Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

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

O, sue me

O-Town pop star comes home to San Diego

O-Town made it...until their manager kept their money. “He later went to jail,” says San Diego’s Jacob Underwood (in hat).
O-Town made it...until their manager kept their money. “He later went to jail,” says San Diego’s Jacob Underwood (in hat).

A lot of musicians feel they have to leave San Diego in order to “make it.” Jacob Underwood felt he made it when he was able to move back.

“I live in the Gaslamp, but we recorded our last album over near College Avenue,” Underwood says. “This city has everything I need. I’ve always wanted to move back, and I spent 16 years working so I could.”

Video:

"All or Nothing"

...by O-Town

...by O-Town

Underwood grew up in the Granite Hills area of El Cajon, but moved to Orlando, Florida, to be a member of the pop group O-Town during the declining days of the boy-band era.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The group was formed for the ABC reality show Making the Band. For a while, the band did make it. In 2000, O-Town hit No. 10 on the pop charts with “Liquid Dreams,” and in 2001 they reached No. 3 with “All Or Nothing.”

Starting in 2003, O-Town went on a ten-year hiatus. Part of it was due to changes in the climate of the music industry, but also because they were sick of dealing with manager Lou Pearlman, the man who discovered the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

Underwood claims, “He basically kept our money and said, ‘Sue me.’... He later went to jail.”

Pearlman pleaded guilty to conspiracy, money-laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding. In 2008, he was convicted and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

During the band break, Underwood got a degree in business management and spent time in New York City, Florida, and Nashville. While in Music City, he worked on making customized microphones for artists.

“I built one for Stevie Wonder,” Underwood says. “And I built one for myself. My tone gets kind of thin on the higher notes so I made a mic that puts some body on it.”

Past Event

O-Town and Ricky Rebel

  • Thursday, May 19, 2016, 8 p.m.
  • Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego
  • $20

He will be using that mic when O-Town performs Thursday, May 19, at the Music Box in Little Italy. It marks the band’s first performance in the area in 12 years. “We played at SeaWorld,” he remembers.

Underwood says O-Town started talking about a reunion in 2011 after looking back on what they learned, not the money they lost. They made it official in 2013 and have released two CDs since then.

Underwood is excited about the hometown show. “This is my first gig ever where I can sleep in my own bed after the show,” he says. “I could walk to the gig, but I’ll probably take an Uber since I’ll have a guitar.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
O-Town made it...until their manager kept their money. “He later went to jail,” says San Diego’s Jacob Underwood (in hat).
O-Town made it...until their manager kept their money. “He later went to jail,” says San Diego’s Jacob Underwood (in hat).

A lot of musicians feel they have to leave San Diego in order to “make it.” Jacob Underwood felt he made it when he was able to move back.

“I live in the Gaslamp, but we recorded our last album over near College Avenue,” Underwood says. “This city has everything I need. I’ve always wanted to move back, and I spent 16 years working so I could.”

Video:

"All or Nothing"

...by O-Town

...by O-Town

Underwood grew up in the Granite Hills area of El Cajon, but moved to Orlando, Florida, to be a member of the pop group O-Town during the declining days of the boy-band era.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The group was formed for the ABC reality show Making the Band. For a while, the band did make it. In 2000, O-Town hit No. 10 on the pop charts with “Liquid Dreams,” and in 2001 they reached No. 3 with “All Or Nothing.”

Starting in 2003, O-Town went on a ten-year hiatus. Part of it was due to changes in the climate of the music industry, but also because they were sick of dealing with manager Lou Pearlman, the man who discovered the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

Underwood claims, “He basically kept our money and said, ‘Sue me.’... He later went to jail.”

Pearlman pleaded guilty to conspiracy, money-laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding. In 2008, he was convicted and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.

During the band break, Underwood got a degree in business management and spent time in New York City, Florida, and Nashville. While in Music City, he worked on making customized microphones for artists.

“I built one for Stevie Wonder,” Underwood says. “And I built one for myself. My tone gets kind of thin on the higher notes so I made a mic that puts some body on it.”

Past Event

O-Town and Ricky Rebel

  • Thursday, May 19, 2016, 8 p.m.
  • Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego
  • $20

He will be using that mic when O-Town performs Thursday, May 19, at the Music Box in Little Italy. It marks the band’s first performance in the area in 12 years. “We played at SeaWorld,” he remembers.

Underwood says O-Town started talking about a reunion in 2011 after looking back on what they learned, not the money they lost. They made it official in 2013 and have released two CDs since then.

Underwood is excited about the hometown show. “This is my first gig ever where I can sleep in my own bed after the show,” he says. “I could walk to the gig, but I’ll probably take an Uber since I’ll have a guitar.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
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
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader