San Diego music scene news
It is a quiet night, perked up by a woman — Gentry’s girlfriend — who is dancing to the music by herself. Gentry, in coat and tie, is part of a horn section that is …
Ever since Charlie Christian hot-wired a mike to his guit box in the 1930s (or maybe Eddie Durham did it first) and Gene Krupa went nuts on a full drum kit (though maybe he should …
How did this curious hybrid of jazz, blues, hillbilly, and Vaudeville come to pass?
“They call me Chicago Pete. I’ve been in town for about six, seven months.” The man speaking is standing on the corner of Fifth and Market on a Friday night. He is dressed like a …
At this moment, with my title written and nothing else, the former San Diego Symphony is preparing to announce the end of its silence. A month after disclosing a final plan to bankruptcy court, the …
Jessie has a smile that doesn’t agree with his fierce black eyes. Take care,” says Oscar. “This area is dangerous.” He leans over the bar, brings his face close to mine. “The police have no …
Yeah, it does seem like everybody has a Country Dick story to tell,” says Beat Farmers fan Chris Nilsen. “And they’re still telling them, will be for a long time. You’re right, it’d take a …
When Mark E. Quark takes over the turntables at the Flame on Monday nights, the outside world gets lost between the beats. Quark, house DJ during a venue club called G-Force, steps into the booth …
Mexicali has changed a lot in recent years. No longer sleepy, it now has clubs, bars, and restaurants that feature live music with sophisticated lighting systems, wide-screen TVs, and satellite dishes. The last official census …
I’d heard the news by 9:00 a.m. Jerry Garcia had been found dead of natural causes at a rehab center in Marin. A former roommate who currently lives in L.A. had called me to gloat …
This is not precisely about music. Rather, it’s about a strange swamp our love of music seems to drag us into, the sticky question of our relationship with the rock star. “I wanna die wasted, …
“Before you were born, the first time your mother felt you kick was in the middle of my guitar solo in Max’s Kansas City, to the tune of Bad Boy by the Beatles.”
Plaza de Los Marichis is a small fork in the road at Avenida Articulo 123 and Commercio in Tijuana. It is walking distance from Revolucíon and the border. Busy streets run in a Y around …
Ten minutes later my guest arrives, John Cale, never my favorite member of the Velvet Underground, always struck me as a method actor, ugh, though some people thought of him as a progenitor of punk.
A little-known fact: Jackson Browne was once a member of the Velvet Underground. Not really. But not far off. I have a correspondent in Tokyo, a magazine editor, who tells me that the current crop …