Maynard James Keenan tours local Whole Foods stores

So, I'm in the elevator at Southern California's food porn capitol -- the two-story Whole Foods on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena -- when my eye strays to one of those earth-toned signs advertising a cooking class/singles event. Imagine my surprise when the name Maynard James Keenan jumps out at me! Along with the phrase "wine tasting"!

Actually, the surprise was minimal. The multi-tasking prog rock master from Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer has been doing the grocery-store circuit for a while, offering autographs and sips from the bins of his Arizona vineyards. He hit his first Whole Foods back in April. (Idolator blogger Dan Gibson spotted that event while shopping for overpriced lettuce in Arizona; Keenan can keep his PR budget down for these events, since music scribes apparently love to shop Earthbound Farm-fancy.)

The current wine tour has Keenan and his partner, Eric Glomski, sampling from the first vintages of Arizona Stronghold Vineyards, a new business uniting the two winemakers on the refreshed ground of an old vineyard near Willcox, Ariz.

Learn about the vineyards here. It's fun to contemplate renewed varietals while listening to Puscifer's "Indigo Children." A few bottles from Keenan's Caduceus Cellars/Merkin Vineyards may also be cracked. (Another great website, by the way -- not since Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" has wine seemed so ominous.)

Below is the list of Keenan and Glomski's appearances at Southland Whole Foods outlets. A warning to Tool fans: Don't engage Keenan in wine talk unless you're knowledgeable. "I was trying to explain to some of the kids about what temperature to drink the Tazi at and it was like showing card tricks to dogs," he told the Yuma Sun after an April tasting in Phoenix. Hell hath no fury like a nu-metal wine snob scorned.

WHOLE FOODS
BOTTLE SIGNING DATES:

Sept. 16:
Pasadena
4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
465 South Arroyo Park

Sept. 17:
Venice
4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
225 Lincoln Blvd. (between Lincoln & Rose)

Oct. 21:
Tustin (Jamboree)
2 to 5 p.m.
2847 Park Ave.

Oct. 22:
West Los Angeles
9 a.m. to noon
11666 National Blvd.

Photo of Maynard by Tim Cadiente