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Phoenix Acoustic Duo George & Georgia: The Desert Vibe Podcast, and the Hidden Music Scene By James Mattison (Desert Vibe Podcast / Emma & James Music) Some music stories start with a plan. This one started with a moment. A solo guitarist in a Denver bourbon bar. A voice in the crowd that didn’t just sing along—but slid into perfect harmony  like it had been living inside the song the whole time. A spontaneous invitation to step onstage. And suddenly, what looked like a “ran

Eric Ramsey : A Songwriter Beyond Genre Labels in Arizona’s Music Scene By James Mattison (Desert Vibes Podcast • Emma & James Music) Some artists spend a lifetime trying to fit cleanly inside a single genre. And some spend a lifetime doing the more honest work—writing the songs they need to write, even if the result won’t sit neatly on a playlist shelf. That’s the heart of our conversation with Eric Ramsey : a working songwriter whose catalog pulls from blues, folk, and Amer

Laveen Folk Festival: The Free, Family-Friendly Folk Music Festival on a Working Farm Near South Mountain By James Mattison (Desert Vibes Podcast • Emma & James Music) The heart of a great local music scene is rarely found under spotlights. It lives in the unglamorous stuff: parking plans, volunteer spreadsheets, stage maps, and early mornings where somebody’s already been working long before the first chord rings out. That’s exactly the spirit running through the Laveen Folk

The Chill Room Tempe: A Stage Built From a Feeling, Not a Spreadsheet By James Mattison (Emma & James Music), writer for the Desert Vibes Podcast The most powerful music spaces rarely start with a business plan. They start with a feeling—an itch that says, we need a room like this , even if you can’t fully explain why yet. That’s the thread running through our conversation with Sal , the musician-turned-venue-builder behind The Chill Room Tempe , an alcohol-free lounge that h

Arizona’s music scene isn’t just a calendar of shows—it’s a living network that shapes artists, launches careers, and turns small rooms into sacred spaces. In Phoenix, that spirit is easy to feel at The Rebel Lounge , a venue that carries real legacy: it’s housed in the former Mason Jar  building, a historic local stage reborn for a new era of artists. therebellounge.com This is the real takeaway: local stages matter because they’re where courage scales up —where writers stop

A thriving music scene often hides in plain sight—and sometimes it starts with a single storefront. In Cave Creek, Arizona, Black Mountain Guitar Company  has evolved into more than a place to buy gear. It’s become a consistent gathering point where musicians meet, learn, collaborate, and actually show up  for one another. The story, led by owner Ed Heisler , traces a COVID-era pivot into a regional destination that blends quality inventory with something rarer: a real sense

Arizona Live Music Scene: Why Listening Rooms and Open Mics Matter Arizona’s live music scene isn’t built only on big stages. It’s built on listening rooms, open mics, coffeehouse sets, and the people who keep writing songs even when nobody’s watching . That’s the backdrop for a conversation with Cowboy Wrecks —an Arizona native whose work leans Western rather than mainstream country , grounded in folk storytelling and a deep sense of place. In Cowboy Wrecks’ world, the deser