Ditch Music Series: How Paul Kent Helps Keep Tempe Music Alive
Updated: Oct 6
When we talk about supporting the Arizona music scene, musicians usually get most of the attention.
They write the songs. They haul the gear. They stand on the stage.
But another group is just as essential.
Listeners.
People who buy the ticket, show up at the venue, tip the band, tell their neighbors about a show, and sometimes decide to create an entirely new place for musicians to play.
Our Desert Vibe conversation with Paul Kent was a good reminder of how much influence one dedicated music fan can have.
Paul is not a musician.
He just really likes music.
And when live performances disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped create something that would eventually put more than 100 local acts in front of Tempe audiences.
It started next to an irrigation ditch.
Paul Kent’s View of the Tempe Music Scene
Paul came to Arizona from New Jersey to attend Arizona State University in the 1980s, which placed him in Tempe as the city's live music culture was building momentum.
Anyone who studies Tempe music history eventually runs into the stories from that era and the decades that followed.
Mill Avenue and the surrounding area became home to clubs and stages that helped musicians build audiences night after night. Tempe's live music scene in the 1980s and 1990s eventually produced and supported artists ranging from the Meat Puppets and Gin Blossoms to Dead Hot Workshop, The Refreshments, Walt Richardson, and many others.
But Paul's perspective on that history is a little different from many of the guests we interview.
He was not trying to get booked.
He was watching, listening, and going to shows.
That distinction matters because a music scene cannot survive entirely on musicians performing for other musicians.
Somebody has to be in the audience.
Paul's story shows how a serious listener can eventually become part of the infrastructure that keeps a music community alive.
How COVID Created the Ditch Music Series in Tempe
When COVID shut down live entertainment, musicians suddenly lost much more than a place to perform.
They lost income.
Venues closed or stopped booking.
Calendars disappeared.
Audiences stayed home.
Paul started wondering whether music could be brought directly into the neighborhood instead.
His first thought was almost comically simple: have a musician walk around playing for people.
That idea did not work particularly well in practice.
So they adjusted it.
Maybe the musician could be moved around the neighborhood instead.
Paul and his neighbors began experimenting with performers at different locations, including musicians being transported between neighborhood stops. KJZZ documented the early version of Ditch Music in 2021, when Paul described the concept evolving from a strolling musician into mobile neighborhood concerts.
Eventually, they discovered something even simpler.
Instead of constantly moving the concert, build a place where people know to come.
That place became the ditch.
Why Is It Called Ditch Music?
The name is surprisingly literal.
The performance area sits alongside an old irrigation canal in Tempe.
According to the official Ditch Music Series Tempe site, it is known as George or George's Ditch, a small canal running roughly half a mile. The site describes the adjacent parkway as Tempe's last dirt road.
That unusual setting became part of the charm.
This was not a polished entertainment district or professionally designed concert venue.
It was a neighborhood.
Kids could dance.
Dogs could wander around.
People could bring chairs.
Neighbors who might never decide to walk into a club could suddenly have talented Arizona musicians playing almost in their backyard.
During the original pandemic version, Paul told KJZZ that some audiences listened from their own yards while others gathered at a safe distance around the ditch. He also recognized early that the format could introduce performers to listeners who might never normally see them in a bar.
That last part may be one of the most important pieces of the whole idea.
Supporting Local Musicians Means Paying Them
There is one part of Paul's approach that I especially appreciate as a musician.
From the beginning, he wanted performers to get paid.
It would have been easy during the pandemic to frame the concerts as something musicians should do for "exposure" or simply because everyone needed entertainment.
Paul did not see it that way.
As he told us during the interview, the neighborhood collects money and guarantees the musicians a starting payment. Then they strongly encourage the audience to tip through cash and digital payments.
Paul said the musicians often walk away with considerably more than the guarantee, including larger groups where that additional support makes a meaningful difference.
That philosophy was present from the beginning. In his 2021 KJZZ interview, Paul specifically said it was important to him that musicians were not simply being asked to perform for free.
That is a small idea with big implications.
If we want a healthy local music scene, we cannot continually say we support musicians while expecting their labor to cost nothing.
Applause is great.
So is getting paid.
The Ditch Music Series Became Bigger Than a Pandemic Experiment
What began as a workaround did not disappear when venues reopened.
The official Ditch Music Sessions archive shows performances stretching from the first concerts in 2020 through 2026, with artists including Walt Richardson, Kim Capria, Danielle Durack, Farmer Wilson, Japhy's Descent, Haley Green Band, and many others appearing over the years.
You can explore the series and its performance history through Ditch Music Sessions.
Paul told us the series has now hosted well over 100 acts.
Even more impressive to me is something he mentioned almost in passing: the musicians show up.
When you treat artists professionally, communicate clearly, create a good environment, and make sure they are compensated, they tend to treat the event professionally too.
There is probably a lesson in there for more than neighborhood concerts.
Audience Development Is Part of Building a Music Scene
The Ditch Music model does something else that traditional venues cannot always do.
It creates new listeners.
A person does not need to identify as a "live music person" to wander over and hear a band playing in the neighborhood.
A family does not need to arrange a babysitter.
Kids can see guitars, drums, keyboards, and other instruments being played in front of them instead of only encountering music through a screen.
That matters.
Every music scene worries about where its next generation of musicians will come from.
