Starting with his Granite Hills High band Pistola, Cory Stier went on to play drums in Weatherbox, Mrs. Magician, and the Cults. This month marks his seventh year booking the Soda Bar. Where’s the best …

The positive vibrations championed by Bob Marley are not exactly what’s driving the increase in reggae airtime on local airwaves. A few weeks ago, 91X brought back Brunch with Bob and Friends. The 10 a.m.-to-noon …

There is nothing Mexican about T. Rexico...and they don’t sound anything like T. Rex. “Yeah, I know who they are,” says guitarist Thomas Souvannaraph. “They’re that glam band. It’s just a name our bassist Bryce …

It was never this good in Beach Blanket Bingo. Kut U Up’s singer/bassist Chris Cote assembled the lineup for Camp Shred, a combination campout, beach party, music fest, and surf-industry demo held at the Cardiff …

The Clairemont High rock scene honored in Cameron Crowe’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High lives on, more or less, in the eight-piece rollicking Irish-rock band Ass Pocket Whiskey Fellas. “We’re all from Clairemont,” says guitarist …

Clint Sobolik’s latest project takes on the nickname he picked up in his last band, the Whiskey Avengers. “I squint a lot and I’m a man of few words, so I guess I just gravitated …

There aren’t many bands with lead singers who drum. The list includes “Phil Collins, Don Henley, [the Band’s] Levon Helm, and the guy from the Romantics. I watched all the biographical documentaries on those guys. …

The October record-release show for Cruz Radical’s self-titled album at the Whistle Stop had one snafu: no vinyl. “We held out hope until the last minute they would show up. Part of it was our …

Tonight in San Diego, a Tonight Show-type variety show that has appeared on various cable outlets over its two-year history, has just been picked up by CW6, which will air it Saturdays at 11 p.m. …

After “Shotgun” Tom Kelly, Mike Halloran may be San Diego’s best known rock-radio DJ. According to one friend, Halloran is doing now what he usually does when he loses a radio gig. “He’s out riding …

Ten years ago the Muslims were one San Diego’s most promising bands. Founders Matt Lamkin and Matty McLoughlin renamed themselves the Soft Pack and moved to L.A. The stripped-down indie-rock band put out two records …

It’s been a bad month for San Diego radio veterans. Mike Halloran, who started at 91X in 1986 and went on to work at four other local alt-rock stations, was dismissed as afternoon DJ and …

Keeping the O.B. vibe intact was a priority when Noodle House owner Steve Yeng bought the beach bar Gallagher’s and renamed it the Holding Company last May. After all, that was the name of the …

For their Whisky a Go-Go show January 7, Daring Greatly brought along two busloads of fans. “They brought 100 people who each paid $50 to go up and see them play in Hollywood,” says promoter …

Adam Lamah is the frontman for Modern Me, a six-piece indie-rock band from Fallbrook that’s been compared to the 1975. In an attempt to get radio play for Modern Me’s new single, “Waters,” Lamah called …

Will Castro lives and dies by the pressing plants that make the vinyl releases for his local label La Escalera Records. Demand for vinyl keeps increasing. But turnaround time is getting worse. Castro says it …

Arriving in 2016: Local gypsy rockers Quel Bordel launched a 35-artist, four-stage Gypsy Fest at the Jacumba Hot Springs nudist colony in August. It returns June 10. Maybe the most unlikely of venues debuted when …

When South Bay rap/rockers P.O.D. played to thousands at a 2008 Chargers rally/concert before a post-season game outside Qualcomm, lead singer Sonny Sandoval proudly belted out the lyrics to “San Diego Chargers Anthem” with homer …

According to former Crash Worship member John Goff, everyone knew there was no future for his band after Great White’s 2003 Rhode Island nightclub gig that ended with 100 fans dead from a raging fire …

Carlsbad-based singer/songwriter Aquile watched last week’s season finale of The Voice. It was the first time he’s seen an episode since he appeared on the chair-spinning talent show in 2012. “It can get hard to …

Scott Lehman left Canada a year ago when his wife got a plum job as a cancer researcher at Salk Institute. The guitarist/keyboardist had spent three years in Acronycal, a Foo Fighter-ish band that had …

Josh Kmak says his commitment to making music both helped and hurt him through a very dark time. The multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter sits in occasionally with the Schizophonics and has played with the New Kinetics. He …

Prayers frontman Rafa Reyes was one of many musicians among the thousands protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline near Bismarck, North Dakota. “I didn’t tell anybody. I just woke up the day after Thanksgiving and took …

The aggro spirit present in many rap lyrics bubbled up when an impromptu curbside verbal battle between two local crews got physical outside the Tower Bar in May of 2013. Don’t expect any inter-artist aggression …

