Besides its downtown nightclub, House of Blues Concerts owns and operates Coors Amphitheatre. The company books the headliners at SDSU's Cox Arena and Open Air Theatre. Two weeks ago, in an agreement with 4th & …

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Patrick Harmon played the popular Tuesday open-mike night at E Street Café in Encinitas a month ago. Two of his protest songs spoke out against "...religion and control," says Harmon. "Both songs had the …

Mark the CD Trader, a shop in an Oceanside strip mall that had been open for over a year, closed last month. Rhino Westwood, in L.A., pulled the plug last month after 30 years. Aron's …

Before Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was named "Record of the Year" at last Thursday's Grammy Awards, it was the only song ever to reach number one on the following Billboard charts: alternative, active …

Monday's "Bob Marley Day" show will be the last. San Diego has hosted a multi-band reggae festival every year since 1982 (a year after Marley's death). This year, as posters and flyers were being created …

After broadcasting for more than 50 years in English, last week the Rosarito-based 690 AM dropped American music for noticias, chismes, and deportes (news, gossip, and sports). Clear Channel sold the station to Spain's Grupo …

"We want to try and take this from being a gangster party," says promoter Phil Wasted. He dropped local rap artists Cricket, the BLGZ, and Young Sicc from a rap-meets-porn event to be held at …

"We have been playing original music for a year and a half," says Cemetery Swingers drummer Dylan Wade. "We work our asses off. And write our own music. [At Carlsbad's annual Battle of the Bands] …

"Kids are starved for a live-music scene in North County," says Chris Austin. He'll book bands to play the Inferno, a two-story, all-age music venue in Escondido that has been known by various names during …

Matisyahu, a Hasidic Jew who sings reggae, played the Belly Up Tavern twice last year. Both shows sold out. Buoyed by his big radio hit "King Without a Crown," he returns February 20 for the …

"It's dirty, dingy, rocking metal full of comic-book adventures," says film director Matt Hoyt of Goblin Cock, the latest musical venture from Rob Crow (Pinback, Heavy Vegetable, etc.). "[Crow] wants people to buy into his …

A City of San Diego employee says that the support of Discover PB and savepb.org is vital for the issuance of a PB Block Party permit. The insider says longtime organizer Kevin Hellman would have …

Hot Monkey Love Café co-owner Alma Felan says her establishment will be moved from its site on El Cajon Boulevard by May 1. The all-age, alcohol-free music venue may relocate to a new space in …

"Somebody made a death threat on Bush," says Joel Scheingross, founder of Sandiegopunk.com. "It was either the FBI or Secret Service who contacted the person who was running the [website message] board at the time. …

"All they wanted was a steel guitar player," says Rick Schmidt about his appearance in a Shania Twain video. Schmidt, a Carlsbad-based pedal steel player, says he's done work "for everyone from Minnie Pearl to …

Midget Madness singer/bassist Chris Angelo says, "We can fit on any stage, no matter what size it is.... All of us are five foot five or less." The trio plays original rock reminiscent of the …

The Kings of Leon played the biggest-grossing San Diego concert of 2005...only because they opened for U2 at the Sports Arena. According to Pollstar magazine, the March 30 sell-out brought in $2.9 million, the 86th …

"I need to help my friend Kinky Friedman get elected governor of Texas," says Mojo Nixon, whose last live performance was at 2004's South by Southwest music fest. Friedman, the musician/politician who calls himself the …

"We were begging and hoping at the last minute [ticket sales] would pick up," says 4th&B owner Ali Niforshan. He pulled the plug on a January 10 "Superstars of the Blues Harp" concert. Besides harmonica …

"They have to keep it as secret as possible," says a promoter about a hate-rock show that may or may not be coming to San Diego. "For obvious reasons they only want their inner circle …

"No one takes San Diego [rappers] seriously," says Nasty O of National City, one of the four men in Sky Tower Click. "People [outside of SD] think San Diego rap revolves around gangsters. Many rap …

"I met this Swedish girl in Newport Beach," says punk singer/songwriter Aaron Goulding. "I followed her home in 1993.... I met these other guys [in Sweden] and we started a band." Pridebowl did well in …

After seven months in operation, downtown's House of Blues is saying goodbye to general manager Jim Biofore and Kyle Svanda, assistant director of venue operations. Insiders who do not work for House of Blues speculate …

Last month, MTV2 considered House of Blues and 4th & B for a "$2 Bill Tour" concert that features Yellowcard and Hello Goodbye. The show, which offers no ticket proceeds to the venue, will be …

"A lot of people think John-Mark is a singer, not a band," says bassist/singer/songwriter James Coleman, 22. The four members of John-Mark were signed to Maverick Records last May. Three local artists inked major-label deals …

