Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

The music blog Idolator recently posted an item called “Three Indie Rock Nightmares.” My favorite: “I’m stuck in a world where indie rock has slowly transformed from amateurish, enthusiastic rock with zine-fueled anti-consumerist, small-community leanings to anonymous art-folk twaddle by musicians who can think of no greater accomplishment than getting their song into a phone ad or winning a PLUG Award. And I can’t wake up.” Sound familiar?

Sponsored
Sponsored

Fortunately, there is still Casiotone for the Painfully Alone to remind us of the intimacy of what indie rock used to be and to reassure us that change is okay. Owen Ashworth started CFPA more than ten years ago as a home-recording project, and, if the name he chose for it was tongue-in-cheek, it was also spot-on. He wrote tender songs about longing and loneliness, mumbled them to the accompaniment of battery-operated keyboards, recorded them by himself on a crusty four-track machine, and at first released them on his own label.

Ashworth’s music was a tribute to Daniel Johnston, the Mountain Goats, and all the other underground music that inspired him, but it soon grew into something more. Over the years Ashworth’s CFPA recordings started to sound clearer, his songwriting grew stronger, and he began to look more comfortable onstage. A couple of years ago he began recording and performing with a live band backing him.

That might have been the end of something special, but Ashworth’s songs haven’t lost their charm. When you hear a song as good as “Toby, Take a Bow,” you have to admit that Ashworth deserves a backup band, he deserves good recording quality…hell, he deserves a song in a phone commercial.

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE, Ché Café, Saturday, May 24, 8 p.m. 858-534-2312.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches

The music blog Idolator recently posted an item called “Three Indie Rock Nightmares.” My favorite: “I’m stuck in a world where indie rock has slowly transformed from amateurish, enthusiastic rock with zine-fueled anti-consumerist, small-community leanings to anonymous art-folk twaddle by musicians who can think of no greater accomplishment than getting their song into a phone ad or winning a PLUG Award. And I can’t wake up.” Sound familiar?

Sponsored
Sponsored

Fortunately, there is still Casiotone for the Painfully Alone to remind us of the intimacy of what indie rock used to be and to reassure us that change is okay. Owen Ashworth started CFPA more than ten years ago as a home-recording project, and, if the name he chose for it was tongue-in-cheek, it was also spot-on. He wrote tender songs about longing and loneliness, mumbled them to the accompaniment of battery-operated keyboards, recorded them by himself on a crusty four-track machine, and at first released them on his own label.

Ashworth’s music was a tribute to Daniel Johnston, the Mountain Goats, and all the other underground music that inspired him, but it soon grew into something more. Over the years Ashworth’s CFPA recordings started to sound clearer, his songwriting grew stronger, and he began to look more comfortable onstage. A couple of years ago he began recording and performing with a live band backing him.

That might have been the end of something special, but Ashworth’s songs haven’t lost their charm. When you hear a song as good as “Toby, Take a Bow,” you have to admit that Ashworth deserves a backup band, he deserves good recording quality…hell, he deserves a song in a phone commercial.

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE, Ché Café, Saturday, May 24, 8 p.m. 858-534-2312.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.