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Meat Puppets Interview with Thomas Bond. Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix. The three then moved to Tempe, Arizona (a Phoenix suburb and home to Arizona State University), where the Kirkwood brothers purchased two adjacent homes, one of which had a shed in the back where they regularly practiced.

Meat Puppets started as a punk rock band, but like most of their labelmates on SST Records, they established their own unique style, blending punk with country and psychedelic rock, and featuring Curt's warbling vocals. Meat Puppets later gained significant exposure when the Kirkwood brothers served as guest musicians on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. The band's 1994 album Too High to Die subsequently became their most successful release. The band broke up twice, in 1996 and 2002, but reunited again in 2006.

The Circle K Tempe Music Festival is Arizona's premiere multi-sensory music festival. In 2009 the event was voted Arizona's Best Annual Music Festival by the readers of both the Phoenix New Times and azcentral.com, home of The Arizona Republic. Each year Circle K Tempe Music Festival provides more than music with interactive sponsor displays, extreme sports demonstrations, exciting kids activities and much more.

Each spring the festival spans two days in Tempe Beach Park, located within walking distance of Arizona State University's main campus. With multiple stages of non-stop music, the Circle K Tempe Music Festival has had the privilege of hosting national acts such as Kid Rock, All American Rejects, 3 Doors Down, Fergie, My Chemical Romance, Puddle of Mudd, The Fray, O.A.R., The Gin Blossoms, Jeff Beck, John Mayer Trio, Live, Blues Traveler and many, many more. Another unique feature includes the Emerging Artists Stage which showcases up-and-coming local and regional bands.

Great music combined with Arizona's beautiful spring weather and a multitude of festival activities makes the Circle K Tempe Music Festival a highly anticipated annual event for the Tempe community and statewide. Entertainment Solutions has been the proud producer of the Circle K Tempe Music Festival since its inception in 2003.

Each year high school and college garage bands are recruited to participate in the annual SRP Garage Band Competition. The bands go through several rounds of online fan voting and judged live performances, with finalists advancing to perform at the SPR Music Shack at Circle K Tempe Music Festival. The top high school and college bands get to open for a national headliner, performing in front of thousands of fans on the festival's Main Stage. Winning bands will also receive an SRP music scholarship to donate to the music program of their choice.

The Circle K Tempe Music Festival has grown to be the largest music festival in Arizona. This year, the event will feature national, regional and local acts including Kid Rock, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, The Outlaws, Cowboy Mouth and Pop Evil performing on Friday, April 3 and 3 Doors Down, All American Rejects, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman (of Rage Against the Machine), MUTEMATH, Shiny Toy Guns, Vayden, Tongue Dried Sun, Wensday, Red Letter Drive

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• The SRP Music Shack Stage & Garage Band Competition where the SRP Garage Band Competition finalists will battle it out to see who will open for major 3 Doors Down and All American Rejects at the festival.

The event is sponsored by Circle K, Live Nation, City of Tempe, SRP, Cox Communications, Red Bull Energy Drink, Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace, Budweiser, Bud Light Lime, Corona, Michelob Ultra, Jose Cuervo, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods, Barefoot Wines, Ben & Jerry’s, Dose Energy, Mentos, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Arizona Event Campaign, Inc., Cricket Wireless, Dillard’s, Southern Comfort, NYPD Pizza, Macayo’s Depot Cantina, Jason’s Deli, Icelandic Glacial, AZ Central, Arizona Republic, College Times, Metromix.com, the Big Bang, Kiss FM, 98 KUPD FM, Mix 96.9 FM, Edge 103.9 FM, 93.3 KDKB FM, The Peak 98.7 FM and Entertainment Solutions, Inc.

• A fully-operational Circle K store on-site, with all proceeds from the store going to the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation;
• The SRP Lil’ Rockers Area with hands-on interactive instruments and music-related arts and crafts;
• The SRP Music Shack Stage & Garage Band Competition where the SRP Garage Band Competition finalists will battle it out to see who will open for major 3 Doors Down

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