“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, ‘You’re like a female Johnny Thunders,’” says singer-guitarist Diana Death. “If I have to be compared to somebody, it may as well be him. His talent …

New local tuneage now available includes Born with Stripes, from surf-slackers the Donkeys, who will play an in-store at M-Theory for the event on Saturday, April 30; Best Days, by spiritual songsmith Steven Ybarra; Plague …

"Being in a band is like being married to four or five very different people at once,” says singer/songwriter Amanda Waggener. “And, let’s face it, being married to just one person is tough enough. I’ve …

“ASCAP does not track songs that are publicly performed in stadiums, which policy ASCAP has intentionally hid from composers,” according to a lawsuit filed by Bobby Kent, the former musical director for the Chargers. Kent …

“We only had a couple of records, but [the songs] were turning up everywhere and everybody was cashing in except us,” says singer-bassist James Ryan of ’70s punkers the Cardiac Kidz, whose recent reunion was …

Charlie Imes first earned local notice while playing guitar with local classic rockers Signs of Life and Against the Grain. For his 2008 solo debut, On an Island, he gathered nearly a dozen locals — …

“We’re busy getting the van in order and getting our T-shirts and CDs all packed up,” says singer-guitarist Jonny Q, whose band Privatized Air released their sophomore album Tomorrow or Something in February. “I booked …

“You’re a douchebag, that’s the only explanation/ for the same mistakes that you keep on making.” “Think of it as a public service announcement,” says Casbah bartender Ben Johnson, aka rapper Grammatical B, of “Rules …

Mandy Gasparich — aka Miz Mandy — is one of several female singers from the local pop band Liquid Blue to go from BlueGirl to solo recording artist. “Historically, my music has been pop and …

“We’re trying to make some decent money doing a Black Keys kind of thing,” says Rick Harchol, one half of the relatively new duo C&H, featuring electric guitar, light drums, and a loop pedal. Since …

Research into Elvis Presley’s first California concerts over the first week of April, 1956, has yielded new material about the San Diego dates, including unpublished photos of the rock icon backstage at the long-gone San …

O.B. alt-rock quartet Pretty Too Bad will release their debut full-length, Balloons, at the Casbah on Friday, April 1. April 2, nu-wavers the Very will launch The Discovery (Aural Gravy) with a release party at …

When A.J. Croce was a week past his second birthday, his father, singer-songwriter Jim Croce, died in a September 1973 plane crash. A few years after A.J. and his mother Ingrid arrived in San Diego, …

When SixthDay’s debut Now Is the Time is launched March 26 with a show at Brick by Brick, it will include songs cowritten by their late drummer Andy Campbell, but not those tracks as recorded …

“I know he recently reinvented himself by dropping the ‘Young’ and just going by ‘Mass’,” says 40oz Chris of the San Diego rapper formerly known as Young Mass. Mass was recently arrested near Las Vegas …

“The word ‘steampunk’ initially described a subgenre of science fiction,” says Eric Chamberlin, aka Professor J.S. Greyshade, cofounder and resident DJ of Queen Bee’s monthly steampunk club Chrononaut. “In its original literary definition, steampunk imagines …

Picture Head is a compilation of all-new tracks from six La Mesa bands, scheduled for a summer release on the neighborhood-based Quasi Recordings label. “Our goal is to bring our tiny La Mesa music community …

“I’m working with promoter Sid Bernstein, the man who brought the Beatles to America and promoted their famed 1965 Shea Stadium gig,” says singer-songwriter Gary Ra’chac. “Believe it or not, Sid is recording his first …

New this week is the debut from Middle Brother, featuring Delta Spirit singer Matthew Vasquez alongside Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and John McCauley (Deer Tick). A free download of the track “Me Me Me” is available …

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What if you threw your own sci-fi hip-hop musical and nobody came? “The seat count was 18 out of 803,” says Keven Porter Jr., who rented the Poway Center for the Performing Arts on January …

ABC promos for the new Matthew Perry sitcom Mr. Sunshine refer to his character as managing a “second-rate San Diego sports arena.” “They had a scout from the production company come down here around a …

“Pretty little harmonies with a pretty little lady,” is how Veronica May describes the music of the Lovebirds, her new performance duo with Lindsay White. May — whose parents fronted the 1970s band the Flatlanders …

Within 24 hours of being uploaded to YouTube in mid-January, the video for Laura Roppé’s song “George Clooney” earned her over 20,000 views and an interview with Billboard Magazine. As of this writing, Billboard has …

“The dancers had heard of the band and the song, but it was the dancers’ mothers that were freaking out,” says local singer Eric Sage, whose band the Bay City Rollers Featuring Ian Mitchell filmed …

The dark cabaret known as Tragic Tantrum launches their debut album Mirror, Mirror with a February 4 release party at Hillcrest’s Ruby Room. “The set will consist of the usual theatrics, drama, and some newly …

