'Welcome to Sky Valley': Kyuss fans celebrate family, community

Deep into the barrenness of Sky Valley along Dillon Road is a sign in yellow and blue that reads "Welcome to Sky Valley." It's straightforward and looks like any sign a town  would present greeting visitors and residents.

But Sky Valley's sign has a place in rock 'n' roll history. A previous iteration appeared on the cover of Kyuss' 1994 album, "Welcome to Sky Valley." In the same way Beatles fans from around the world visit Abbey Road in London, Kyuss fans come to the desert to pay tribute to the band that called the area home.

About 50 members of the Facebook group Kyuss World traveled to the sign Saturday afternoon for a group photo ahead of a scheduled performance by former Kyuss vocalist John Garcia and his Band of Gold at the Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs.  It was the first time members gathered for a group photo since 2019.

The group's founder, Nathan Lawver, made the trek from Madison, Wisconsin, and has been coming to the sign since 2017, and said the way Kyuss incorporated the Coachella Valley into its signature desert rock music sound makes it a place fans want to visit. Many members of Kyuss World from around the world have posted pictures in front of the sign through the years.

"At one time at least three or four times a week, members from all corners of the world would post a photo of themselves at the Sky Valley sign," Lawver said. "I've seen photos of people from Nepal visiting Sky Valley. Definitely a lot of Australians over the years."

Kyuss formed in 1987 and was known for creating a new sound that combined ’70s rock 'n' roll with punk rock. The original incarnation of Kyuss featured Garcia, guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri and drummer Brant Bjork. In 1993, the group toured Australia as the opening band for the metal group Metallica. Oliveri left in 1992 and Bjork departed in 1994.

Since disbanding in 1995, Homme started the band Queens of the Stone Age the following year, which featured Oliveri from 1998 to 2004. Bjork, Garcia and Oliveri have been active in solo projects.

The Kyuss family

From 2017 to 2019, Kyuss World would collect donations within the group to send a member to attend annual gatherings at the sign. One of those members was Daniel Hofman of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia in 2018

A fan since the ’90s, Hofman dreamed of visiting the sign after noticing many of the photos on Kyuss World. When we arrived in the Coachella Valley, Hall hosted Hofman at his house. John Garcia and the Band of Gold bassist Mike Pygmie and his family threw a barbecue for him. Gary Arce of Yawning Man took him to the Joshua Tree recording studio, Rancho de la Luna, to meet owner and musician, David Catching.

"It was special that Kyuss World sent me there from crowdfunding, because I wouldn't have been able to afford it," Hofman said. "It was a dream and I didn't think it would ever happen. I felt so far away from where I live in Australia because I'm about 60 hours from Sydney in a town similar to Palm Springs with almost the same population."

Garcia said the idea for the album title and cover for "Welcome to Sky Valley" came from Bjork. Although none of the band members ever lived there, it was a place members often visited.

"The way (Bjork) presented it to me, that title resonated something fierce," Garcia said. "It was who we were and who we'd become. Being from the desert is something we're very proud of being from the desert. And it's a local spot we're familiar with, so it made perfect sense"

Sign of the community

According to Neil Ludlum, secretary of the Sky Valley Homeowners Association, there have been different versions of the sign going back several years and the first one was installed by the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce. During the '90s, a new sign went up with the chamber's name and that model went on the "Welcome to Sky Valley" album cover.

The homeowners association installed the current version in 2013. Before the Kyuss World group photo in 2019, the sign was vandalized. Ludlum said it was an "an amorous fan" who wanted the sign for his collection.

Most of Sky Valley's residents are in favor of maintaining the sign as a symbol of community spirit going back several years and Ludlum encourages residents to mingle and welcome those who visit.

"Even though many of our people are not particularly fond of Kyuss' music, we can still be fond of the (fans) and we are," Ludlum said.

Sky Valley resident Jason Hall, who grew up in the area and is a member of Kyuss World, has a different take on it. He chuckled when asked what the sign means to him and said, "It's going to be disappointing to a lot of Kyuss fans."

"To me, it's just a sign," Hall said. "I drive by it four times a week. It's iconic and I understand why, but I grew up in this area. I was just like 'Oh, that's kind of rad and I know where that sign is.' I'm more about the community. The sign isn't important, it's how the community feels about it, how it brings everyone together and loves it."

While Kyuss attracted fan bases in Europe and Australia that are still growing today, the band was not as successful in the U.S. Hofman said Australians who saw Kyuss open for Metallica told friends stories about how the band blew Metallica off the stage.

"One of my friends showed (Kyuss) to me and I fell in love them and tried to listen and get my hands on everything they put out," Hofman said. "At that stage, there was no internet or anything like that. You had to track down and buy the CDs. Being in a small town (in Australia), that wasn't easy."

Looking back on Kyuss and the popularity of the sign among fans around the world, Garcia said he feels "lucky."

"I wasn't always this way and it took Kyuss breaking up for me to feel this way," Garcia said. "I look back on myself as a young kid, want to slap him around and say 'You don't know what you have, so be thankful and grateful.'"

Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'Welcome to Sky Valley': Kyuss fans celebrate family, community