Eight years ago Cuban musicians who played bars and restaurants in Ensenada told me that while they enjoyed playing for visiting gringos, they were forbidden from crossing the border and playing for them in the …

A driver plowing into the building and wall-punching punks can’t stop the music at a Grantville doughnut shop. After a five month remodeling, the reopened Donut Panic segues from punk to Persian this Sunday. Linda …

Esteban Rene admits this Saturday’s venue of choice isn’t the usual place for a live rock show. La Bodega is located in a converted church in Barrio Logan. “They don’t have a real setup for …

A new royalty rate fee went into effect January 1 based on a ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board. It impacts all U.S. internet radio stations that play music and snuffed one popular station. “Rates …

Anthology gave Michael Pritchard the opportunity to establish himself as a talent buyer during its 2007–2012 run. By bringing artists such as Natalie Cole, Wynton Marsalis, India Arie, and Michael Buble to the Little Italy …

Teenaged blues guitarist Wyatt Lowe was on a roll three years ago when he and his band the Youngbloods played the House of Blues, Gator by the Bay, and Adams Avenue Street Fair. But in …

One of the breakout entertainment success stories of 2015 was a one-day geek-rock festival called NerdCon. Think low-budget Comic-Con with live bands. The first-ever NerdCon, held in August at Escondido’s Center for Performing Arts, drew …

After admitting that the music “sucked” on his own radio station, Dave Rickards, anchor for the Dave, Shelly, and Chainsaw morning show, announced in a pre-recorded statement Saturday morning that his station, long-known as Jack-FM, …

Weatherbox founder Brian Warren explains why his fans would appreciate Entertainment Law, one of the three bands opening for him Sunday at the Ché Café. “They have three ex-Boxists.” There are three ex-members of Weatherbox, …

Past San Diego shows that turned serious as a coronary.

While some local radio stations celebrate the holidays with non-stop Christmas music, hosts on the morning show of Channel 8’s sister station KFMB (AM 760) had their own take on providing yuletide cheer. KFMB’s Armstrong …

The obvious item on the how-to-get-gigs list would be: make good music. That became clear to Grizzly Business when they put out the catchy pop tune “Rich Girls” in February. “After it came out we …

When he attended Poway High in the late ’90s, music didn’t mean that much to Sam Morgan. For starters, he was raised in a conservative Christian household that didn’t permit rock music indoors. And even …

Don’t expect to hear Justin Beiber or Kelly Clarkson any more on Jack FM. And whoever that is who squawks “It’s all about the bass (no treble),” has also been jettisoned off the 100.7 airwaves. …

When the Reader ran a story on October 22 about a death at a Burning Man event on Palomar Mountain, many readers reacted negatively over news accounts of deaths at EDM events. Alma Rodriguez was …

Sheriff’s deputies have not solved the mystery of who killed Larry Robinson, the guitarist remembered for his decades of local shows and legions of guitar students. He was murdered in a Temecula music store two …

The movie based on Marco Collins focuses on his role in the grunge explosion in the 1990s, his support of Washington state’s gay marriage referendum, and his sidelining addictions. “I don’t feel completely comfortable about …

Early arrivals to the MiraCosta College Oceanside campus Monday morning (November 30) discovered graffiti slurring MiraCosta’s African-American community. Hateful words were spray-painted on the windows of the school’s student center, where the Black Student Union …

Halloween may be gone for a year, but dressing up and performing like famous singers is a nonstop pursuit for one of San Diego’s longest-running shows. “We are the oldest, continuously running drag-king show in …

Although he was championed as “Westview’s rockstar teacher” on a campus newscast, Martin Coughlin was a high school dropout. “I got picked up by the Scottish Premier [soccer] League to play for Glasgow Celtic. I …

Brian Clinebell, singer with the garage band Kabbs, went to SDSU to study graphic design. His art schooling got him into making ads and T-shirts for Fallen Footwear, Lurkville Skateboards, and DC Shoes. And that …

Twenty years ago bassist Justin Pearson cofounded the Locust, the San Diego band known for its short, spazzy grindcore songs played by guys in insect suits. About the same time he launched Three One G, …

Two North County Episcopal churches, both over 60 years old, were told last week that due to declining attendance and compounding red ink, the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego has decided to fold them. The …

Andy Craig likes to surf. He grew up soaking in Encinitas beach bliss. But he also needs to rock. The mellow overload caused Craig to escape to New York. “San Diego is a good surf-culture …

Natalie Emmons’s road to becoming a Japanese pop star began with a meeting of foreign-exchange students six years ago. “I always had a fascination with Japan,” says Emmons, who was raised and still lives in …

Kelly English’s big-bang moment happened at age 12. “My dad was the high school marching band director. I had the sax, trumpet, and French horn shoved down my throat. In sixth grade I heard ‘Bodies,’ …

