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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | OCTOBER 3, 2021
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First and Forever finds success being themselves BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
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lex Ryan felt nervous to admit that he enjoyed the sounds of the altrock subgenre known as “emo” music when he was growing up. As kids he grew up with talked about becoming firefighters and other careers they wanted to pursue, Ryan couldn’t shake the desire to grab a mic and belt out lyrics like his idols did. “I never really told anyone that I was into emo music,” he said. “As I got older, I realized that this was such a big part of my life, and I was tired of hiding it.” After landing a career in construction management that moved him from Chicago to Scottsdale in 2016, Ryan grew tired of hiding his voice from the world. Nearly two years after moving to Scottsdale, he decided to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a rockstar. “I came down here for business reasons and then woke up one day and decided I wanted to start a band,” he said. Ryan went on Craigslist and found David Pratt, a drummer, and Marcus Leopard, a
Alex Ryan, David Pratt and Marcus Leopard comprise First and Forever. (Special to the Progress)
guitarist, to round out the band. The band mainly jammed covers for a few months and wrote a few original songs, but it didn’t feel serious at that time. After a few months, Ryan had to move back to Chicago for his job and had to put his dream of music fame on hold. Though thousands of miles away from his bandmates, Ryan knew there was
something special about his band back in Scottsdale. “Before we had ever released a single, I had to move to Chicago – which essentially killed the band,” he said. “One day, I was sitting at my desk and I thought about how much I missed the band. So, I called the guys and asked if they would be willing to record one of the four songs we had written.” The result was a tune titled “Chicago”
and it took off faster than the band could have predicted. When a brief lyric video for the poppunk track was first uploaded to Ryan’s personal Instagram in November 2018, he had no idea what was going to follow. He was quickly bombarded with text messages from his friends and knew he had made the right call to release the song. “Our goal was to have 1,000 streams on that song, the song now has over 1.3 million streams,” Ryan said. “We have really exceeded our goals.” The dream began to take greater shape as First and Forever began to get a handful of gigs booked. First and Forever was riding high after opening for the pop-punk band With Confidence at the Marquee Theatre in December 2019 and had hopes to tour the following year. We all know what happened next. As venues closed doors and musicians hunkered down in their residences, So, First and Forever had an idea.
see EMO page 31
Watercolor show to open at Civic Center Library PROGRESS NEWS STAFF
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juried exhibition from the Arizona Watercolor Association begins a three-month run Monday, Oct. 4, at Scottsdale Civic Center Library. The exhibition, which runs through the end of the year, 43 paintings chosen by juror David R. Smith from among more than 150 submissions. Smith is a Michigan-based, internationally known and award-winning watercolor artist and instructor. He’s a member of both the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society.
On display during the Arizona Watercolor Association exhibition are, from left, “Anticipation” by Andrea Merican and “Rush Hour” by Glenda Folk, both Scottsdale artists, as well as “Emille” by Annette Smith of Mesa and “Himalayan Hiker” by Arlene Miller of Phoenix. (Special to the Progress)
Marion Droge, juror workshop chair for the association, said Smith carefully selected quality and talented works. “Being part of this show is a tribute to members whose work was accepted,” said Droge, a Phoenix artist whose painting “All in the Same Boat” is on exhibit. “The community has the opportunity to see a wide variety of watermedia from many talented artists of Arizona.” The AWA was founded in 1960 by professional watercolor artists and instructors to advance the art of painting in
see WATER page 31
