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James Band: Tiny Desert Concert

By Steve Goldstein, Kaely Monahan
Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2019 - 11:05am
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020 - 1:47pm

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It’s time now for a Tiny Desert Concert. It’s a series where we bring local Arizona bands and musicians into the KJZZ studios to play a couple of songs and talk about their music.

Loud, raw, and full of layered emotion, the Phoenix-based, indie-rock band reveals a deeper side to their explosive live performances.  Lead singer and songwriter, Michael Madrid grew up listening to and sometimes playing in Church bands. Some of their earliest music memories are of them sitting on a church pew listening to their family and friends practice that week’s musical liturgy.

While, they are no longer a church goer, the “spirituality” of music has never left them. And that intimate emotion finds expression in joyous punk-like choruses and fervid physical performances.

The Show asked Madrid about their view of performing and how important it is to pour their whole self into a performance in such an explosive, physically demanding way.

You can hear more of James Band’s music on their Bandcamp page.

James Band
Alexa Tarriba
James Band.

This performance was filmed at KJZZ's youth media center, SPOT 127.

If you’re in a band or know of one you’d like to hear on air, send us a note at [email protected].

Hear More Tiny Desert Concerts

The ShowTiny Desert Concert Video