“The cops keep shutting us down,” says Aaron Witherell, who has been staging outdoor concerts with friends at “the Yard,” a makeshift performance space outside a four-unit rental property on 17th Street, between Imperial and …

Brain Bucket's song “You Rock ’n’ Roll,” from the band’s new album, is featured in the upcoming film Lonely Street. “It’s about the ‘Second Coming’ of Elvis,” says guitarist Chris Kelly. “It stars Jay Mohr, …

“I was brought to San Diego via the hand of the judicial system,” says Chris Powers, aka 3ntra-P, one half of the hip-hop duo Clay Pigeons. Born and raised in San Luis Obispo, he says, …

Forty-two years ago today — September 11, 1966 — Del Mar was renamed “Clarksville” as part of a promotion for the Monkees’ TV show to debut the following night. The Sunday event marked the first …

When Kid Rock appears at Pala Casino on Wednesday, September 17, his dressing room requires a clothes rack with 12 hangers, a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of hair conditioner, a pack of white crew …

Infant massage educator Suzanne P. Reese is releasing a CD, Talk to Me, with music intended to be sung along while massaging infants. The album is a musical follow-up to her book Baby Massage: Soothing …

“We just had Lol Tolhurst, one of the founding members of the Cure, sit in with us,” says Zippy Twombly of the Cured, a local tribute group. The British drummer joined Twombly’s band onstage for …

Before Willie Nelson plays Harrah’s Rincon Casino on Sunday, September 7, he requires the venue to post a $5000 deposit with the William Morris Agency and another $10,000 “shall be presented to the Artist’s representative, …

“We are the creators of the personal paparazzi phenomenon,” says Reggie Waller, president of Private Paparazzi, which he calls “the first company to offer an authentic paparazzi experience.… They’ll never know you aren’t famous.” The …

Comedic singer-songwriter Happy Ron – aka Ronald Hill – recently attended a weeklong “How Music Really Works” seminar/retreat in Canada. “On one of the last days,” says Hill, “I had the opportunity to perform my …

“Eyes on first class from Cleveland to San Diego/ Will I return or stay, though my enemies don’t want me to go/ From snow to sunshine, it never rains, they lied/ But I rather move …

“ ‘The Motherhouse’ and ‘The Ascended Master Moves On (Hang Gliding in Heaven)’ are our homage to Father Yod, the spiritual master of musical vegetarianism,” says Eric Nielsen of High Mountain Tempel. The two songs …

“The Static Lounge show was great, until that shooting during the last set by Cherry Chuck Gang,” says 40oz Chris of Massterpiece Entertainment, who helped promote the August 7 “DayGo Unity Concert.” The downtown event …

With a band name like Moontucky Risin, you might expect to hear Southern-fried or Cajun-cooked rock, perhaps with a side of bluegrass or a pinch of rockabilly. And that’s what listeners got, back when cofounders …

+44 bassist Mark Hoppus filed a lawsuit on August 11 against Missicom LLC of San Diego, alleging the firm embezzled funds “to the tune of over 1.5 million dollars.” Hoppus’s attorney, Howard King, says, “This …

Moondoggies in PB has been found in contempt of court for substituting generic energy drinks for Red Bull without telling patrons who order the beverage by its brand name. “This is the second time that …

Twenty-five years ago today (8/14/83), Peter Gabriel performed at SDSU’s outdoor amphitheatre with the Call as opening act. Though battling marital problems and dealing with financial trouble due to his failed Womad festival, Gabriel pulled …

“I’ve always enjoyed music and singing,” says singer/songwriter Jodi V, “but I grew up in a religious household, so singing anywhere else but at church was not an option.” Her first public performance was at …

“Dance, like words, is a form of expression, a way of explaining who we are,” says Adelaide of the Shimmy Sisters, a belly-dancing duo she formed in 2006 with her sister Leilainia. “A dance can …

Twenty-nine years ago this week (8/5/79), Jack Murphy Stadium hosted Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, UFO, Pat Travers, and Shakin’ Street. To launch the all-day show, promoter Marc Berman battled the fire department over attendees …

Local hip-hop artists Kayo, Play B, and Young Mass are joining forces as the Three Rappers. “We’re doing it mainly because there is a lack of unity [in San Diego],” says Kayo. “We got Bloods …

Local singer/songwriter Charlie Imes’s new album includes the song “Worst Presnadent Ever,” featuring the George W. Bush impersonator from Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. “James Adomian is also the guy always playing Bush …

Local power trio Off Track recently paid for a recording session with A-list producer Ryan Greene (NOFX, Megadeth, Guitar Hero 3). “We looked briefly at local studios and even thought about recording it ourselves,” says …

“My checkered past includes skippering a tugboat on the San Francisco Bay and sinking boats as a brown-water river sailor with the Vietnamese Navy,” says blues singer/guitarist Jeffrey Joe Morin. “As soon as I left …

It’s been almost a year since James Benham, a former Navy SEAL, was found guilty of two felony counts of assault. He’s still yet to be sentenced for those crimes and two misdemeanor counts related …

