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

Former Columbus, Ohio musician seeks new band

May the hunt for San Diego musicians begin!

Andy Gallagher, of Trains Across the Sea, got a start in San Diego when he filled in for a last-minute cancellation Lestat’s.
Andy Gallagher, of Trains Across the Sea, got a start in San Diego when he filled in for a last-minute cancellation Lestat’s.

“Candid Americana. Raymond Carver stories played by the Band. The optimism of the Mountain Goats filtered through Stephin Merritt’s worldview. Townes Van Zandt trying to sober up.”

That’s Andy Gallagher, late of Columbus, Ohio, diagramming the ballpark for his San Diego band Trains Across the Sea. Gallagher rolled into his new home in August 2017, and he’s been seeking out musical situations, with or without the Trains, ever since.

“It was my first time in this city,” he and I drove straight to the house in which I now live. The drummer stayed in Columbus and plays piano in a half dozen projects in town. The bassist is building a house in the woods in Pennsylvania. May the hunt for San Diego musicians begin!”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Gallagher went first to Lestat’s West Music, staking out the open mic. Happy Ron Hill took him in, showed him around, and put him to work playing Happy Ron’s “Mr. Rogers Meets South Park” sound.

“The first [San Diego] Trains gig was at Lestat’s when I filled in for a last-minute cancellation,” Gallagher recalls. “Since then, we’ve been playing the fourth Saturdays at Spacebar in La Mesa, played our release show at Lestat’s, and we’re starting working at the Riviera Supper Club. It was exactly as hard to get a gig as it should be.”

The guitarist’s co-founded The Dick & Jane Project with Columbus’ Ben Shinaberry, in 2011. That project seeks out middle-schoolers to write song lyrics, then brings in professional music writers and producers, to finish the songs.

“So many unique moments stand out,” Gallagher enthuses. “We’ve given a Tedx talk. We’ve made parents cry with joy. We’ve watched students described as ‘troubled’ turn in long hours of writing. We’ve held school-wide assemblies where a whole auditorium cheered for student lyricists.

“The most consistently moving moment, however, lives in the moment when students first hear the demo of their song and they go silent, realizing they are personally capable of so much more than they may have originally thought… We’re looking for opportunities to begin running workshops in Southern California.”

Past Event

Trains Across the Sea

  • Saturday, November 24, 2018, 6:30 p.m.
  • Spacebar Cafe, 7454 University Avenue, Suite A, La Mesa

Upcoming Trains gigs include October 27, and November 24, both at Spacebar in La Mesa. On bass, Gallagher says, he’s got “Paul Tillery, a Southern Californian gentleman who came up through the jazz scene of the city and is one of the kindest humans I’ve known…. We’re currently looking for drums, pedal steel, and an ASL interpreter, if you know anybody.”

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Born & Raised offers a less decadent Holiday Punch

Cognac serves to lighten the mood
Andy Gallagher, of Trains Across the Sea, got a start in San Diego when he filled in for a last-minute cancellation Lestat’s.
Andy Gallagher, of Trains Across the Sea, got a start in San Diego when he filled in for a last-minute cancellation Lestat’s.

“Candid Americana. Raymond Carver stories played by the Band. The optimism of the Mountain Goats filtered through Stephin Merritt’s worldview. Townes Van Zandt trying to sober up.”

That’s Andy Gallagher, late of Columbus, Ohio, diagramming the ballpark for his San Diego band Trains Across the Sea. Gallagher rolled into his new home in August 2017, and he’s been seeking out musical situations, with or without the Trains, ever since.

“It was my first time in this city,” he and I drove straight to the house in which I now live. The drummer stayed in Columbus and plays piano in a half dozen projects in town. The bassist is building a house in the woods in Pennsylvania. May the hunt for San Diego musicians begin!”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Gallagher went first to Lestat’s West Music, staking out the open mic. Happy Ron Hill took him in, showed him around, and put him to work playing Happy Ron’s “Mr. Rogers Meets South Park” sound.

“The first [San Diego] Trains gig was at Lestat’s when I filled in for a last-minute cancellation,” Gallagher recalls. “Since then, we’ve been playing the fourth Saturdays at Spacebar in La Mesa, played our release show at Lestat’s, and we’re starting working at the Riviera Supper Club. It was exactly as hard to get a gig as it should be.”

The guitarist’s co-founded The Dick & Jane Project with Columbus’ Ben Shinaberry, in 2011. That project seeks out middle-schoolers to write song lyrics, then brings in professional music writers and producers, to finish the songs.

“So many unique moments stand out,” Gallagher enthuses. “We’ve given a Tedx talk. We’ve made parents cry with joy. We’ve watched students described as ‘troubled’ turn in long hours of writing. We’ve held school-wide assemblies where a whole auditorium cheered for student lyricists.

“The most consistently moving moment, however, lives in the moment when students first hear the demo of their song and they go silent, realizing they are personally capable of so much more than they may have originally thought… We’re looking for opportunities to begin running workshops in Southern California.”

Past Event

Trains Across the Sea

  • Saturday, November 24, 2018, 6:30 p.m.
  • Spacebar Cafe, 7454 University Avenue, Suite A, La Mesa

Upcoming Trains gigs include October 27, and November 24, both at Spacebar in La Mesa. On bass, Gallagher says, he’s got “Paul Tillery, a Southern Californian gentleman who came up through the jazz scene of the city and is one of the kindest humans I’ve known…. We’re currently looking for drums, pedal steel, and an ASL interpreter, if you know anybody.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Next Article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
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