There is a sign on the side of the road that says “Welcome to Sky Valley” It looks like any sign a town would give would greet visitors and residents.
Sky Valley’s sign is associated with rock ‘n’ roll. In the same way Beatles fans from around the world visit Abbey Road in London, Kyuss fans come to the desert to pay homage to the band.
The members of Kyuss World traveled to the sign for a group photo ahead of a performance by former Kyuss vocalist JohnGarcia and his band of gold at the Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs.
The group’s founder, Nathan Lawver, made the trek from Madison, Wisconsin, and has been coming to the sign since 2017. There are many pictures posted in front of the sign by members of Kyuss World.
Lawver said that members from all corners of the world would post a photo of themselves at the Sky Valley sign. People from Nepal are visiting Sky Valley. A lot of people from Australia over the years.
Kyuss was known for creating a new sound that was similar to punk rock. The original iteration of Kyuss featured a number of people. The group was the opening band for a metal band. In 1992 and 1994, Oliveri and Bjork left the country.
Homme formed the band Queens of the Stone Age in 1998 after Oliveri left. They have been involved in solo projects.
The Kyuss family
Donations would be collected from the group to send a member to attend the annual gatherings. Daniel Hofman was a member of that group.
Hofman was a fan of Kyuss World and wanted to visit the sign. Hofman was at Hall’s house when we arrived in the valley. Gary Arce of Yawning Man took him to the Joshua Tree recording studio to meet the owner and musician.
Hofman said that Kyuss World sent him there because he wouldn’t have been able to afford it. It was a dream, and I didn’t think it would come true. I feel far away from where I live in Australia because I live in a town with the same population as Palm Springs.
“Welcome to Sky Valley” is the title and cover of the album, according to the man. It was a place that members of the band would often visit.
The way Bjorn presented it to me was very powerful. We were who we were and who we would become. Being from the desert makes us very proud. It made sense because we’re familiar with it.
Sign of the community
The first version of the sign was installed by the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce. A new sign with the chamber’s name was put on the album cover in the 90’s.
The present version was installed by the homeowners association. The sign was damaged before the Kyuss World group photo was taken. It was a fan who wanted a sign for his collection.
The sign is a symbol of community spirit and most of Sky Valley’s residents are in favor of keeping it.
Many of our people don’t like Kyuss’ music, but we can still be fond of the fans.
A Sky Valley resident who is a member of Kyuss World has a different take on it. “It’s going to be disappointing to a lot of Kyuss fans,” he chuckled when asked what the sign meant to him.
Hall drives by it four times a week. I grew up in this area and I understand why. I knew where that sign was and I was happy about it. The community is more important to me. The sign is not important because it is how the community feels about it.
Kyuss did not do as well in the US as it did in Europe and Australia.
Hofman said that one of his friends showed him Kyuss and that he fell in love with it. There wasn’t an internet at that time. You had to purchase the CDs. It was difficult to be in a small town in Australia.
Looking back on Kyuss, he feels lucky.
It took Kyuss breaking up for me to be this way. I want to slap him around and say “You don’t know what you have, so be thankful and grateful.”
The Desert Sun has an arts and entertainment section. He can be reached via email at brian.blueskye@desert Sun.