko performed this week. Next Tuesday, (Dec. 11), Rondavous lead signer Amy Magnussen will take the stage.
She will be followed by Jeordie on Dec. 18. A Chicks With Picks open mike event will be held at the Chip from 4 to 7 p.m. on Christmas Day.
Buffalo Chip owner Larry Wendt let Raye and Hitchcock “girl up” his Buffalo Chip since the concert series has become successful. Raye refers to the tapestry and candles around where the musicians perform as their “own little girl spot.”

Chicks With Picks to be showcased in concert series
Tuesdays at the Buffalo Chip
By Curtis Riggs

CAVE CREEK – Arizona women in music will be taking center stage at the Buffalo Chip in coming weeks as the Arizona Chicks With Picks concert series gets underway.
The idea to showcase the role of women musicians in the Valley and throughout the state came when Rondavous founder Pandy Raye and Help Me Rhonda’s Rhonda Hitchcock got together to see how they could highlight the role of women in music locally.
“It will be great to have a venue that showcases all women,” said Hitchcock, who kicked off the all-women’s Tuesday night series a couple of weeks ago. “I can’t wait to see it grow.” A different Arizona female musician will perform at the Chip beginning at 7 p.m. each Tuesday. Cave Creek’s own Daisy Mallory took the stage this week before Raye and Rondavous’ Joe Swafford closed out the night with their acoustic performance.
Twenty female Arizona singers and players will perform before a March 2 concert that will feature all of the women.
This concert will be held in the Wagon Camp behind the Buffalo Chip. An even larger reunion concert is being planned for the fall.
“Someone needed to feature all of this talent,” Raye said about why she is involved with the concert series. “There needs to be a showcase for these women.
People need to know they are out there.” Hitchcock is happy to be involved in the series because she sees many talented female musicians and wants to help further their careers.
Mikelle Leigh will perform next week on Tuesday, Nov. 20 and Susie Hopman will follow on Nov. 27.
Laura Sawosko will be the first performer in the series in December when she takes the stage on Dec. 4. Rondavous lead singer Amy Magnussen will perform on Dec. 11. Jeordie will follow on Dec. 18.
To learn more about the concert series visit the website azchickswithpicks.com.