Zillion Happy Volts takes its name from the surreal 1989 art-house film Dr. Caligari. “It’s one of my all-time favorite cult movies,” says singer Davit Buck, who formerly fronted the Homeless Sexuals. “The phrase is …

“I play alternative folk rock, with a twist of the blues,” says San Diego singer-songwriter Reverend Stickman. “The music is a guitar-driven and an unconventional fusion of Americana and alternative. Most of my songs are …

“I was just trying to get on television,” says über-collector and longtime eBay hawker Duane Dimock. It was while haunting Kobey’s swap meet and the garage-sailing circuit that Dimock first heard that the TV program …

The Groove Kitties are an all-girl group featuring San Diego performers Cathryn Beeks (Gandhi Method), Marcia Claire (Coyote Problem), Becky Fleming (the Ordeal), Garrison Bailey, and Nancy Bee. “I used to play in a female …

Steven Van Zandt, guitarist for the E Street Band, has described the Nashville Ramblers’ song “The Trains” as “one of the most gorgeous instances of romantic yearning disguised as a pop song.” The local group’s …

On December 29, In Motion Trio — temporarily a quintet renamed In Motion Trio+2 — had a release party at Lestat’s for their album The Barefoot Race. Also new this week is Someday, a solo …

“People were incredibly generous, sending me contact info for gigs and helping me track down places to sleep,” says Americana singer Jesse LaMonaca, who recently completed a self-booked tour of Australia. The trek was financed …

A LITTLE OLD-SCHOOL GLAMOUR “What does he do, this man you seek?…He covets…And how do we begin to covet, Clarice?…We begin by coveting what we see every day.” — Dr. Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of …

Why do DJs make up pseudonyms, rather than use their given name? “Hiding behind an alias is a fun and elusive feeling,” says local studio DJ Snaps Provolone (not his real name). “Making up a …

Having weathered a dozen lineup changes over nine years, Roxy Monoxide play their final gig on Saturday, December 18, at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge. Singer-guitarist Scott Samuels concedes they failed to reinvent themselves following the departure …

“There are many sides of Endoxi ,” says singer-guitarist Chris Wilson. “There’s the Mozart got drunk on Metallica’s wine and flew to space on a rock ’n’ roll rocket ship side. Then there’s the 1940s …

“December marks the tenth anniversary of me doing Cover Me Badd events in San Diego,” says front man Adam Gimbel. CMB’s comedic assault on tribute-band culture involves performing as eerily accurate — but nonetheless ridiculous …

Featuring former members of Destroy the Runner and As I Lay Dying, retro rockers Chapter 14 drop a new five-song EP this week, Like Trees in November, which — like the band’s name — is …

“We play a broad mix of acoustic and electronic styles,” says Nathan Samuels, who programs the melodies and beats for downtempo trip-hop trio XIV. The band uses an array of keyboards, guitars, trumpets, and analog …

Founded in 2004 as an internet-based operation, TakeLessons has grown from 6 local employees (all still with the company) to over 40 staffers working in customer support, student sales, teacher-hiring, marketing, software development, and operations. …

“I remember sitting on Brian’s couch in his studio with a trash can in my hands, in case I were to lose my cookies,” recalls Scott West, who recorded his new California Christmas album with …

Folk troubadour Roy Ruiz Clayton was raised in the steel-mill town of Fontana, California, before moving on his own to San Diego at age 16. “I started writing songs while playing guitar at an early …

“We converted the original video into 3D for Slash and did the deal with him,” says Steve Glum of PassmoreLab on Morena Boulevard. The Bay Park–based company, founded here in 2003 by Greg Passmore, produced …

Gayle Skidmore’s CD-release show for Make Believe happens November 13 at the Ruby Room. “I played over a dozen instruments on the album and took over a year and a half to record it,” reports …

Of Sons and Ghosts are based in North Park and played their debut gig in May 2010. “The band is named after the recent departure of three of our most influential father figures,” says singer-keyboardist …

“I’m starting to think I should just start busking every day instead of looking for jobs,” says Incomplete Neighbor guitarist Tyson Zamora. “Busking pays a lot better.” The band recently pared down to a three-piece …

“I won’t know for a month if I’ll get called back for the show,” says comedic singer-songwriter Ron Hill — aka Happy Ron — who auditioned October 23 for the upcoming sixth season of America’s …

“My inspiration growing up was Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole,” says jazz singer Jesse Davis, whose first solo gig in Las Vegas came courtesy of a recommendation from Frank Sinatra. “I’ve been compared to …

“It’s kind of disheartening to put so much work into a CD, get it up on iTunes and Amazon, and then have someone just make it available for anyone to steal,” says singer-guitarist Scott Samuels …