At the 15th San Diego Music Awards ceremony on September 12, founder Kevin Hellman acknowledged that it would be his last year as SDMA executive director. "I hope to have an announcement by March 1," …

Bill, a musician, says he didn't take part in a December 3 "battle of the bands" at Mira Mesa's all-ages Epicentre. He's been down that road, though. "If you were standing in line for a …

"[District 2 city council candidates] Kevin Faulconer and Lorena Gonzalez say they are supporting [an end to the Pacific Beach Block Party], and I don't see them rallying around Kevin [Hellman]," says Benjamin Nicholls, executive …

"I'm just the old guy with a beard sitting at the bar until I get up to play," says singer/songwriter/guitarist/harp player Hugh Gaskin, 56. "After my set, people buy me all these drinks.... But it …

Two years ago, Steve Goldberg paid seven figures for the Belly Up Tavern, which included the rights to the name. Last year he opened a second Belly Up in Aspen with his brother Mike. Within …

Singer/keyboard player Danny Castro fronts Long Live Logos and runs an all-age music venue called the Selah Building in Escondido; it's in the same space as his father's nondenominational Selah Ministry church. Castro usually hosts …

"We didn't tell a lot of people that it was just a rehearsal for our Casbah show," says George Vidaurri, bassist for Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver (and, currently, The Johnson Account). Vidaurri says the …

Encinitas band Switchfoot played the Sports Arena December 2 with Alanis Morissette, the B-52s, Train, and two other bands. The show, called Jingle Ball, was sponsored by Clear Channel pop station Star 94.1. According to …

"It seems like you either fall into the screamo genre and everyone likes you or people don't care," says Dave Werth, the singer for Killfast Casino. He defines screamo as "punk music...mixed [with] pseudo-emotional lyrics …

"People don't get blown out when things are going well," says one concert-industry insider about last week's departures of 4th & B general manager Ray Johnson and marketing director Hester Hamman. The insider says the …

"It could have been a Spinal Tap," says Warner Bros. Records publicist Rick Gershon about the Subways' November 27 show at Soma. The free 3 p.m. show filled Soma's side-stage room on a Sunday. The …

UCSD pornographer and newspaper editor Steve York made national news when he exposed himself on campus TV in February. The controversy that erupted earned York an appearance on MSNBC's Scarborough Country. "After my 15 minutes …

For 15 years, the biggest names in modern rock have come together for KROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas." This weekend, System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Depeche Mode, Coldplay, the White Stripes, Jack Johnson, …

Last Friday was a memorable anniversary for Dave Drury, one of the four rappers in the KneeHighs. "It was December 2 [2004], around 8:30 in the morning. [A fire] started with an old wall heater.... …

This month, Rolling Stone said My Morning Jacket's new CD Z is one of the best albums of the year. Before MMJ was signed to Dave Matthews's ATO label (distributed by RCA), the experimental country …

Oceanside police confirm that Joe Pontisso, 41, shot himself in the head while driving on College Boulevard November 19. Pontisso, a bassist in the Clay Colton Band, 427, and Triocity, played regularly at Carlsbad venues. …

All three Riboflavin CDs were recorded using only solar power. "When the lights started going off during the [2001] California power crisis, we decided that it was a rip-off," says Riboflavin drummer Mark Doyle. According …

The Pacific Beach Block Party is over, according to Benjamin Nicholls, executive director of Discover PB, an association that includes 1200 PB business owners. Discover PB was granted the party permit by the city for …

"We picked up a sponsorship with [shoe company] Osiris," says Flight Risk singer Jesse Blanton. "They kicked us down some shoes, shirts, and jeans. They said they'd get us on all the [2006] West Coast …

North County band Faceles was named Best Hard Rock Band at the 15th annual L.A. Music Awards last Sunday. Vocalist Roger Baca says Faceles plays twice a month in L.A. at either the Roxy, the …

Of local recording artists, not Switchfoot, Jason Mraz, or Louis XIV get the most radio airplay. For two years, Steve Poltz has gotten more radio exposure than anyone. His commercial jingle ("Minutes away, miles apart...take …

"To this day, people come up and say, 'I heard you wrecked the Rock [105.3] van,'" says James Welch. That's a rumor, but Welch lost his job at the station almost five years ago subsequent …

An October 31 blaze destroyed Darrin DiMichele's recording studio and four of his band-practice rooms in Vista. The fire caused $600,000 worth of damage to his Goblin Studios. DiMichele's band, Sic Waiting, had to cancel …

The band's first local performance in seven years was canceled "because of major safety issues," says Maurice Luque of the SD Fire Department. The concert would've been at 4th & B last Wednesday, November 2. …

"I knew something was rotten in Denmark when I didn't see Joey [Harris] at the Beat Farmers reunion at the San Diego Music Awards [in September]," said Candye Kane. She performed at Monday's Casbah tribute …