SALT LAKE CITY — To those from Tempe, Arizona, it was known as the Mill Avenue music scene. But critics were calling it “the next Seattle.”
In the early 1990s, Seattle and grunge made a historic impact on the music world with bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains.
But about 1,500 miles south of Seattle, a new music scene was starting to make waves about the same time.
Mill Avenue is a road that runs along the campus of Arizona State University. In the early to mid-1990s, it was also where many up-and-coming bands could be found playing in a small club on any night of the week. In 1992, one of those bands, the Gin Blossoms, became a staple on college radio with their hit “Hey Jealousy." That was followed in 1996 by the irreverent frat-boy guitar rock of The Refreshments and their song “Banditos” and the album Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy.
The Refreshments were led by singer-songwriter and ASU student Roger Clyne and drummer PH Naffah. Despite their rocket-like rise in popularity, by their second album the band was struggling with a loss of support from their record label as well as inner band turmoil, resulting in their breakup by 1998.
Facing the real possibility that they’d have to get day jobs for the first time in a decade, Clyne and Naffah took a trip to the Clyne family ranch — a working cattle ranch located south of Tucson — to regroup. They ended up writing, recording and releasing what would become the debut album for Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, Honky Tonk Union.
This year, Honky Tonk Union turns 20, and Clyne has firmly established himself as a legend in the Arizona music scene. On Saturday, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers return to The State Room for the second time in 2019. Their first concert in April sold out long before the day of the show.
In July, RCPM (as they are known to fans) were inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Alice Cooper, Stevie Nicks, Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt, Waylon Jennings and Nils Lofgren. But for Clyne, it was more than just a celebration of what Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have accomplished. It was a celebration of the entire Mill Avenue scene. Others inducted that night included The Pistoleros, Dead Hot Workshop, Fender guitar, Bob Meighan, and possibly the most famous of those Mill Avenue clubs, Long Wong’s.
Clyne uses words such as “amazing” and “euphoric” to describe the feelings he had on stage that night, sharing it with those who have all practiced together or played in or with each other’s bands at one time or another over the past 25 years (one of the earliest lineups of the Peacemakers included members of The Refreshments, Gin Blossoms and Dead Hot Workshop).
“I was immersed in the magic that was the late ‘90s that was Tempe. I felt that spell again,” Clyne told the Deseret News. “It felt like a time and a place and an era that was inducted.”
When asked whether he thinks The Refreshments deserve their own spot in the AZ HOF, Clyne simply said, “I do. We’ll see what the board has to say.”
In addition to the Mill Avenue scene, Clyne is also reflecting a lot this year on RCPM’s debut album. When Clyne and Naffah released Honky Tonk Union, it was without the backing of a major record label. The result? It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Internet Sales Chart. Suddenly, Clyne and Naffah were getting calls from record executives asking, “Who are you?”
The success of Honky Tonk Union allowed Clyne to continue his career as a full-time musician, and proved that success could be reached without the backing of major record label. To this day, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have achieved all of their success on their own independent record label.
“We wrote in total freedom,” Clyne recalls of the making of Honky Tonk Union. “That was the whole point. We weren’t writing for chart position or radio spins. It was risky. But (Honky Tonk Union) was the perfect Declaration of Independence for us.”
Since their 1999 debut album, RCPM have gone on to release seven more full-length studio albums. Their second album, Sonoran Hope and Madness, reached No. 3 on the Billboard Internet Sales Chart, while their third album, Americano!, also reached No. 1.
With the success of so many albums, including those with The Refreshments (which still make up about half of RCPM’s set list each night), Clyne now finds himself in a coveted position of having many of his beloved albums reach milestone years. This year, Clyne is celebrating 20 years of Honky Tonk Union at his shows. A few years ago, he celebrated The Refreshments’ debut album by playing it in its entirety at every show.
“I love to celebrate the longevity and the accomplishment of still being an active artist, decades after we issued an album,” he said of the album anniversary tours. “But I also don’t want to rest on those laurels. It’s important to me as a writer, that I write.”
Clyne and Naffah have about six demos finished for a new album that Clyne said he’ll revisit once he is done with a busy touring year (“Road life and writing are not compatible,” he said).
And unlike past albums, Clyne said he has not set a deadline for himself to get a new album out. In years past, he said, the band has forced a timeline, which has resulted in missed opportunities in working with certain producers. This go-around, Clyne said he wants to wait for opportunities to work with the right people rather than meeting the expectations of a strict deadline.
As for what he has yet to accomplish in his career, Clyne — who met Steve Earle for the first time on Thursday — said he would like to start collaborating more with his contemporaries and people he looks up to. (RCPM released an outstanding cover of Earle’s “I Feel Alight” on their Real to Reel album, the live complement of Honky Tonk Union). Clyne mentioned Earle and Lucinda Williams specifically as people he’d love to write and record with.
“I’m finally at a point of confidence I could share my mistakes,” said Clyne.
If you go ...
What: Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers
When: Saturday, Aug. 10, doors at 8 p.m., show at 9 p.m.
Where: The State Room, 638 State Street
How much: $22