Origin: Tempe, Arizona

Genre: Rock / Blues Rock

Core Members:

• Josh Kennedy — Guitar, Vocals

• Chico Diaz — Drums

• Brandon Kuntz — Bass

On this episode of Arizona Backroads, Birdman sits down with Arizona rock powerhouse The Black Moods to talk about how it really starts.

Before the tours.

Before the big stages.

Before opening for national acts.

It was four-hour bar gigs.

Moving pool tables out of the way.

Playing to eight people at the Yucca Tap Room.

Josh, Chico, and Brandon break down:

🎸 How the band name "The Black Moods" came from a shared obsession with The Doors and rock biographies

🥁 The first chaotic gigs that were "train wreck after train wreck"

🚐 Getting thrown into booked shows with no safety net

🎤 Why playing to tiny crowds was essential to building real stage chops

🛣️ Road etiquette — what separates seasoned touring bands from rookies

🔥 The moment they went all-in on music

They talk about inheritance money funding the leap, grinding through early gigs, surviving COVID by gigging harder than ever, and why you can't learn stage presence sitting in your bedroom studio.

This is the part of the music story people don't glamorize — but it's the part that builds you.

Arizona Backroads — Get out and explore.

On this episode of Arizona Backroads, Birdman walks into Roosters Country and discovers a band on the brink of something bigger.

Meet Lacy Rashea and her band.

By weekday, Lacy and Shane strip it down to acoustic — what she calls "paid practice" — tightening harmonies, testing songs, and building chemistry. By weekend, it's a full five-piece country-rock show that brings the rowdy.

Lacy shares:

🎤 Growing up with a country-singer dad who opened for Tim McGraw

🎸 Picking up guitar at 12 but choosing songwriting over theory

🔥 Winning Best Female Artist & Best Upcoming Artist at the ACDMA Awards

🛣️ Touring regionally and nationally

🌵 Why Arizona built her — but Nashville is calling

They talk about:

• The energy exchange between performer and crowd

• Why acoustic shows are more vulnerable than full-band sets

• How open mics create real chemistry

• Overthinking as a musician

• The grind of bar gigs vs. the rush of festival stages

And the big announcement:

Lacy Rashea is making the move to Nashville.

Not because Arizona isn't enough —

but because growth requires discomfort.

Also coming up: opening for Diamond Rio, Jo Dee Messina, and performing at the Chandler Ostrich Festival.

This is the grind before the breakout.

Arizona Backroads — Get out and explore.

On this episode of Arizona Backroads, Birdman is back at the Grand Vista Lounge inside the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort, sitting down with Arizona blues powerhouse JC & The Juke Rockers.

Frontman John Chavez (JC) shares how a $12 Stella guitar at age 12 launched a lifelong journey from classic rock roots to full-time blues musician. Alongside bassist and longtime collaborator Rob DeVries and Chicago-raised drummer Matt Indies, the trio breaks down what keeps live music alive in Arizona.

You'll hear about:

🎸 From high school choir to 20+ years of band chemistry

🥁 Basement drum practice that brought the Chicago police knocking

🎤 Why the audience is the "fourth member" of the band

🎶 The DJ phase — and why live bands are roaring back

🔥 Blues as the foundation, with rock, R&B, and old-school country in the mix

💿 Their 13-track original album All About the Blues

Plus, Birdman captures one of those pure Arizona moments — little kids dancing on the balcony during sunset, maybe experiencing their first live band ever.

No tracks.

No AI.

No substitutes.

Just musicians, instruments, and energy.

Arizona Backroads — Get out and explore.