Musician Interviews
Gayle Skidmore was 11 when she confiscated her father’s 12-string guitar and taught herself to play. By the time the San Diego homegirl moved to England to study at Oxford University, she was experimenting with …
“I guess I’ve always been an outsider,” says multiinstrumentalist-songwriter Jon Ji. “The hippies called me a punk, the punkers called me a hippie, the Confederates a rebel…and the girls an angel, the devil, and a …
Phil Bellante comes from a long line of politically aware, socially relevant, musically adroit, and vocally unpredictable singer-songwriters like Neil Young, Harry Nilsson, Perry Farrell, Bruce Springsteen, and their deep-thought freeworld-rockin’ brethren. Think Edwin McCain …
“My parents maintained a very musical household,” says singer-trumpeter Tori Roze. “My mom played with Randy Holden, the lead guitarist in Blue Cheer, and she opened for groups like Canned Heat and Three Dog Night. …
Incomplete Neighbor’s debut album, Suspended Electric Coma, hit the streets May 9 featuring ten original pieces of art on the cover and inside the CD sleeve. Each band member painted several canvases which were compiled …
In March of this year, Revolt in Style called the Buzzbombs “San Diego’s Favorite Party Band.” The rockabilly trio is all about having a good time. “Our crowds are always so much fun,” says Johnny …
In junior high, Kelly Dalton started writing songs and playing in bands and then began gigging, touring, and recording in his teens and 20s. “In the late ’90s I was in a punk band called …
“Our music is very lyric driven,” says Eben Brooks. “If I had to choose a genre, I would call it progressive acoustic rock, but by progressive I mean politically and personally progressive. It’s possible for …
Alison Brown went from playing banjo outside of Shakey’s Pizza in La Mesa to performing with Alison Krauss + Union Station, being named the Banjo Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association, …
Q: How would you describe what you do? A: “Curator and devotee of experimental, classical, electronic, and improvised music,” says Bonnie Wright. Since 1995, when she opened the doors to the Spruce Street Forum, Wright …
“‘What Do All the People Know’ was a fun song, and I still enjoy listening to it,” says Rusty Jones, whose San Diego band the Monroes toured with Rick Springfield, Toto, and Greg Kihn in …
One question that’s often posed in the Reader musician interview is “Favorite local performer?” The most frequently cited is Manuok (pronounced “man-you-okay”), aka Scottish-born Scott Mercado, who’s been name-checked over a dozen times — by …
Wendy Bailey is an old-fashioned pop songstress with a big splashy sound akin to, say, Carole King or Sheryl Crow. “Most of my songs are short, sweet, and full of jangly pop hooks,” says Bailey. …
Since the late ’90s, Mike Kamoo’s Earthling Studios has been a vital cog in the San Diego music scene. The studio, headquartered in a corporate park in El Cajon, has a well-worn path to it …
“I call my genre of music ‘reality rap,’ ” says hip-hop impresario Kayo. “It describes the things that I went through. It’s reality because I used to write the songs to myself — to motivate …
Singer-songwriter Marie Haddad was five when she started playing piano, but she drifted into other endeavors a few years later. At one point she had to sell her piano in order to stay in college. …