Agent from p 14 right, we can put it on a small theater stage, we can put it in a festival, we can put it in the middle of a field, we can stick it in a barn,” he says. During the Tool tour that just ended, nearly all the reviews noted that, despite being the band’s frontman, Keenan stationed himself at the back of the stage for the shows clad in a mohawk wig and dramatic eye makeup. It remains to be seen where Keenan will place himself for the Puscifer shows, but according to him, his purpose for performing isn’t to be front and center — it’s to express himself creatively. “When I’m doing the shows, all the expression and the fun shit we’re doing, it’s for us, it’s for me. I just want to do it. I just need to do it. If you’re in the room or not, I don’t care. “In the business that you work with, you see a lot of fucked up, fevered egos. And they want to be there, they want to be in front, they want to be the guy. When there’s a tragedy, they’re the first one on the scene to do a benefit and make it about them. That’s just how they’re wired, and at the end of the day, they can be very entertaining, so I get it. It’s just not how I’m wired.” Keenan didn’t just have to make the 16 Puscifer tour work with the Tool tour — he timed the end of the Puscifer run to the beginning of the grape harvest. Agent Dick Merkin. For all of his passion for music, Keenan is just as dedicated to winemaking, and just as he’s not resting on his laurels in his music life, he’s busy taking his Verde Valley wine business to the next level. He’s in the middle of developing eight acres in Old Town Cottonwood for his Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars. The plan is to move his second wine- processing facility from Camp Verde to the new property. About four or five acres will be taken up by grapevines that are already in their second year, Keenan says. Merkin Osteria, the eatery just down the hill, will relocate to the new spot. “Attached to that will be a full green- house and another processing facility, a barrel-aging spot, right next to Merkin,” he explains. “So we’ll make all the Merkin wines on-site.” Keenan produces red wines, white wines, and roses under both the Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars labels. Construction costs are slowing the process, but he hopes to have the wine- making facilities up and running by the end of the year, and the restaurant in its new home by spring 2023. One bright spot is that the tasting rooms are actually open again. Like every other retail business, the establishments in Jerome, Scottsdale, and Cottonwood took a major hit during the COVID-19 shutdown. “The pandemic was crazy for >> p 18 JUNE 9TH– JUNE 15TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
