Twenty-nine years ago tomorrow – 5/16/79 – the Police played the long-gone Roxy club on Cass Street in Pacific Beach. Broadcast live on 101.5/KGB-FM, the performance was widely bootlegged, the most common version being San …

“Chasers is the new Scolari’s,” singer Vv Morgue says of the North Park bar. “Scolari’s no longer has bands, so their crew all moved on over to Chasers to pick up the pieces.” Last year, …

When an abandoned 18-foot boat loaded with marijuana washed ashore April 21 at Sunset Cliffs, a KUSI News reporter interviewed one damp, long-haired, shirtless witness who called the huge stash “the harvest of Neptune.” The …

Hank Easton is the guitarist for the Steely Damned, a local Steely Dan tribute band also featuring members of Rockola. The New York native began playing guitar at age five and was classically trained as …

When Alicia Keys appears at the Sports Arena on Wednesday, May 7, promoters are advised that “Alicia only eats fish and vegetables, no chicken, no beef, and no pork.” Her dressing room requires a hummus …

Growing up, Greg Laswell says he confiscated his sister’s upright piano after she showed no interest in the instrument. “It was my sister’s 13th birthday present, but she never got into it…I remember waiting for …

Local pop act bill recently returned from Toronto, Canada, where their new album End of the Hits was mixed by Steve Thompson, famed for his work on Guns N’ Roses’ hit disc Appetite for Destruction. …

Singer-songwriters Eve Selis and Mattie Mills have written a book, Forty Schmorty: Life Keeps Happening. “During the process of writing the book,” says Selis, “Mattie was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 45, and I …

“We’re here to make a stand for all who have been picked on, kicked on, but never licked on,” says singer/guitarist Eugene Over. His band the Pocket Protectors takes its sound from ’80s Freedom Rock …

Alan Iglesias says his Stevie Ray Vaughan show is more a “recreation” than a tribute. “Looks, appearances, and body language are extremely important if you want to present a world-class act,” he says, “but never …

Fifty-two years ago – on April 6, 1956 – Elvis Presley played his first public California concert at the San Diego Arena on Eighth and Harbor Drive (a.k.a. Glacier Garden). “I introduced him [to the …

“Amber Ojeda has aligned herself with Sellaband, which connects performers to investors interested in their music,” says Sharon Holleran of A&R Management. “It’s a free service the artist signs up for, where believers buy stock …

“I wasn’t mentally stable on that first record,” said Tom DeLonge recently to the Ventura County Reporter; DeLonge referred to the 2006 Angels and Airwaves disc We Don’t Need to Whisper. “I was spun out …

Miki Vale hails from Oxnard, California, making her musical debut on The Awakening, a 2004 compilation album from SGM (Sleeping Giant Music). In 2006 she collaborated with fellow Oxnard hip-hop artist Kankick for a 7” …

“I’m pretty anti-karaoke, so we encourage people to pick really bad songs, to sing as badly as they like,” says Rookie Card front man Adam Gimble. His “Too Cool for Karaoke” event debuts this week …

Samuel Lopez says tomorrow night’s show with noise artist Justice Yeldham and the San Diego Noise Crew promises to be a unique evening. “What can you say about a guy who plays a sheet of …

“After watching the lyrics come true with Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and Britney Spears, I decided to pull the song from the Web,” says singer/songwriter Scott Wilson of “She Won’t Stop,” his ode to fame …

Many hip-hop artists describe themselves as activists, but Southeast San Diego native Bennie Herron fits that bill more than most. With a master’s degree in social work and a bachelor of arts in psychology from …

Mower is looking for both a guitarist and drummer. Front man Brian Sheerin admits the band has seen its share of drummers. “One dropped out after the last tour,” he recently told metalunderground.com. “Then we …

“So, last night I got hit in the head by an empty glass Maker’s Mark bottle,” said As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa after a February 24 gig in Sydney, Australia. “While it did …

“Ultimately, this music is our attempt to add a tile or two to the fluid mosaic that is California and its mythology,” says Eric Nielsen, one half of experimental space-rock duo High Mountain Tempel. “It’s …

DJ and recording artist Jon Bishop has been at the forefront of the Southern California techno scene since 1991. His radio show Sounds of the Underground on 92.5 FM was one of the first electronica/techno …

Singer/guitarist Kyle Phelan was honing his rock chops while still in high school, crafting his first album at the age of 17. After graduation he kept busy appearing in concerts, on the radio, and on …

Local music lover Stacie Somers is so mad about her iPod’s limitations, she’s suing Apple. Her lawsuit seeks class-action status, contending that Apple monopolizes the music-player industry because iPods and the online iTunes music store …

