Book Updates
Current Status of the Volumes
The Death of Local Music — Volume I
Volume I is published and available now. It establishes the foundation of the archive and the early Arizona music history that led into the later volumes.
Published · Available NowArizona Legacy Bands
Volume II is the active working manuscript. Interviews, firsthand histories, archive finds, corrected timelines and band connections are still being integrated before the book is closed.
Active Manuscript · In DevelopmentArizona Music 2000–2009
Volume III follows the first digital decade: websites, MySpace, changing venues, the decline of CDs, new recording methods, touring changes and the bands that carried Arizona music into the 2000s.
Research & History BuildingArizona Music 2010 to the Present
Volume IV is preserving the streaming and social-media era, including DIY recording, changing promotion, smartphones, venue shifts, pandemic disruption and the modern Arizona scene.
Archive & Research StageThose We Have Lost
Volume V is the memorial volume, preserving the stories, work and memories of musicians, scene builders, friends and familiar faces who are no longer with us.
Memorial Histories Being GatheredArizona Blues
Volume VI is now an active research archive tracing Phoenix blues history from early South Phoenix ballrooms and R&B roots through Small Paul Hamilton, Drivin' Wheel, Char's, the Rhythm Room and later generations.
Research Archive OpenWhat Is Happening Right Now
Volume II Continues to Grow
New firsthand history, musician spotlights, archive evidence and corrected timelines continue to be added to the Arizona Legacy Bands manuscript before the volume is finalized.
The Arizona Music History Archive Is Becoming a Full Research Site
The website now includes dedicated volume pages, Band Profiles, the Interviews Archive, Archive Finds and Corrections & Updates, creating a public research doorway without giving away the complete books.
Arizona Blues History Has Been Opened
Research for Volume VI has already pushed the archive farther back in Phoenix history, including early South Phoenix venues, blues and R&B performance history, Small Paul Hamilton and the Drivin' Wheel lineage.
Interviews and Timeline Reconstruction Continue
Some histories are complete enough for public profiles, while others remain open because surviving flyers, cassettes, photographs and firsthand recollections are still being compared.
How These Volumes Are Being Built
The books are not being assembled from internet summaries alone. They are being built from firsthand interviews, personal memory, surviving recordings, original cassettes, photographs, flyers, magazine clippings, newspaper material, passes, letters and other pieces of evidence.
When a date changes or a musician corrects a name, the working history changes with it. When memories conflict, the disagreement is preserved until stronger evidence appears. That process takes longer, but it gives the finished books something far more valuable than a clean-looking story: a documented one.
The Website Is the Doorway. The Books Hold the Complete History.
The website shows progress, selected stories, important archive discoveries and enough historical context to demonstrate why these people and bands matter. It is not intended to replace the books.
What the Books Keep
Complete interviews, deeper chronology, full stories, longer band histories, disputed memories, additional photographs, complete archival evidence and the connections between generations that only become visible when the entire story is assembled.
Keep Up With the Archive
New profiles, research discoveries, corrections and book progress will continue to appear across the site as the archive grows.