Maybe the best sign that Ensenada’s music scene is starting to get active is that its world-famous strip joint just shifted gears. Drummer Jehovah Boggeano says Anthony’s was around way before he moved to Ensenda …

Kevin Hellman says he was convinced to come back and resurrect the San Diego Music Awards, which will be held March 21 at the House of Blues downtown. Hellman told the Reader two weeks ago …

Take Offense lead guitarist Greg Cerwonka says playing at Saturday’s hardcore five-band mosh-fest is just part of the circle of punk-rock life. “When we were younger we would see older bands we looked up to,” …

It was announced on 91X’s Loudspeaker show November 6 that the San Diego Music Awards was taking a year off this year with hopes to return next year. Through November 7 the SDMA website was …

Access Hip Hop in P.B. and Beat Box Records serve the hip-hop community from different angles. Access sells new hip-hop albums by current artists. Beat Box sells the 40- and 50-year-old soul, jazz, and funk …

In 2006 local Iraqi-American rapper Timz got national attention when his anti-war video got him exposure on Fox News. “From there it went viral,” says Alvin Shamoun, who, like Timz, was also a member of …

A former bouncer who launched his own security company and then parlayed his concert access into a gig as the tour manager for Guns ’N Roses, penetrated San Diego’s closed-shop concert business. “I think its …

Tom Perry hates it that the bass player gets ignored. “Usually you can’t even remember the bass player’s name. But ladies love the bass. Can you imagine...when we play it’s three times the estrogen.” Perry, …

Ceci Bastida fronted ska-punk band Tijuana No, considered by many to be Tijuana’s most successful band. Between 1989 and 2000 Tijuana No toured the U.S. and Mexico and released three albums, spearheading Tijuana’s thriving ska …

Anytime the Bulbs rehearse or play a show, border crossings are involved. Two of the Bulbs live in the U.S. The other two live in Tijuana. “I guess you could say we are a bi-national …

Don’t expect the Dils to throw a 40th-anniversary show honoring the birth of punk in San Diego. Along with Chula Vista’s Zeros, Carlsbad’s Dils created local punk from scratch. Because of their leftist tunes like …

San Diego does not seem to be able to support two alternative stations. In the latest Nielsen ratings, FM-94/9 was again in a sorry 18th place among all local stations while 91X was even worse …

Jorge Arriaga, guitarist with hardcore band Frontside, is a volunteer with the Ché Café Collective, which oversees UCSD’s food café and music venue. He attends the Monday-night meetings when the Collective decides which shows get …

After 30 years as an alcohol-free establishment, Soma, the all-ages rock venue that played a role in launching local bands Blink-182 and Pierce the Veil, just hosted its first show serving beer. Soma owner Len …

Good news: you get a 30,000-square-foot lot of prime downtown real estate to hold events. Bad news: the East Village property is so in demand that plans are afoot to plop a highrise on the …

Oceanside attorney David Branfman has no doubt that marijuana will become legal for recreational use statewide in November. He is so sure that he has already reconfigured his four-person law practice anticipating what seems to …

Jimmy Patton plays a nylon-stringed guitar. Enrique Platas handles percussion (cajon and bongos) and while the duo is primarily instrumental, when Platas sings, he sings in Spanish. Their seven-year-old flamenco White Stripes act has served …

Latin percussionist/bandleader Sheila E.’s local connections are deep. Uncle Javier helped bring punk to San Diego when he launched the Zeroes in 1976. Uncle Mario has long been a vital part of the rock scene …

Having La Jolla in your name can choke your bottom line. “They think that everyone in La Jolla is rich and they can charge us whatever they want.” Ron Jones was one of the ten …

Frontwoman Tiffany Christie of Fanny and the Attaboys knows her old-timey quintet may have gotten more attention if they were around 20 years ago when retro-swingers like the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Big Bad Voodoo …

Before he started working at NASA, Casey Turner played in a punk band while studying mechanical engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. “Our band was called Liquid Image because we played punk and we …

Some artists use special effects in their videos, others convince a celebrity to make a cameo, and still others don costumes...or no clothes at all. Last week Tolan Shaw released the video for his new …

When Billy Bacon launched the Forbidden Pigs in 1984 he was as happy as a pig in a roots-rock poke. His Tex-Mex trio was buoyed by a flourishing San Diego roots scene that included the …

I told Deadbolt frontman Harley Davidson that the funniest line I’d ever heard uttered by a rocker onstage was at Belly Up. His voodoobilly band was playing to a full house at the Solana Beach …

San Diego rocker/promoter Davit Buck has regrouped his Homeless Sexuals to join locals the Downs Family, the Screamin’ Yeehaws, and one of his favorite area bands, the veteran Salton Sea desert rockers Throw Rag, at …

Jerik Centeno of Small Culture moved to San Diego three years ago to pursue a career in audio production. “All through high school [in Kau’i] all I wanted to do was record and mix bands. …