The rise in popularity of e-bikes around San Diego County has grown so much over the past couple of years that it seems more commonplace to find cyclists utilizing them on the local roads than …
July 8, 2024
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Stories by Dryw Keltz
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Lithium-ion battery fires in East Village, Barrio Logan, Otay Mesa
Surfaris spawn takes Tourmaliners to Bay Park residency
Tourmaline is a legendary surf spot nestled between Windansea and North Pacific Beach; longboarders flock to it for its mellow break. So if you’re familiar with San Diego surfing culture, you’d probably think that a …
June 20, 2024
Roob Blackwell took up the ukelele and wound up with an EP
Peak Covid-19 was a tough time for Rob “Roob” Blackwell. “I, like many people, started struggling with pretty significant mental health issues during the lockdown,” Blackwell explains. “I have always had major depressive disorder, and …
June 13, 2024
Gonzo Report: Neil Young and Crazy Horse delight youngsters at SDSU
Video:GONZO: Neil Young performing "Harvest Moon" at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater on 4/24/2024I caught a Neil Young show last summer when he performed at the Rady Shell as part of his Coastal …
May 16, 2024
Rand Anderson had to share a record player with his siblings
Rand Anderson’s parents were big country fans. So naturally, he rebelled against the sound at first, and embraced punk and metal. But eventually, he returned to the fold. He even played with the Phoenix outfit …
May 16, 2024
Blair Gun found their sound during the Covid pause
Blair Gun’s Joedin Morelock and Zach Cavor started writing songs together in 2020. “We had just met up and we were jamming with some different musicians,” Morelock recalls, “but Zach and I really connected on …
May 9, 2024
Owl Be Damned poised to take flight
Owl Be Damned took its time getting out of the nest. In the late ‘10s, singer Douglas Thompson (Low and Be Told, The Marsupials) pitched drummer Ben Johnson (The Long and Short of It, Hostile …
April 25, 2024
Gonzo Report: Save Ferris brings a clapping crowd to the Belly Up
Video:Save Ferris was signed to Epic Records in the mid-’90s, after fellow Orange County ska band No Doubt rocketed up the chartsSka music has a habit of popping up every decade or so to ride …
April 18, 2024
Anya True's dream come true: appearing on The Voice
Video:BLURT: Anya True ditches school to battle on The VoiceSeventeen-year-old Anya True says she has been singing pretty much since she could speak. She picked up playing the guitar when she was five and, two …
March 29, 2024
Reader Music Issue short takes
Island civilizationWithin the Coronado Ferry Landing, you will find Coronado Tasting Room. Purveyors of Craft Spirits, Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Balsamic Vinegars, Spices and Gourmet Foods. Every other Wednesday evening, Michael Gonzales (aka Gonzo) and …
March 27, 2024
San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue
Some musicians see forming a tribute group as a way to get into the music industry. Copping someone else’s successful act may seem their only chance at earning a bit of applause, adulation, and — …
March 27, 2024
Archie Thompson scores soundtrack smash with the Bill Burr film Old Dads
Video:BLURT: Archie Thompson sings “My My My Little Baby” from the Bill Burr film Old DadsArchie Thompson’s music-intensive life is back in full swing after being derailed by Covid for a couple of years. His …
March 21, 2024
Surf Farmer’s bassist came late to the game
When Ryan Ruff was in high school, his two best friends were in a band that couldn’t find a bass player. Somehow, he missed the sign the universe was holding up. “I should have picked …
March 7, 2024
The bass-free adventures of Unnatural Numbers
Clayton Payne and Ryan Fischer met when they were both serving as drummers for The Liquorsmiths, a folk-rock trio led by singer/guitarist Drew Thams. After that band’s run came to an end, the duo continued …
February 1, 2024
Matthew Phillips finds Instagram success with a waterfall effect
<a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/matthew-phillips/">Matthew Phillips</a> has his grandmother to thank for starting him on his musical journey. “She had a piano at her house,” he recalls. “I would go and play when I was a young kid …
January 4, 2024
Gonzo Report: Corey Feldman opens for himself at House of Blues
Years ago, I watched a full band open for comedian David Cross at ‘Cane’s in Mission Beach. I thought it was the most unusual opening act/headliner combo I had ever witnessed — at least until …
November 30, 2023
Learning new instruments is only one hurdle for Whiskey & Burlap
Ethan van Thillo was a longtime violinist who basically abandoned the instrument after he had finished college. At that point, he devoted all his time to being a father and running the Media Arts Center …
November 23, 2023
Musician-filmmaker Jason Blackmore turns collecting dust into new local label
Matelotage (French for “seamanship”) was, according to Wikipedia, “an agreement amongst pairs of European sailors, in particular buccaneers, in the 17th and early 18th century. As part of this economic partnership, matelots would agree to …
November 16, 2023
9/11 bad guys hung out in San Diego
9/11 could have been stopped in San DiegoFormer FBI agent Mark Rossini, who was assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, said CIA officials blocked the memo to the FBI because the agency was complicit with …
November 12, 2023
Deathly bike routes: Friars, Nimitz, Pershing
Dangerous bike spotsFriars Road, Nimitz Blvd, University Ave., Pershing Dr., Genesee, Pacific Hwy at Barnett Ave.Safer routes: SD River Trail, West Point Loma, Robinson, GovernorBy Dryw Keltz, Sept. 23, 2015The curvy road from Fallbrook to …
