In his new line of handmade postcards, Tucson cowpunk purveyor Al Perry paints saguaros bright green with black slash marks for thorns.
The cacti frame two-lane roads leading to Circle K stores with crudely sketched humped-back cars neatly lining the roadways.
Every hand-painted postcard is a variation of that theme - the ideal of what largely defines Perry's Southwest: cars and traffic, cacti and Circle K, that behemoth convenience store on every other street corner throughout Arizona.
"All I wanted to do is create something original, something different, something fun," Perry explained of the postcards, which he will display Saturday at Ancient Radio Records/ Gallery in an event that Perry describes as "stupid fun."
"It's going to be so stupid. Stupid is the key word. We're making them look like works of art, framed and matted. We're making them look like they are real works of art, and the thing is I can't paint. I suck," he confessed. "But the thing is I have ideas."
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"Perry's Postcards" is part art show, part impromptu concert in a space adjacent to Jeff Bursey's 4-month-old Ancient Radio Records. The evening will include musicians creating art or stretching their imaginations by playing instruments they don't normally play and poets penning new works five minutes before they take to the stage to recite them. And all around the space, Perry's little watercolor postcards will be offered for sale for $20, frame included.
"This isn't about making money," Perry says wryly, noting that the price tag barely covers the cost of production. "We just want to make a fun event. We want everyone to get together and have a good time."
"I love the postcards," says Ancient Radio's Bursey. "They are super him, super Al. They are full of cynicism and cultural awareness. They are aware of the leaky boat that we are in right now. His observations are so acute and yet so (Ted) DeGrazia."
Perry, whose Tucson music career has spanned more than three decades, created his first postcard a year ago after finding an old watercolor set and a pad of postcards.
The postcards have a childlike curiosity and innocence about them, as if they were created by a second-grader.
"I can't paint is the problem, you know," Perry said, then chuckled. "People go, 'Oh my kid could do better than that.' I'm sure they could, and I'm sure they will."
Last year, Perry cranked out 10 postcards and sent them to friends. The recipients loved them and encouraged Perry to create more. They also egged him into hosting Saturday's event.
"Basically, it just turned into a get-together and a party that's just grown bigger and bigger."
The event is about much more than Perry's postcards. It's about community and the little guy, taking chances and having fun. Come one, come all and let the night be what it will be, Perry says.
For many, it also will be the first time they have wandered into Ancient Radio, a partnership between local artist-musician Bursey and KUAT host Jorg Mauelshagen.
Inside the fledgling boutique record store, you can spend hours thumbing through nearly 9,000 vinyl records in every imaginable genre of music. Rare jazz recordings, original import recordings from classic rockers, works by renowned 1960s rockers like Jimi Hendrix and intriguing world recordings you can't find at the big-box stores.
"We run things rather loosely and try to do our best," said Bursey, who opens the store from 4 to 11 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. "We're working out tails off to keep the place interesting and moving."
If you go
Perry's Postcards
• What: A music and art gathering starring Al Perry.
• When: 7:45 p.m. Saturday.
• Where: Ancient Radio Records/Gallery, 343 N. Hoff Ave., off East Seventh Street.
• Admission: Free.
• Details: Call 991-5063.
• To learn more: Visit Ancient Radio on Facebook.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.
