About Me
The sun is a relentless constant in the town of Tucson, AZ. How you face it every day probably depends on the day itself; it can be the harsh white too-bright sun that reaches into every corner that you rather it didn't touch. Or it can be the warm golden glow that gilds the edges of everything it touches. Musicians that live there get to put all those days into perspective for others; but ironically probably do their best work away from the unrelenting sun, in the cool dark of rehearsal spaces, studios, clubs. And a great deal of the music reflects this shadowy existence. But sometimes those beams escape, and light up a place in a completely new way.Stepping out of the shadows and into the light, Sand Rubies' David Slutes reveals a different, but not unfamiliar facet of his personality with Maryanne, a project he generated with fellow Tucson musician, guitarist Robin Johnson (Pills/Gentlemen After Dark, Brilliant Fools). They initially struck up conversations about writing together when the Rubies had breathed their apparent last, and Robin had experienced an ill-fated attempt to form a band with ex-Gin Blossoms' already personally troubled guitarist Doug Hopkins, who committed suicide shortly after the new band had gotten underway. Slutes reminisces that their singular goal was deceptively simple; "We wanted to make a great pop record...little could we foresee the trials and tribulations that we'd endure trying to do something as innocent as making a pop record."David and Robin picked up their respective pieces and started writing in earnest shortly after that, and the relationship grew into finished material and live shows. David's exuberant (minus the snarl, this time around) vocals allow an occasional gentler, even wistful side to appear, and when juxtaposed against Robin's nimble, fuzzed-out pumped-up guitar style, proved out to be a synergistic combination. Slutes and Johnson were joined by other Tucson notables, bassist Kelly Burd (from the popular punk/rockabilly act Train of Thought), and at first by drummer Derrick David, and then Dylan (Bob, that is) drummer Winston Watson, and also had guitarist Larry Vance in the lineup for a time. In 1995 they started recording what was to become the crystal in their magic wand.The material that became the album, now titled "Your First Your Last Your Everything", got its workout when the band was calling themselves Ginger (short-lived; a major label act already had the name). They changed their name to Maryanne early in 1996, and had a knockout spring and summer that year. It was a banner year for Tucson bands at SXSW; Maryanne was among them. There were gigs at Club Congress with The Verve Pipe, the Idlewilds and Phantom Limbs. An early version of "Horoscope" landed on the Tammies (Tucson Area Music Awards) compilation, and "Wretched Song" was on the Wooden Ball compilation for the event that year ("Wood for Rainer"). That led to a series of benefits to help the late Rainer Ptacek, who was at that time still alive and in remission from his lymphoma. Maryanne, Paula Jean Brown (who sang with David on one song on the record) and tons of other local bands participated in the "Rock for Rainer" series.Maryanne as a full-on band faded into the background when the Sand Rubies were revived, which included Robin playing bass with them live, and on some of the tracks of the Rubies' last studio album, "Return Of The Living Dead". But the spell of Maryanne is alive and well with the pop bliss of "Your First Your Last Your Everything", so don't relegate them to a footnote in Tucson's music scene just yet. Given the inclinations and the fluid nature of these bands and the artists, you never know what might spring up anew.© 2006 Contingency. Unauthorized use is a violation of applicable laws.