Escondido music instructor Linda Menendez locates songwriters and musicians for Rhino and Sony Records, companies that pay her to track down outstanding royalty recipients and deliver accrued funds. "It's pretty cool to see the reaction …

Before saxophonist Chris Klich founded his Jazz Quintet, he played club and corporate events with the Mar Dels, who have taken their act around the world. "When we traveled to Macau in China, I had …

Drummer Freddie Fontaine once spent six months touring with the Blue Man Group. "I was with the band; I wasn't a Blue Man," says the longtime local wedding-band vet. "It was still a difficult audition, …

San Diego ranked number 17 in U.S. terrestrial radio-market earnings last year, with the 45 stations in operation generating around $203 million of income. The same Arbitron ratings show the two most-listened-to local stations are …

Louis XIV formed in early 2003 when former members of alt-country locals Convoy chose sexed-up pop over redneck rock. In January 2005 the Illegal Tender EP, self-released on their own Pineapple Recording Group label, popped …

Fifty on Their Heels manager Scott Pactor offers advice on how bands can land repeat paying gigs: "Low bar total equals failure, high bar total equals success," he blogs at catdirtsez.blogspot.com. "The success of the …

"I broke my ankle playing a singing, dancing mermaid on the Disney Cruise Line."

"Tori [Amos] was screaming and swearing at two girls in the front row," reads a post on the toriforum message board concerning the singer's December 12 concert at Copley Symphony Hall. A YouTube video posted …

When K.C. & the Sunshine Band appear at 4th&B on Saturday, December 29, KC's dressing room requirements include a bucket of fried chicken ("fresh"), a large bag of Ruffles ("light"), a deli tray of meat …

James Brown died about one year ago, on Christmas day. Greyboy Allstars saxophonist/singer Karl Denson played with Brown five years ago -- 12/21/02 -- when Brown made a surprise appearance at Madison Square Garden with …

"I hope it's a long lunch, 'cause I have a long list of things to cover with Dubya."

Hundreds of Placebo fans submitted video of themselves lip-synching to the band's cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill." The band made a video consisting of fan-made clips. Local singer/songwriter Roberta Hofer's work was …

Nearly 22 years ago -- on 12/15/85, the Dead Kennedys played one of their final shows with original singer Jello Biafra at downtown's California Theatre. As the set wrapped up, fans tore up the seats …

"My boyfriend, Marine captain David T. Russell, just got sent to Iraq for the third time," says singer/songwriter Jenn Grinels. "There are a couple of songs on the new album that deal with his past …

"Our shows include a band, vaudeville, black-light puppets, aerialists, flame-handlers, jugglers, magic, sideshow performers, and just about anything else you can think of," says Glenn Allen, music director for the Technomania Circus. While putting together …

Twenty-eight years ago this week, Bob Dylan brought his Gospel Tour to Golden Hall for two nights -- November 27 and 28, 1979 -- during which he was reportedly booed during monologues about his newfound …

Some gems from November posts on the San Diego Musicians page at craigslist.org: "Looking for some people to jam with. I'm not looking for the best.... Must be willing to piss off neighbors, must like …

Since 2002, the insectoid stage outfits worn by the Locust have been created by fashion designer Ben Warwas. "The first outfits I did were green, with masks that had mesh over the eyes," he says. …

Record labels and music publishers owned by EMI are suing locally based MP3tunes for copyright infringement. MP3tunes owner Michael Robertson is named in the suit, which accuses MP3tunes' sideload.com of illegally providing free access to …

"I always wonder how such brilliant musicians could be so unsatisfied with themselves when they have the ability to create art that touches so many people."

High Mountain Tempel's new CD, A Screaming Comes Across the Sky, includes the song "Fluctuat Nec Mergitur," which pays homage to Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the Church Universal and Triumphant. "She had a free cable-access …

When Ozzy Osbourne plays the Sports Arena on Tuesday, November 20, the venue "must have a real ear, nose, and throat doctor on site [and] must be able to administer if required a B12 shot …

The just-released Madonna tribute Through the Wilderness includes the Prayers, who cover her 1989 single "Cherish." "We originally wanted to do the song 'Like a Prayer,' " says singer/sax player Brandon Welchez, "not only because …

Casbah patron Marc Pierce got a surprise October 27 while watching Southern Culture on the Skids perform. "About three-quarters of the way through the show," he blogs, "midway through the song, [guitarist] Rick [Miller] pulls …

I was homeless exactly one year, from March 2001 to March 2002. I'd known it was coming, and I even sort of welcomed the impending challenge(s), but I had no idea how long it would …

Mike Stax moved from the U.K. to San Diego in 1981 to join his favorite band, the Crawdaddys. Two years later Stax launched Ugly Things magazine. "We cover underground garage bands, many of them obscure …