Sometimes the answer is standing five feet away from the stage dancing while their parents talk to the neighbors.
This is what people in the music business call audience development, but it does not have to be complicated.
Put talented musicians somewhere people can see them.
Pay those musicians.
Make the environment welcoming.
Give people a reason to come back.
From Ditch Music to Park Music Sessions in Tempe
One of the most interesting parts of Paul's story is that he did not stop with the ditch.
He began asking whether the same model could work in public parks.
That required working with the City of Tempe because amplified performances, organized gatherings, and use of public spaces come with rules that a neighborhood backyard concert does not.
The Ditch Music site says Paul began working with the city on a park-based model, eventually helping develop a pilot that led to the first Park Music Session in April 2024. The site reports that the event drew more than 400 people at its peak. The Park Music Sessions were then allowed to continue while the city considered broader updates to its event and park rules.
That process is still evolving.
As of 2026, Tempe has been working on a broader modernization of its parks and special-events codes. Draft proposals include Neighborhood Activation Permits and Park Activation Permits, designed to create simpler options for certain community activities instead of forcing every event through a more complex special-events process.
That distinction is important because good ideas sometimes die in paperwork.
Cities obviously need reasonable rules around safety, noise, alcohol, crowds, and public spaces.
But there should also be a realistic path for a neighborhood that simply wants to put a local band in a park and bring people together.
You can follow the city's current process through Tempe's Special Events and Parks Ordinances page.
Flagstaff Extreme Shows Another Side of Paul Kent
Music is only one part of Paul's community-building story.
He is also the creator and owner of Flagstaff Extreme, an outdoor adventure course in the Ponderosa pines near Flagstaff.
PBS featured Paul and the business back in 2018, describing him as the creator of the treetop adventure course.
Today, Flagstaff Extreme includes five treetop adventure courses with more than 80 obstacles as well as a large zipline course, children's course, and group experiences.
You can learn more at Flagstaff Extreme.
At first glance, climbing around in trees may not have much to do with neighborhood concerts.
But listening to Paul talk about both projects, I noticed the same pattern.
Create an experience.
Make it accessible.
Solve problems as they appear.
Do not assume the first version of the idea has to be the final version.
During the pandemic, Flagstaff Extreme also had to adapt. Paul described reopening after a relatively brief closure with new procedures around distancing, cleaning, capacity, and other precautions.
Ditch Music was born from a different version of the same problem.
Something changed.
So what can we build that still works?
The Best Community Ideas Usually Start Small
There is a tendency to believe that improving a local music scene requires some giant initiative.
Maybe it takes a huge festival.
A new venue.
A massive sponsorship.
A government program.
Those things can certainly help.
But Ditch Music suggests another possibility.
Maybe you start with one musician.
Then you realize the musician cannot realistically walk around the neighborhood.
So you put the musician in a vehicle.
Then you try multiple locations.
Then you discover everybody likes one particular spot near an irrigation ditch.
So you stay there.
Then the pandemic ends, but people still want the concerts.
Then you try parks.
Then you start talking to the city.
Years later, you look back and realize you did not simply put on a few shows.
You built something.
Arizona’s Music Scene Needs People Who Show Up
My biggest takeaway from our conversation with Paul Kent is that you do not have to play an instrument to make a serious contribution to the Arizona music scene.
Musicians need other musicians.
But we also need listeners.
Organizers, neighbors, venue owners, sound engineers, photographers, people who share the event, who throw twenty dollars into the tip jar, bring their kids.
And occasionally, somebody who looks at a dirt road next to an irrigation ditch and thinks:
We could put a band here.
That is how music communities survive.
Not only through talent, but through people deciding that local music is worth making room for.
Paul Kent did exactly that.
And Tempe sounds a little better because of it.
Learn more about Paul's projects through Paul Kent's website and explore past and upcoming neighborhood performances through Ditch Music Sessions.
About the Authors: Emma & James Mattison
James Mattison is an Arizona guitarist, musician, and blog writer for the Desert Vibe Podcast. He is one half of Emma & James Music, a husband-and-wife Arizona music duo performing original music and select covers while helping connect musicians and music communities throughout the state.
Emma Mattison is the other half of Emma & James Music and manages the Desert Vibe website, social media, marketing, promotions, and online distribution. Her work behind the scenes helps Desert Vibe and the Arizona artists, venues, and community members featured on the show reach audiences beyond the podcast itself.
Together, Emma & James use the Desert Vibe Podcast to document Arizona musicians, venues, open mics, opportunities, music history, and the people working behind the scenes to keep Arizona's independent music community alive.
REFERENCES
Ditch Music Sessions. History, performance archive, Park Music Sessions, and development of the neighborhood concert series.
KJZZ. “Ditch Music Rolls Socially Distanced Concerts Into Tempe Neighborhoods.” Interview with Paul Kent about the creation and early development of Ditch Music.
City of Tempe. Special Events and Parks Ordinances, including proposed updates involving neighborhood activation, park activation, and amplified sound.
PBS, Start Up. “Market Climbing,” featuring Paul Kent and the creation of Flagstaff Extreme.
Flagstaff Extreme. Current information about the adventure courses, zip lines, children's course, and group experiences.
Phoenix New Times and Arizona State Press. Historical coverage of Tempe's live music venues and the development of the city's music scene.
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