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Saturday, Dec. 1: Mickey Avalon

Jazzbones

MICKEY AVALON: He's been through some shit, and he'll rap about it Saturday at Jazzbones. Press photo

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Rapper Mickey Avalon has led quite the life. Born in 1975, Avalon grew up in a hellish environment. His father was a heroin addict; his mother sold marijuana to make a living. Avalon's early life was marked by tragedy. He adopted his mother's trade and sold pot to make money. He converted to Orthodox Judaism in his teenage years, but lost his father in a drunken car accident sometime later. By his early 20s, Avalon was both a husband and a father; however, he was also caught up in a vicious heroin addiction that would later cost him his marriage and custody of his child. To support his heroin addiction, he worked as a prostitute. Racking up debt, and nearing the bottom of the bottom, Avalon decided to attempt to kick his addiction and moved in with his sister, a fellow-recovering addict. However, tragedy struck once more when his sister relapsed and died in an overdose. Seeing this as a final sign, Mickey returned to L.A. in an attempt to find peace. While there, a friend, DJ Simon Rexx, encouraged him to pursue a career as a rapper. After recording some demos, Simon passed them out and Avalon suddenly found himself in demand. Around the L.A. club scene, He began to sell out shows, and was spurred on by the success of the singles "My Dick," "Jane Fonda" and "Mr. Right." Avalon released his debut self titled LP in 2006 to positive reviews, and quickly found himself in a place of success.

Yes, that's a long paragraph. It's also been a long, rough six years for Avalon.

Present day, Avalon has released his second album, Loaded, for which he embarked on a massive tour, followed almost immediately by a smaller one. Before his show Saturday, Dec. 1 at Tacoma's Jazzbones, Sean Contris caught up with him to ask about his new album, the tour and his plans for the future. The Mickey Avalon interview is in the Weekly Volcano's Music section.

JAZZBONES, MICKEY AVALON, WITH PINKBEAD FEDERATION, THE CHICHARONES AND SKY PILOT, SATURDAY, DEC. 1, 6 P.M., $19.95, 2803 SIXTH AVE., TACOMA 253.396.9169

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