Ariel Iribe (Monochromacy, Beware We Are the Werewolves of Belial) describes his synth-pop band Armoire as “a lucid dream that takes inspiration from pastel synths and nostalgic pop music, with echoing drum machines and gliding …

Dream Tonic is a classically trained pianist whose new EDM EP is called Essence. “Although this entire EP has songs of darkness intermingled with hope,” she says, “there is one particular song, ‘Spark,’ that stands …

“I make homegrown, Americana, rock, country, Latin music” says singer-songwriter Brenda Gail, who recently released a single for “Holiday,” from her self-titled debut album. “It’s written by me and produced right here in San Diego …

Singer/guitarist Scott Samuels arrived in San Diego in 1988, going on to play with Roxy Monoxide, Roxy Dioxode, Kitten’s Pharmacy, and A.M. Forever. His Scott Samuels Band made their concert debut at Navajo Live in …

Native San Diego guitarist Dave Gilbert’s old Kiss tribute band once received a cease and desist letter from Kiss mainman Gene Simmons. He went on to play with Big Toe, whose bassist Mark Goffeney was …

Plant jam : Sixteen-year-old musician and aspiring botanist Isaac Guerrero attends San Diego Met High School on the campus of Mesa College, which he describes as “a college prep high school that allows students to …

Multi-instrumentalist Mario Rubalcaba has played with everyone from Thingy and Spider Fever to a 2002 regrouping of Battalion of Saints. He’s featured on a new edition of the outsider music podcast created by Three One …

Founded by singer-bassist Sol Turpin (40 Oz to Freedom), a San Diego native, Safety Orange followed their raucous debut full-length Life as a Fish with the equally rollicking Troll Rock High, earning themselves sponsorship deals …

Recently, I was browsing vintage local concert footage on Youtube and discovered a relatively new user in the process of uploading dozens of San Diego concerts secretly videotaped in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. …

“My street is super mellow,” says Oceanside singer-bassist Jason York, “and you can just stand in the middle of the road without too much traffic bugging you, other than the people that live here cruising …

“It was so rad hanging with Tony Hawk,” says 27 year-old singer Dani Miller, whose band Surfbort recently released a video for their track “Open Your Eyes” featuring the members battling local skateboard legend Hawk. …

Alt-rockers Delta Spirit learned their trade by playing a local club circuit that included the Beauty Bar, the Sports Club, and the Ken Club. They first garnered attention while touring with Tokyo Police Club, Clap …

Locust member Gabe Serbian reportedly passed away on April 30. "This world will miss Gabe as a friend, family member, musician, and artist," posted The Locust online. "He will continue to live on in so …

“My debut album was lost to the unforgiving digital gods due to a fried hard drive in 2001, so I’ve come out of a 20-year slumber to start making music again,” says Jordan Snodgrass, whose …

Singer Christopher Dale performed in bands like Grays Well and Superdoo, before becoming a solo artist and racking up nearly a dozen San Diego Music Awards nominations. Dale recently filmed an appearance in Santa Cruz …

The daughter of pianist, composer, and conductor André Previn and jazz singer Betty Bennett, Alicia Previn is a classically trained violinist who studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has played with …

“I’ve been seriously, with all heart and soul, committed to my local community for over 30 years,” says drummer Wade Youman (Unwritten Law, Demasiado, North Korea), whose new band Spray Allen is an alternative rock …

A new single and video were produced for the new Wild Wild Wets track “Say So,” from their upcoming first album in four years, Love Always. The video was created using vintage 1980s video switchers …

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a music writer isn’t going to get rich plying his trade, but at least he’ll get free stuff: albums, concert tickets, swag, perhaps even the occasional backstage pass. …

Hip-hop group San Diablo Allstars will drop a new album around early May, currently being mixed and mastered with a new member in place of the late Van Bates, aka Black Hesher, who died in …

Work on the new album from Fine Then began on March 16, 2020, the day of the first covid stay-at-home announcement. Hugh J. Noble (Slum Summer, Seance Weather), who cofounded the band with Andrew Fitzgerald …

Americana band Mrs. Henry is teaming up with a fellow local, Eagles songwriter Jack Tempchin, for a live project called Drunkard’s Dream Arts & Music Festival. Tempchin is best known for penning “Peaceful Easy Feeling” …

Chris Leyva, who grew up in Mexico City, also books bands at venues around town and co-manages the Black Cherry Group. His group Falling Doves will release a new album via local label Pacific records …

This is a story about the summer of ‘79, but it starts a year earlier, circa mid-’78. That’s when I first drove into San Diego. Within minutes of my arrival, I was almost murdered — …

“I recall the show went very well, the band seemed to be in good spirits,” remembers XTC drummer Terry Chambers about the final concert that band ever played — in San Diego, circa March 1982. …

A vet of local bands such as Secret Seven, Divided by Zero, Ghoulspoon, and octogenarian Weezer tribute Geezer, Zach Goode has been announced as the new lead singer of 1990s alt-rock icons Smash Mouth, replacing …