November 11, 2023
Back with Weatherbox for Saturday’s Soda Bar anniversary
Brian Warren’s band <a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/weatherbox/">Weatherbox</a> toured with Say Anything circa 2008; Warren recalls playing in rooms in front of 2000 people. Last month, Say Anything played the two-day When We Were Young festival in Las …
November 9, 2023
Grape Street dog park crack-down
Big bust at the Grape Street dog parkA failed plea to city officials to install a new fence to enclose the Grape Street off-leash dog park in South Park led to a crackdown that resulted …
October 30, 2023
Gonzo Report: One artform reckons with another at Aztec Brewing
In late September, I headed north to Vista’s Aztec Brewing for Brew Game Plus 5, an eight-and-a-half hour overdose of bands performing video game songs. My friend and I had never been to the brewery …
October 19, 2023
Reader writers try music not to their taste
All this jazz at Tio Leo’s“I see a lot of familiar faces here, and I see three or four new ones. I want to let you know that, when the music is playing, we are …
October 18, 2023
Jefferson Jay rounds up another legacy lineup
<a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/jefferson-jay">Jefferson Jay</a> may be best known for gigging around town, hosting open-mic nights and throwing occasional 24-hour live music events. But he also created the San Diego Music Hall Of Fame (SDMHOF) back in …
October 5, 2023
Under the Rug’s fan-finding mission
“When I was really young, I was the singer kid,” says <a href="http://www.undertherugmusic.com/">Under The Rug</a> singer/guitarist Casey Dayan. “There’s a funny home movie of me in some diapers when I was around three years old, …
September 21, 2023
Why Pleasure Pill ditched the Jinx to embrace mod Britpop
Jonah Paz started playing in his first local punk band in 2013, when he was 13 years old. By the time Covid reared its ugly head in 2020, he had cycled through a myriad of …
August 24, 2023
You can’t break City Windows with a Velvet Divorce
Ryan Steel lived in San Diego from 2002 through 2005 before he ended up in Chicago, where he played in The Sky We Scrape from 2008 until 2015. It was during this tenure that he …
August 17, 2023
Manthers versus the fight-or-flight response
Matt Casper was bandless for around eight years before <a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/manthers/">Manthers </a> came together. It was an unusual gap for a gentleman known for fronting a lot of groups. “I’ve cobbled together so many things …
August 10, 2023
Best San Diego music prospects: Lead Pony, King Whisker, Sandollar, David Orozco
Lead Pony can already spot the VulturesPsychedelic blues rock has never really gone out of style — not locally, anyway. And now, San Diego is rapidly becoming a hotbed of related “concept albums,” from the space …
August 2, 2023
Trevor Ginsberg: beatbox unboxed
Back when he was younger, Trevor Ginsberg played violin for a short spell — but strings didn’t stick like his love of singing. He started off in choirs, and eventually became a member of the …
June 15, 2023
Pickleball edging out tennis on San Diego courts
As I recall, it was around the middle of the last decade when I first encountered pickleball. My friend Andy Cox and I were nearing the end of a game of tennis at Collier Park …
May 24, 2023
Julian wants to put out its own fires
Are the volunteers getting hosed? Nicio Aguilera is blunt: “Nobody up here trusts the county. We don’t trust them, we don’t like them.” Aguilera, who spent 15 years fighting fires in Philadelphia and another 15 …
May 15, 2023
Through the Roots: slowed pace, increased production
Evan Hawkins’ first exposure to reggae music came courtesy of his mom, who listened to Bob Marley and UB40. Then, when he was a teenager in the mid-2000s, a friend started bringing him to see …
May 4, 2023
Auz Fontaine beefs up the ranks and irons out the crackles
“We’re just dirty pop singing about pizookie appetizers at BJ’s,” says Auz Fontaine co-founder Captain Auzmo. “It always works and has this fun element, like when you go to a prix fixe and you get …
April 6, 2023
San Diego Reader 2023 Music & Arts issue
On May 11, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services will end the Covid public health emergency. But the bureaucratic behemoth is a slow-footed beast; John Q. Public knows the pandemic ended some time …
March 29, 2023
Corduroy minus Pearl Jam equals Proteus
The protean Proteus: Remember Corduroy? They were a local Pearl Jam tribute act, active for around three months in summer 2019. Joe Moese recruited the musicians, they worked up a set, and then Moese up …
March 2, 2023
Vista votes on 12 outdoor beer-music events for business park
The brewery tasting rooms located in the Vista business park near Sycamore Avenue may be getting an added boost in early 2023. The Vista City Council is set to vote in January on a resolution …
December 19, 2022
Amy Day’s starvation musical finds overseas success
Amy Day and Omar Musisko formed their folk duo, The Spiritual Motels, in 2017. By the tail end of 2019, the band had released their debut album, Super Tiny Disappearing Oceans, and were in the …
December 15, 2022
Who needs Disneyland duels when you can Twitch?
Missy Alcazar took up classical piano at an early age, and was considered a child prodigy. Her teacher permitted her to practice only “the greats” — composers such as Bach and Chopin. But by elementary …
November 24, 2022
Ricky resets the sound to Pure Fun
In 2013, local pop-punks Western Settings set sail on what would become a very active five-year run. “We had one EP out and were like, all right, we’re gonna go tour now, so we just …
November 17, 2022