“I used to sell 78s to Robert Crumb,” says Folk Arts Rare Records owner Louis Curtiss of the cartoonist and musician whose Book of Genesis: Illustrated currently tops the New York Times’ hardcover graphic books …

Acoustic minimalist Drew Andrews, between Via Satellite and Album Leaf projects, debuts a new solo CD at the Casbah on January 13. The dual record-release party includes Boomsnake, plugging their new EP and 7” Re/Visions, …

“After being in the local scene for two years, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go,” says singer-songwriter Kenny Eng, who cites three factors that he feels are most responsible for failing at …

Pathology’s newest singer, Pascual Romero (Strangled by Strangulation), marks the metal band’s third vocalist this year; Mason Gregory left in early ’09, and Matti Way departed in September, coming after the previous defection of singer-guitarist …

“It seems like we don’t fit in with what’s going on in San Diego and everyone hates us,” says John Wayne Gacy Daycare singer Davit Buck. “Maybe it’s our name,” he says, referring to the …

“I was married in Virginia when I was 23, with a career and a business suit, but I gave it all up to play music in Southern California,” says singer-songwriter Megan Combs, who arrived in …

Experimental electric-soul songsmiths Children of Nova came together in summer 2007, featuring members of Atlas of Id and Temperature Delete. After releasing a three-song EP, they bought a van and spent much of 2008 touring …

“About a year ago, I decided I wanted to form a country band,” says Tim Raldo, best known for his confrontational and scatological stage antics fronting the punk band the Filthy Fuks. “The Ramblin’ Outlaws …

The Ambassador is the stage name of singer-guitarist Stephen Gabriel Lewis. “I adopted the title because of the passion I have for travel abroad,” he says, “and because of something my mother used to say …

When Michelle Branch plays the Star 94.1 Jingle Ball at Anthology on Sunday, December 13, the band dressing room requires a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts (“plain glazed only”), a pack of flip-tab tuna in water …

“There were maybe two venues in Harrisonburg for people to play,” says Inside Switch singer-guitarist Peter Hicks, who with bandmate and brother David Hicks (bass) moved the entire band from Virginia to San Diego last …

“I’ve done a lot of wild rock-star interviews,” says Kaos Tom, who hosts The Kaos Nation Show, a live video broadcast program at aiiradio.net. Regarding Metal Mike Saunders of the Angry Samoans, he says, “I …

Crown City Sessions is the second full-length from the Riders, whose studio posse included Dire Straits producer Guy Fletcher and saxophonist Buddy Leach (George Thorogood and the Destroyers). “It was recorded on a rented mobile …

“In my show, you touch and are touched,” says one-man-band Jeffrey Beringer, aka Mono Mono, whose cheeky act crosses KC and the Sunshine Band with the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. “The music is electronic and …

“I am the author of The Source and one of Father Yod’s 14 wives,” announced Isis Aquarian in an email to me last year. She was inquiring about a “Blurt” concerning High Mountain Tempel, whose …

When Fox TV airs tonight’s episode of its new hit Glee (over two million songs sold online), you may recognize some local ladies in the tough-looking Jane Adams School for Delinquent Girls band, including Emily …

The Nervous Wreckords — founded by former Louis XIV front man Brian Karscig and Anthony Saffery of the U.K. band Cornershop — have just returned from their first U.S. tour opening for the Killers and …

“I play acoustic rock with a twist of country and a dash of the blues,” says Eddie Jason Coven, who arrived in San Diego in 2004 after a two-year stint as a musician-for-hire throughout Northern …

“I once watched Norton play a blazing version of ‘Turkey in the Straw’ at a party on a piece-of-shit toy harmonica that was about one inch long,” says local musician Greg Douglass of Norton Buffalo, …

“We filed a claim today against the city [of San Marcos] on nine different counts,” says Matt Hall, operator of the Jumping Turtle since February 2003. The lawsuit alleges harassment, intentional and negligent infliction of …

“Nobody is safe from getting something snuck into a drink,” according to Syndicate bassist Tim Nelson, who says someone surreptitiously slipped band vocalist Chase Shelton a “roofie” before a Ken Club gig. “Chase and I …

Family Wagon have a new EP they’ll be playing and selling October 31 at Side Bar’s Acoustic Halloween show, while the Robin Henkel Band is bringing in a horn section for the release of Steel …

Said ya can’t dis the homie for free/ If anyone’s gonna talk shit, it’s gonna be me “Somebody suggested that the song might not be such a good idea because I might burn a bridge,” …

“There seems to be a lot of folks around town who believe Superunloader is a Led Zeppelin tribute,” says band manager Jason “Yogi” Peretson. “Although they’ve been known to do a show or two of …

“Imagine the Spice Girls singing Beatles songs,” says bassist Nam Chi Vu of the Penny Lanes, an all-female Fab Four tribute that also includes singer-guitarist Vanja James. “I based the name after the Beatles song, …