Last year, Ethan Miller and his band Howlin Rain released their sixth studio album, The Dharma Wheel, which they described as “a six-track, 52-minute dive into a joyous fantasy realm of exaggerated present.” Having recently …

“I wanted to work with Miles Showell at the hallowed Abbey Road Studios in London, because he is perhaps the best mastering engineer in the world right now,” says Scott West about recording his new …

Singer/bassist Jin Salamack was originally from Hawaii before relocating to San Diego and co-founding pop-punk band Wanted Noise with San Diego singer-guitarist Suryendra Sherman. A seven song EP called Plate Lunch was released in 2017, …

From 1978 to 1985, James Call played with local punk icons the Penetrators. “Morgan Miller III and I have just finished the first issue of a new project, 2021 Book 1,” says Call of the …

“The Ché Café scene did so much to shape us as people and performers, but didn’t leave much of a historical record,” says former Noise 292 guitarist Matthew Rothenberg. Founded in 1980 as an all-ages …

April 1 will see the release of the sixth studio full-length from the Greyboy Allstars, Get a Job: Music from the Original Broadcast Series Soul Dream, released via the band’s own Knowledge Room Recordings label. …

Founded in Chula Vista, rock trio Los Saints features first-generation Mexican-Americans, including frontman Angel Mariscal, guitarist Gianluca Exposito, and drummer Emiliano Garcia. Their debut singles “I’m In Need” and “As Bad As the First” were …

Americana fiddle rockers Lexington Field specialize in punked up versions of classic traditional Celtic tunes like “The Wild Rover,” “The Old Black Rum,” “Pretty Irish Girl,” and “Molly Malone,” as well as original songs such …

“To be honest, when asked to describe my music, I won’t describe it,” says Justin Pearson. “I think words, specifically genres, are limiting and misleading. However, when I get asked what kind of music I …

Not So Stoopid "What do indie musicians and Tupperware have in common?" That's what an article in the June 20 issue of Newsweek ponders as it suggests local O.B. reggae-rockers Slightly Stoopid have tapped into …

“I started performing music in public during my high school years and had a successful band in Cleveland, Ohio back in the 1970s called Buckeye Biscuit,” says light classical jazz guitarist Ron Franklin. “We’re mentioned …

While still living in Chicago, singer-songwriter Tamar Berk played in power pop group Starball, known for their 2001 track “New Year’s Day” (“I wanted to write a holiday song”). She movied on to an electro-punk …

Academy Award-nominated Andra Day began singing at Chula Vista’s First United Methodist Church, then studied music at the School of Creative and Performing Arts. Her 2012 cover of Jessie J’s “Mamma Knows Best” peaked at …

It feels good to be a winner. Who doesn’t love being the best — or at least the first, or the luckiest? People congratulate you, make you feel special and singled out. And you get …

A songwriter since early childhood, Julia Sage plays Chilean folk, blues, and Americana. She performs bilingual songs as a solo artist, as part of Grampadrew’s Flim Flam Revue, and with her band the Bad Hombres. …

The Frequency Conspiracy features members of Raven, Last in Line, 24-7 Spyz, and Seventrain. Their Quarantine Covers album contains “Sailing” (Christopher Cross), “Carry On Wayward Son” (Kansas), “Life in the Fast Lane” (Eagles), “Hell Bent …

Online newspaper editors have been sitting on prepared obituaries for part-time Rancho Santa Fe resident Betty White, who just passed away at age 99, for as long as there's been an "online." The Reader has …

“This album has been a long time in the making,” says Julia Sage of her new full-length Desnuda. “We recorded three of the singles a long time ago now. ‘Ni de Aquí, Ni de All …

Since 1991, Kearny High grad Marc Intravaia has been collaborating musically with Eve Selis, who won Best Americana or Country at the 2008 San Diego Music Awards. “The best thing about maintaining a musical collaboration …

Mechanical engineer and musician Tristan Shone is the man behind the industrial drone-doom one-man band Author & Punisher. A new album called Krüller is due February 11 via Relapse Records, featuring newly upgraded musical machines, …

Fronted by Canada-born Sherri Anne, Sister Speak combines alt-blues rock with world music. “The idea was a collaboration of musicians supporting the expression of the woman’s voice through music,” says the spokesperson for local Taylor …

Local singer-songwriter and cinematographer Scott Wilson says he was taken by surprise when Saturday Night Live recently did a parody version of Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis” video in a musical sketch called “Walking in …

Western-tinged Dani Bell & the Tarantist is yet another band championed by local star Alfred Howard, who performs with the group and signed them to the label he co-owns, Redwoods Music. Singer Dani Bell (Boychick) …

According to a November 20 online message posted by pop-punk rockers Local Natives, “We covered a few songs for and were in last night’s episode of The Shrink Next Door streaming on Apple TV+. To …