The dreaded Purple Tier was back. This would be the final weekend before the most severe social distancing rules would again suspend indoor operations at restaurants and bars on November 14, potentially shutting down countless …

San Diego Music Awards nominee for Album of the Year, Hemisphere draws on rock, pop, jazz, fusion, and metal for inspiration. Their new album American Dreams includes guest players such as Grammy winning percussionist Tommy …

Hip-hop rocker Black Hesher, producer J. Andrew, and Michael Fairchild of the Spice Pistols have formed San Diablo Allstars, with a single for “Hatchback” now streaming. A debut album drops December 4 on 8-track tape, …

“We’re in Vermont,” says newly relocated comedic rock duo Pony Death Ride. “Seems neat. Met some musicians. We’ll never like the band Phish or the Patriots football team. We’ve made these promises to ourselves.” The …

The Zappa family moved to San Diego in 1954, where 13 year-old Frank began buying used records in a retail nook in the Maryland Hotel. One day, he spotted a record sale sign at a …

Ricky, the new solo project from Ricky Schmidt (Western Settings, Hey, Chels), has an 11-track solo album called Palm Trees dropping on November 13. “Palm Trees encompasses mid-2019 to pretty much the present time for …

"This kind of announcement is not easy, especially during a stressful time like this," according to an online post from Ted Wigler at Ocean Beach nightclub Winstons. "And since there is no way to sugarcoat …

“Smokelines is the product of our regional, cultural, and musical differences,” says San Diego-born Skylar Blaze Star, one half of a new musical duo with New Yorker Faith Gara. “We’ve combined my west coast sunset …

“Yes, the world has come undone a lot these days, but we are all in it together, and music helps get us through,” says Cardinal Moon by way of introducing their new album Come Undone, …

Mom's Cancer A comic exorcises Bryan Fies’s demons. If your mom were diagnosed with cancer, how would you deal with it? Comic creator Brian Fies decided to use sequential art to help cope and deal …

None Darker Than Me Racial obsession in 19th-century San Diego People of color were beginning to move into Sherman Heights and Golden Hill. There were colored Civil War veterans who lived in Golden Hill — …

Cathyrn Beeks first earned local notice in JunkQueen, the Gandhi Method, and her own band The Ordeal, as well as for launching her series of Listen Local band showcases around town and taking a turn …

Based in southeast San Diego, Cesar “Crhymes” Tellez first made his mark with Sicko Records and DagoSD.com, as well as hosting a Friday night Imperial Beach event called Club DagoSD and collaborating with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. …

“I’m putting out a new album this month,” says Bigfellas co-founder Charlie Recksieck, aka Chuck Charles. Bigfellas is known for bawdy tunes like “I Wish That I Were Gay” and their offbeat banjo cover of …

Soundtrack: Reader writers tell what music they would take to a deserted island The Woes Of A Woman In Love — Barbarella; Notes Give Pathos to Clouds — Laura McNeal; Trouble Man — Dodie Bellamy; …

Hugh J. Noble is a songwriter, musician, and singer from Wymeswold in the UK, currently living in San Diego (“There wasn’t much else to do in Wymeswold”) and a member of Slum Summer. “Since I …

“It was years in the making, a true labor of love,” says Andy Rasmussen of the new compilation CD he curated, Look Out! The San Diego Scene 1958-1973 – Rock & Roll, Garage, Psych, and …

Pronounced “man-you-okay,” Manuok is essentially the one-man-band project of Scottish-born Scott Mercado of Via Satellite and Lost Pets. Mercado toured as a member of the Black Heart Procession, but did not formally join that group, …

Born Fadi Masad, River Sultan - who grew up in Jordan, San Diego, and Egypt - says he tells personal stories about the human experience, where east meets west, using synthesizers, drum machines, guitars, bass, …

A founding member of Forbidden Pigs, Flipside Burners, and Hot Rod Lincoln, Americana/roots rocker Chris Giorgio took his stage name Jackslacks from the 1957 Sparkletones hit “Black Slacks.” He embarked on a solo career in …

Songwriter Bruce Robinson played Major League baseball with the New York Yankees and Oakland As during the late ‘70s and early ’80s. After his debut full-length was released in 2012, he played the main stage …

Released just over a decade ago, the debut full-length from Americana fiddle rockers Lexington Field featured their take on classic traditional Irish tunes like “The Wild Rover” and “Molly Malone,” as well as original songs. …

Singer-guitarist Lando Martinez and his band Hocus haven’t let the pandemic shutdown keep them from recording two new songs, “Damage With Care” (also available as a lyric video) and “Rid Of You.” Both were recorded …

“With the new Bill and Ted movie coming out, I’m getting a lot of messages from people,” says San Diego-bred guitarist Stevie Salas, who was only 23 when he played all the guitars and wrote …

Sugar World features Katryn Macko and Ryan Stanley, who met while both were studying at Florida State University and working at Tallahassee’s Club Downunder. The duo relocated to San Diego after their group Naps (hailed …