Oingo Boingo, the musically complex octet that was the centerpiece of California ’80s new wave has been dead for 20 years. But Dead Man’s Party, an Oingo Boingo tribute band, has been a SoCal Halloween …

Right after his last morning show on modern-rock KPRI September 28, Chris Cantore and 20 co-workers were told their jobs were over. Cantore, an SDSU grad who has been on the local airwaves for two …

A Solana Beach singer-songwriter who just wrapped up a monthlong tour with Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman will be the first local headliner at the Stage Room, the UCSD venue formerly known as Porter’s Pub. Tyson Motsenbocker, …

“I plan on stumbling home that night,” singer/guitarist Kaleo Wassman says about his show Friday at Oceanside’s Pier Plaza Amphitheatre. It’s five blocks from his house. Pepper moved to North County from Hawaii 16 years …

“What would Jesus do? Certainly not fire 20 people.” That’s how one local radio pro joked about the transition of KPRI (102.1 FM) from a locally owned, locally programmed rock station to a contemporary Christian …

“We are fans of the tiki culture,” says Andy Tolley, who as Captain Coconut plays with Freddy Canoe (Rick Roessler) in TikiTronic. “We’re very retro culture. Bachelor-pad lounge mixed with space age.” It’s not Nick …

“We are mostly a San Diego/L.A./New York band,” says Rafa Reyes, half of cholo goth duo Prayers. The release of their Young Gods album took them on a 14-city, three-week tour, which ended September 11 …

On September 10, a Fallbrook neighborhood was woken up by a SWAT-like operation that included closed-down streets and a bashed-down door. “They had two fire trucks, two Marine tanks, and a SWAT team van,” says …

When Lucy’s Fur Coat sold out a Friday/Saturday stint at the Casbah two months ago, the five guys in the band, once signed to Sony/Relativity, were getting together for the first time in seven years. …

In 1972, folkie Joel Rafael planted roots in Valley Center, where he built a home studio, Lilac Sound. In 2000, he signed to Jackson Browne’s Inside Recordings label, which in April of this year released …

San Diego’s newest music impresario isn’t even old enough to drive. “I wanted to promote the music I like,” Jack Habegger told the Reader last week on his 16th birthday. He co-promoted the Burger Revolution …

Like La Jolla tennis instructor Rob Hagey whose love of music led him to launch the San Diego Street Scene (1984–2009) as a music industry outsider, Kaaboo creator Bryan Gordon drops into the concert business …

After weeks of meetings between the Ché Café collective and UCSD administration, the two sides have announced an agreement that spells out specific improvements that will pave the way for the operation of the Ché …

Is Gigtown a heavy-handed bully or visionary new business model? Launched as an all-purpose app to connect musicians with gigs and fans to shows, some locals are recoiling at how this aggressive startup has flipped …

Subsurfer founder Dave Montalbano got Steve Albini (Nirvana, the Pixies, the Breeders) to record his band’s fourth album. The local singer/guitarist says he picked up the phone and called Albini at Electrical Audio, the Chicago …

San Diego’s most recognized radio deejay has learned that his gig is over. After 18 years at L.A.’s classic hits station KRTH-101, Shotgun Tom Kelly was told his contract as the afternoon drive-time host would …

While a Balboa Park centennial committee blew through $2 million before it was disbanded after coming up with nothing, a group of accomplished acoustic artists are banding together for an old-timey, low-tech, free-admission concert Saturday …

Follows is some “how to” advice from San Diego band Quel Bordel. How to get a tour in the south of France and come home with money: Quel Bordel singer/guitarist Jakovich Skolnick met the band …

There are plenty of freaks and geeks at Comic-Con, but to Matt Sernaker, who has been to every Comic-Con since he was three, the fantasy convention always comes up short in one area. “I never …

An auction house ad last week announced, “Complete restaurant/bar/live music venue sale!” That August 13 fire sale was at the Jumping Turtle and a surprise to the bands scheduled to perform at the venue near …

Punk-rock veteran Cliff Cunningham takes some credit for talking Some Kind of Nightmare into a life on the road. “It was sometime in 2010 and I had just played with them at the Pier View …

Radio doesn’t have the make-or-break power it held from the 1950s until MP3s arrived in the late ’90s. Still, nothing jumpstarts a career like a Top 40 hit. But in order to get on the …

After being dark for two-and-a-half years, the Little Italy space formerly known as Anthology has been renamed the Music Box and crews are racing to have the remodeled restaurant/bar/music venue opened in time for the …

Seedheads frontman Kevin Pulido says the lack of affordable practice space countywide may impact the ability of his five-man reggae band to stay together. They were just kicked out of Storage West, a San Marcos …