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Dirty Birdz & the Horn Starz

RIYL

Etta James, Augustana, Janis Joplin

Inception

La Mesa , 2009

Influences

Janis Joplin’s Kozmic Blues Band, Edgar Winters White Trash, Lydia Pence’s Cold Blood, Al Koopers Blood Sweat & Tears, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Ray Charles, James Brown, Freddie King

Discography

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Dirty Birdz were formerly known as Vamp, the rootsy 1980s rockers remembered for their mesh of rockin’ rhythm and blues, heavy metal, and hearses. Growing up in La Mesa, the Vampsters got their first taste of Diego-style metal at the local rock club Straita Head Sound, like so many others, as well as playing around town at Tio Leos, Blue Agave, and elsewhere.

Reunited in 2010 by married couple Augie and Mercedes Scalzitti, the La Mesa-based bundle features guitars, a horn section, and choreographed background vocalists behind lead singer Mercedes, who likens herself to Janis Joplin and Etta James. The act is still anchored by original guitarist Augie Scalzitti and bassist Steve Thurston, as wellas longtime drummer Erick Manchaca, and there’s a badass brass section now, as well as a couple of sexy backup singers and another guitarist, Chuck Palumbo, also known as a WWE pro wrestler.

Usually performing as an 11-piece band, the Dirty Birdz call themselves rock & roll, but they also see themselves as serious students of blues and R&B. In 2011, they began recording an album with producer Trent Slatton (the Ramones, Rod Stewart), who used to run the band’s soundboard in the 1980s.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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