“They broke the building elevator trying to get a cow down into the club,” recalls former Pussycat Theater projectionist Dan Whitehead of the Masque punk club in the basement of the Hollywood Pussycat Theater, where …

Chris Leyva’s band Falling Doves has a new EP called Isolation, the first of a planned three-volume set. “I was approached during the pandemic by my labels, both in the US and UK, and management …

Born in Chicago, Bella Kaye’s love for singing and performing started at age three. She spent several years as a featured member of the Chicago Children’s Choir, as well as singing solo performances with her …

Singer-violinist Alicia Previn is the daughter of André Previn (the conductor of the Houston, Pittsburgh, and London Symphony Orchestras) and jazz singer Betty Bennett. She began playing the violin at age seven and was classically …

Original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley moved in 2009 to San Diego, where he lived in a condo near Balboa Park with local singer Rachael Gordon, who turned up on his next solo album. By the …

Reggae trio Pepper’s version of Sublime’s “Work That We Do” is the lead single off a new compilation, The House That Bradley Built, due September 4 and featuring never-released acoustic covers from the catalogue of …

Self-taught guitarist Stevie Salas is a Mescalero Apache Indian who was attending high school in Oceanside when he first picked up guitar at age 15. Choosing a music career over joining the Coast Guard, he …

A perfectly adequate little lipstick-n-laser glam rock throwback, UNI, just stepped up their game with a potent new track and video for "Debris" that looks and sounds for all the world as if it beamed …

Due August 19, singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau’s The Prairie will feature eight Brosseau originals and a cover of John Prine’s “They Oughta Name A Drink After You.” Guest players include Sheldon Gomberg, Robbie Robinson of Robinson …

“Lineas is the Spanish word for lines,” says Puerto singer-guitarist Zachary Polletta of the surf duo’s new single “Lineas.” “I envision corduroy lines of incoming swell. Or the line a surfer takes while riding a …

When Your Love is Locked Up During the two days that the jury deliberated, the rest of the world seemed on freeze-frame, and I spoke with no one besides Dee's mom. We spent the time …

Kendrick Dial - aka Keymon - made his local mark with the Lyrical Groove, who won Best Hip-Hop at the 2013 San Diego Music Awards and Best Hip-Hop Album at the 2014 SDMAs. He also …

My Highschool Days With Lester Bangs When Lester Bangs moved to Detroit to join the staff of Creem magazine, we kept in touch with letters and phone calls that came less and less often. The …

“We’re documentarians, and this year seems important,” says bandleader and record label honcho Alfred Howard, who launched a new 2020-themed streaming site, Alfred Howard Writes With Friends. “A pandemic, a social justice movement, a heated …

They're the last soldiers standing in what used to be a packed battlefield of screens, in a city that used to host over two dozen outdoor theaters, spread out all the way from the border …

Locals who’ve made headlines by joining bands of established international players include Justin Pearson, who teamed up with Slayer’s Dave Lombardo to form Dead Cross, former area Yes tribute bandleader Jon Davison actually fronting Yes …

“Last week, I released a song called ‘America’ about the recent and not so recent systemic racism in this country,” says man-of-a-hundred-bands Alfred Howard of his new collaboration with local singer Rebecca Jade, who on …

Soundtrack: Notes gave pathos to clouds My father bought my first piano from the Briscoes in Sumter, South Carolina. We knew the Briscoes from church and because Brother Briscoe, as we called him, was in …

“I started playing the saxophone when I was 11 years of age because I thought it might get me girls, and I ended up really loving it,” says Jonny Tarr. Originally from Cardiff, Wales, Tarr …

Matthew Stewart blends electronics, synths, piano, and rock guitar to create a lush, futuristic sound on albums such as his A World Bathed in Sunlight full-length, a science fiction epic about the destruction of the …

Laura Jane Willcock (Tell Mama, the Tighten Ups) and her paramour Thomas Yearsley (the Paladins) founded blues-rockers ThunderLux in 2013, soon joined by Leo Dombecki (Jazmin, Ike Turner) and Emily O’Bannon-Robles (the Tighten Ups, Runhoney). …

The ongoing Seaport Sessions pop-up music and arts festival has been livestreaming the Seaport Village performances online, presented by the Casbah, Vinyl Junkies, and 91X FM. The January 18 edition will feature Mrs. Magician/First Wave …

“I recorded The Wine of Youth mostly in secret during the summer and early fall of 2019 at producer Gregg Montante’s San Diego home studio, after a 13-year hiatus from performing and recording” says Zach …

Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Lyla Jett says she moved to San Diego in 2017 to expand her musical opportunities. She’s gone on to perform at local venues such as the Music Box, Sea World’s Seven …

Founded in 2017 and calling themselves homo riot hardcore punks, the Gay Agenda features David Hurtt (Stalins of Sound), Luis Soraire (who played bass with Temblad before switching to drums), Matt Penning, and Garrett Ficacci. …