A few months ago, the Helen Earth Band unloaded all its cash and maxed out a credit card to buy a tour van that singer-guitarist Marc Allen describes as “a total lemon. They sold us …

“It’s everything we love,” says Shakedown Bar owner DeadTed. “Working in bars, building motorcycles, skateboarding, punk, rock and roll. It’s who we are.” City Heights native DeadTed began working on cars and choppers when he …

Jordan Clark moved to San Diego from a small town in Connecticut when he was 16. Inspired by local groups such as Boilermaker, Pinback, No Knife, Tanner, and Drive Like Jehu, Clark and three friends …

Twelve years ago, Eric Howarth was living in San Francisco and running a label called M-Theory Records, which released albums by Slackjaw, Alien Crime Syndicate, Mars Accelerator, his band Suplex, and, later, Congress of the …

When I arrived at Nick’s house by Grim and Upas in North Park around 10:30 p.m., all that remained of the day’s barbecue were a few slices of watermelon, a block of cheese, some burger …

When Scott Mercado ordered a Johnny Burger in Italy while on tour with Italo-French folk-rock group Grimoon, the last thing he expected was a ciabatta bun, mayo, a tomato, and a hot dog cut in …

The latest project from Justin Pearson (Locust, Holy Molar, Crimson Curse, etc.) and former Some Girls bandmate Nathan Joyner, is one of 42 artists featured on a David Bowie tribute album released in September. We …

Late August, over 50,000 participants from around the world spent a week in the Black Rock Desert of northwest Nevada for the 24th annual Burning Man. A handful of San Diego performers braved the Martian …

At the former City Heights site of Radio Room and Zombie Lounge, recently unveiled Eleven offers (mostly) free live music with a warm, locals’ bar atmosphere. The latest enterprise of Hamilton’s and Small Bar founders …

The Tijuana cartel as we know it today has its roots in the Mexican states of Sinaloa on the southeast side of the Gulf of California and Jalisco in central Mexico. A former Mexican Judicial …

"Who wants kombucha?” Eli shouts as I walk into his new downtown loft around 10:30 p.m. The second-story space on the corner of Fourth Avenue and K Street feels utilitarian and bohemian — all concrete, …

After four years in business, salon/watering hole the Beauty Bar in City Heights will be throwing their farewell party on September 26. While he declined to talk about specifics, Beauty bartender Peter Kalker notes that …

“I put in a dollar and got one song,” says Space Nature singer Matt Meyers at East Village dive the Jewel Box. Both the Hank Williams and Cramps tracks skip on the jukebox, so “The …

Set between the Gaslamp District and Golden Hill, Wednesday’s monthly-gone-fortnightly Dub Dorado packs the rustic lounge with a miscellany of Downtown clubbers, Uptown hipsters, and old-school dubstep and drum & bass heads. Bartenders in gold-miner …

Sunday, August 8, 1:30 p.m.The 26th annual CityFest sees a bustling Fifth Avenue blocked off to vehicle traffic from University to Brookes with 250-plus vendors, 150,000-plus attendees, and lines extending out the door of every …

“The greatest thing about this camp is that you really get to see that kids are such a wealth of creativity,” says Christine Gilardi, three-year director of a real-life School of Rock in La Jolla. …

“I came from NASCAR country,” says the Kabbs’ singer Brian Clinebell at Bluefoot Bar in North Park, a couple of blocks from the duplex he shares with bandmates Kyle (guitar) and Brandon (drums) Whatley. “[Kyle …

“I’m not a zapatero by trade,” says sitarist Rama of the beat-heavy world-fusion band Universal Beats Universal Vibe, “but everything we do we do 110 percent. With our costuming and everything, we go over the …

Guitarist William Nephew and El Capitan High School friends Seth McCarter (guitar) and David Esau (drums) formed Jack’s Broken Heart in 1999. In three months they finished recording their Against Forgetting EP and got busy …

“It’s not technically an outreach,” Park Gallery host Ryan Burke tells me after an evening band practice with his alt-rock band the Morning Glass. “We don’t have sermons here. It’s strictly to serve the community. …

Dubstep is characterized by ultra-heavy, dark, articulate sub-bass and borrows from drum-and-bass, grime, two-step garage, and instrumental reggae (dub). Although the genre was established over a decade ago in South London, dubstep is only now …

The heart of Popayán, Colombia, is a small colonial downtown dating back over 500 years. Everything is painted white. Traffic signals are unheard of. A church is visible from any given point and the streets …

Sunday, July 4, 4:15 p.m. Only a handful of compatriots have arrived at a house known as the Control Center between Ulric Street and the 163 in Linda Vista. In addition to “all you can …

Trumpeter Teddy Kyle was 17 years old when he composed and recorded the horn section for the San Diego “Super” Chargers theme song with the Modoc Horns. The 1978 Santee studio session was the first …

The Old In Out are do-it-yourself incarnate. Drummer Chris Carroll designed the Blue Note-y cover of their new record, Dance Loud, and singer Mike Turi hand-pasted the labels to 300 black 12-inch sleeves. Turi drew …