Before hip-hop duo Gnarls Barkley plays the Infield Stage at the Del Mar Racetrack on Saturday, July 26, the venue is required to purchase one million dollars of insurance “to cover all claims, liabilities and/or …

Comedy Central debuts its new version of The Gong Show tonight with host Dave Attell. In 1980, local band Four Eyes appeared on the original show, which was mostly known for the participants’ lack of …

Village People policeman Victor Willis underwent surgery at a local hospital on July 7, reportedly to remove nodules from his vocal cords. The former singer tried to launch a comeback last year with his first …

Several music-themed events will take place at downtown’s Comic-Con International, beginning July 24. Rapper Method Man will promote his upcoming eponymous comic book from the Hachette Book Group. The former Wu-Tang Clan member will do …

According to Tijuana’s La Prensa newspaper, on June 21, Mexican federal agents raided the Little Devil social hall in Tijuana. They reported seizing thousands of rounds of ammunition, 19 high-caliber weapons, and a pound of …

At the beginning of June, Greg Laswell’s songs were picked up by the Muzak canned-music firm, which is developing what it calls the “audio architecture” for Courtyard Hotel lobbies. In addition, two tracks from Laswell’s …

Many songs have been written about brothels, from “House of the Rising Sun” and “La Grange” to the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Add to that list “Adelita’s Song,” by Vegas-based Adelitas Way; …

A Scribe Amidst the Lions singer/guitarist Kristofer Towne says the band was unloading before a recent gig at L.A.’s Viper Room when… “Out of nowhere, a speeding car [was] careening into the parking lot at …

Atlantic Records filed a lawsuit against Scott Weiland and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots on June 12, demanding that the reunited band live up to its record contract to deliver new albums. The lawsuit, …

“By the time we went on stage, everybody had been drinking all night,” says singer Richard Gwaltney of a recent House of Blues gig featuring his Guns N’ Roses tribute band Dust N’ Bones. “About …

“As a singer, I sound like Elvis Presley, no matter how hard I try not to,” says James Kruk, who disbanded his former group Fake Booby Judy and became, for a time, one of Poland’s …

Nautical Disaster plays bluesy pop with a dose of ’80s new wave to keep things clubworthy. The three-piece rose from the ashes of the Daffodils, who split in July 2006. “Everything was going great,” says …

You may not be familiar with guitarist Greg Douglass, but you’ve probably heard him play — he cowrote and played on the Steve Miller Band hit “Jungle Love” (1977), performed on Greg Kihn’s single “Jeopardy” …

Local hip-hop artist Young Mass says he “… can’t take this disrespect from none of them stick-up-the-ass Aftermath niggas.” He’s talking about onetime collaborators Dr. Dre and Dre’s studio staff at Aftermath Entertainment. “Karma swings …

“I moved to San Diego in the 1980s and intended to earn a living as a musician,” says author R.J. McDonnell, whose just-released Rock & Roll Homicide novel is set amidst the local music scene. …

When Ted Nugent appears at the House of Blues on June 10, his catering contract states, “Absolutely no takeout meals will be deemed acceptable, i.e. McDonald’s, Fish and Chips, Weinerworld, Chinese, etc.” His dressing room …

War Stories is fronted by singer-keyboardist Evan Robinson who, though he wasn’t born in San Diego, has lived here for most of his life and has “San Diego” tattooed on his knuckles. He says the …

“We kicked 2 Live Crew off the tour today,” said local musician-turned-promoter Willie Carter (aka Willie Psycho) on May 20. Just days before, he’d sent out a press release touting the Crew’s “comeback.” According to …

“I had show offers before I even had band members, as far away as Texas,” says drummer Doug Smith of Nite Romantics, a Duran Duran tribute band that debuted this month at the new Channel …

While Elvis Presley’s popularity in the U.S. was high in May 1959, Mexico was in the midst of a huge anti-Elvis backlash. Tijuana tabloids called him a racist and homosexual after the singer reportedly told …

San Diego’s Trummerflora Collective is intended to “provide a network of support for San Diego’s experimental and improvised music community.” The musicians seem very sincere, and most have extensive academic credits, but I confess I …

A craigslist post by the San Diego Repertory Theatre is generating controversy online. An upcoming production of The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea musical was seeking “AFRICAN AMERICAN singers, actors, dancers, and musicians” for what …

Happy Songs About the War, a one-man musical developed by local singer-songwriter J.D. Boucharde, debuts May 25 at Compass Theatre (formerly 6th@Penn) in Hillcrest. “It’s a dramatic, semi-fictional production,” says Boucharde, “using multimedia, monologues, humor, …

Fairfield Fats Band guitarist George Davis is probably best known by his artistic alias Geo, a longtime local-concert-poster artist whose work centers around hard-rock shows. “I began by doing a banner many years ago for …

“We played on the rooftop of the venue,” says local ’70s cult bandleader Gary Wilson of an April 26 gig at Sunset Boulevard’s Eighteen-Thirty club. “We went on about 12:45 a.m. I’m surprised the cops …