“So far, Deicide is the only show I haven’t been able to move up here,” says Joe Troutman, who last week walked away from his four-year job booking the Jumping Turtle in San Marcos to …

Most tracks on the Best of Daygo City hip-hop compilation are exclusive to the project, a likely factor behind Jake Records picking it up for distribution through retailers, iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby. Among its …

Before Barry Manilow plays the Sports Arena on Sunday, October 18, “Barry’s fan club shows up at 11 a.m. to decorate his dressing room.” Security must be manning hallway doors by 3 p.m. because “Barry …

“I played a song in my after-school dance class, a job that I had for five years [and] this song mentioned the name ‘Christ,’ ” says former Lemon Grove arts teacher Kathy Villalobos. “This name…seemed …

Electro-dance-punky quartet the Attack!! was founded in 2008 by singer-guitarist Ivan Tamayo (Kiss Me Katelynn, Suspect Jones) and drummer Bryan Famous (London Ghost Show). After playing their first gig at L.A.’s Viper Room, they were …

“I moved to Paris to pursue my own music as a composer,” says San Diego singer-guitarist Nick Norton (a Park Tradition, Honest Iago), who last year was awarded a scholarship by the European American Musical …

“We’re not an Apple licensee, so we have to be careful how we market them,” says Digital Group Audio president Erik Groset, creator of the portable Livespeakr system, designed (but not licensed) for iPhones and …

Formed in 2003, Roxy Monoxide launch their album Another Day, Another Episode on Friday, October 9, with a release party at Tio Leo’s in Linda Vista. “We’ll definitely be throwing a few surprises in there …

Thirty-nine years ago this week, on October 4, 1970, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention played the Peterson Gym at SDSU. The newly formed Mothers featured former Turtles singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, …

Honest Iago’s album-release party for Straight on ’Til Morning happens Thursday, September 24, at Dream Street. “People can expect a lot of instrument switching with horns and electronics and such,” says singer-guitarist Nick Norton, who …

“We’re putting two and a half million dollars into the building,” says Ernie Hahn, general manager of the Sports Arena for the past 13 years. “It’s been a year since AEG Live became a majority-owner …

The East West Quintet may be Brooklyn-based, but three of the band’s five members are from San Diego and migrated east, hence the band name. “My parents are both members of the San Diego Symphony,” …

“I don’t feel I should have been nominated for the award,” says Jimmy Powers of his Best Hip-Hop nomination by tonight’s San Diego Music Awards at Viejas. “I’ve only released a limited-press EP.… I think …

Before Kansas plays Valley View Casino on Saturday, September 12, they need an “articulate female volunteer for merchandise sales” who must be “available one hour prior to doors opening and to remain one hour after …

“I’m a serial collaborator,” says Christopher Leyva of Blizzard and Revolution 89. In addition to his band projects, Leyva has collaborated with Greg Laswell, Phil Solem (the Rembrandts), Steve Poltz, members of Louis XIV, producer …

“The first concert I ever saw was Assassin in early 1985, at Straita Head Sound in La Mesa,” says Deep Shag Records exec Michael Reed, who ended up running the band’s fan club. “They were …

“I heard about the Tenori-On when it was being test-marketed in the U.K. in 2007,” says Eric Van der Wyk, aka King Tet, reportedly the ninth person in the U.S. to obtain the experimental Japanese …

Rachael Gordon’s sound, style, and her very life play like something out of the late ’70s. Musically, she says, “I’m into all sorts of things. There’s some garage rock, some power pop, and some folk. …

“After seven and a half years hosting Lestat’s open mike,” says MC Isaac Cheong, “I stepped down so I could take an opportunity to work in Sydney, Australia.” Performers who cut their teeth at Lestat’s …

F.u.z.z. will have their Tentacle CD-release party at the Ruby Room on Saturday, August 29. “Expect Tim Felton [Genius of Soul] to be sitting in on keys,” says the band, “plus some projected visuals, and …

As San Diego’s Nathan Williams of Wavves recovers from breaking his wrist in a skateboarding accident, another local, who says skateboarding nearly killed him, is vying for an opening slot on the local Warped Tour …

“When people ask what I’m like onstage,” says Lindsay White, “I tell them to imagine Bob Dylan with a skirt.” The soulful singer-songwriter got her local start playing open mikes around town at venues like …

“I wrote a song that became a children’s book,” says New Archaic singer-violinist Alicia Previn, who will perform “The Earthworm Song” at an August 9 release party for The Earthworm Book at Escondido’s Stone Brewery. …

When Badfinger appears at Humphrey’s HippieFest on Sunday, August 2, the band (discovered and launched by the Beatles in the late ’60s) will be fronted by the sole surviving member from its glory days, singer-guitarist …

Rise of the Speedmen began as Gene Padigos’s one-man stage show, featuring electronic prerecorded music accompanied live by various instruments, from guitar to synth, bass, and drums. “I got most of my gear with insurance …