Two years ago, Phil’s daughter Mary spent a month at a major San Diego nonprofit hospital, recovering from a near-fatal disease. Like one in four Californians, Mary was uninsured. The stay was billed at over …

Not long ago, Forks, Washington, was among the dreariest and most unremarkable expired lumber towns in the country. Teenagers would kill time getting twisted on the “A” road, a desolate lumber route rumored to be …

“Dancey music will always be coveted by people.... It’s this inevitable thing about the human heartbeat and how we relate to rhythms,” says Keith Milgaten of electro-pop trio Jamuel Saxon over a beer at Small …

Wednesdays are jazz-jam night at Little Italy’s El Camino (formerly Airport Lounge), presented by legendary local trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos. Affable foot-tappers get loose over margaritas and sangria ($5) at tables inscribed with tarot archetypes. Girls, …

Beyond the alien wind farms of Palm Springs, down the Sonny Bono Memorial Freeway, a few miles off the 62 where the datura grows thick on the roadside, 3000 partiers converge for the eighth annual …

“I don’t think they mean to be so degrading,” Little Hurricane’s drummer C.C. says over a beer at the Live Wire, “but I went to buy cymbal polish, and the guy said, ‘Well, what kind …

Seth Combs spent his last day in CityBeat’s North Park office last Wednesday after 15 months as its arts and culture editor. “There reaches a point where it starts to feel more like a job …

Last May, former WWE wrestler and El Cajon resident Chuck Palumbo teamed up with The Horse Backstreet Choppers magazine for an eight-day cross-country charity ride from San Diego to Rockingham, North Carolina. Palumbo spent ten …

Anthology is a three-level restaurant and club just south of Little Italy on India. Inspired by CEO Howard ­Berkson’s roots in Chicago nightlife, the 13,000-square-foot establishment pairs New American fine dining with live music in …

­it’s 7:30 at the House of Bromance by Lincoln and Washington in University Heights. Childhood friends from Massachusetts Ian and Patrick moved into the second-story house about six months ago, stoked on the large windows …

On January 1, 2009, San Diego pop-rockers Crash Encore (nominated for Best New Artist at the SDMAs in 2007) announced that they would post one free song for download every week for the next year. …

“I love San Diego and miss it,” says Japanese Sunday mastermind Eric Kusanagi, who lived in Golden Hill and worked downtown at Sushi Deli. “It’s where I was reborn.” The core member of dreamy shoegaze …

After getting burned by bunk craigslist Coachella tickets, lo-fi lovefolk duo the Preteens resorted to spending the weekend at singer-guitarist Alex Miranda’s folks’ place in Lake Elsinore. “We went to the Family Fun Center, and …

Eugene is probably the grooviest city in the Northwest, if, for no other reason, because of the Ken Kesey statue on town square. The Chief was dead when the statue was cast, a security guard …

The Tin Can Ale House sits near a tranny bar and a liquor store at Fifth and Fir in Banker’s Hill. Look for the mural of a giant octopus sinking a galleon. Parking isn’t a …

“It was a monumental effort and the best time we’ve had recording to date,” says Republic of Letters drummer Nick Venti on their debut album Painted Hour. “We really wanted to push our sound on …

Friday, April 9, 10:01 p.m. Maybe seven partygoers have arrived at Carlos’s house on Esther and El Cajon Boulevard. Jason plays a song by the Asylum Street Spankers on the piano while I stock the …

The bus spit me out in the small lumber town of Rio Dell. It was nearly 3 p.m., but the weather was fair and my demeanor expansive. I called my mom and ate a few …

“Look at that guido in the parking lot,” says Patrick Scafidi, bassist of D/Wolves. His brother Brian (drums) and bandmates laugh with him, exuding a relaxed, adolescent vibe as they sip coffee outside a shop …

The Apes of Wrath just returned from South by Southwest, calling the four-day music festival in Austin, Texas, “overwhelming, daunting, and extremely exciting all at the same time. Watching so many sets of music paired …

South by Southwest is a ten-day arts/music conference and festival started in 1987. The music festival hosts upwards of 1400 bands over four days. The official slogan dubs Austin “the Live Music Capitol of the …

I rolled into Santa Teresa early in the afternoon. The sun beamed down its scathing agenda, burning my tender gringo flesh. Cars and motorbikes threw a lingering cloud of dust from the bumpy dirt road …

Brandon Stockwell, a film student at SDSU, climbs to the top of the border fence south of Campo and examines the rolling desert ridges of rural Mexico. The day is bright, the winter air clean …

Formerly the San Diego Sports Bar, Ruby Room is tucked off of the clubby Hillcrest strip behind the newish Ruby Kitchen. Weekend parking can be difficult. “When we bought the place about a year and …

I found a cheap room in Palmar Norte and shambled into a soda (cheap Costa Rican eatery) across the street. I had just bicycled about forty miles and could have salted three pounds of pork …