Make no mistake about it, San Diego is home to its share of top talents in pop, rock, jazz, and blues. The Reader’s music crew cast its net to find out why these music makers …
March 15, 2017
News & Stories
San Diego Reader 2017 music issue
Christ on my right, Christ on my left
St. Patrick’s Breastplate (excerpt) I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation…. Christ with me, …
March 15, 2017
Creature marinade
Austin Steele learned the hard way that it’s hard to play pop music in San Diego. “There is no scene for our music at all,” the singer/songwriter told the Reader three years ago about his …
March 15, 2017
Riker's lifetime achievement
This year’s winner of the San Diego Music Awards’ “Lifetime Achievement” prize is guitarist Wayne Riker, who is still kind of processing that information. “Having worked in all the different genres professionally, I can name …
March 15, 2017
Power strangers
The Disney live-action Beauty and the Beast opens this week. It stars Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies. You are almost certainly familiar with both the movie and its star, and you probably know …
March 15, 2017
Tronc’s typos
Word that Chicago-based tronc, owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune, wants to get into the celebrity news business by buying supermarket glossy Us Weekly from Rolling Stone publisher Wenner Media for $90 million, has not …
March 15, 2017
Dirty Puppets get their act together
A true tale of homemade music: through social media, Drew, a bassist, met Lucky, a band-less rock singer. Drew had a vision, and he shared it with Lucky: he wanted to start a combo, and …
March 15, 2017
Snack, song, and friendly people at Chiquibaby’s
"Siempre doy gracias al cielo de ser/ Tan afortunado! The Queen of Chiquibaby belts it out with Joan Sebastian. (“I always give thanks to heaven to be/ So fortunate!”) Everybody belts it out with her, …
March 15, 2017
My absolute favorite place to hang out
New-music concert promoter Bonnie Wright sees many positive changes in the local scene. “It’s expanding in ways that I like,” says Wright. “The Symphony, the Opera, and the La Jolla Music Society are all doing …
March 15, 2017
Seemed sketchy
Jeff Trageser is the Open Oscillator electronic open-mic host and bassist of indie act Takahashi. Local band? “Lucy’s Fur Coat.” Live band? “The Incredible Moses Leroy and the Softlights.” Local album? “In A Safe Place …
March 15, 2017
The only place I like to rehearse
“I love the Belly Up. That’s kind of a home for me. We got our start there, opening for Buddy Blue.” When Steve Poltz says “we,” he is speaking to his breakout band the Rugburns. …
March 15, 2017
Sempra’s water failure
Locked in mortal combat with a group seeking to dismantle its longstanding San Diego power monopoly, giant Sempra Energy and its subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric have been busy lining up the services of …
March 15, 2017
Community vibe
Few locals have more music biz experience than Lou Niles. As the host of 91X’s all local Loudspeaker show when San Diego was considered the next Seattle (1988–1996), Niles was the first to play Jewel, …
March 15, 2017
Smells like pot and anxiety
Transfer’s Matt Molarius is a current player and ringleader for the Redwoods collective of bands. What’s your favorite local band? “Is this a trick question? All of the bands on our label.” What’s your favorite …
March 15, 2017
Build the soccer stadium
Dawn Mitschele is a local singer/songwriter who splits time between going it solo and the Cardinal Moon. What’s your favorite local band? “Redwoods bands and Oh Spirit.” What’s your favorite local venue? “Music Box.” Do …
March 15, 2017
The loud family
Charles McPherson says Dizzy’s when asked about a favorite local venue. “Through the years, I have self-promoted my own gigs there.” Approaching 78, McPherson is considered the nation’s preeminent bebop alto saxophonist. He lives in …
March 15, 2017
Poet Thomas Lux passes away
Thomas Lux, poet and writer of Reader feature stories, died on February 5 of lung cancer. His poetry collections included The Drowned River (1990), The Street of Clocks (2001), The Cradle Place (2004), Child Made …
March 15, 2017
Full-on guitar-driven
“The Kraken is a wonderful, sweaty, worn-out, smelly, old-school surf bar just north of Solana Beach.” Guitarist Joey Harris grew up in Coronado. One of his first bands was called Fingers. They started that band …
March 15, 2017
A style of music I wasn’t aware of
Glen Galloway of Singing Serpent Studios has been playing with Sumatraban and Error Massage in the absence of Octagrape mate Jason Begin (the Donkeys), who relocated to New Mexico. Tyler Ward of Octagrape and Glen …
March 15, 2017
One of the easiest hikes in the San Diego area…if you're a mountain goat
While some in North America still shovel snow, San Diegans have the perfect venue for a hot March day — Three Sisters Falls, for a plunge in the frigid mountain water. The trail down to …
March 15, 2017
Casbah tattoo
Alfred Howard plays instruments you’ve never heard of and serves as house scribe for various Redwoods acts. What’s your favorite local band? “New Kinetics or Drive Like Jehu...” What’s your favorite local venue? “Casbah. Always …
March 15, 2017
I wanted to tear the guitar out of his hands
Best known for co-writing the Steve Miller Band megahit “Jungle Love,” guitarist Greg Douglass recently released the most solid and engaging solo album of his long and varied career, Flight of the Golden Dragon. Favorite …
March 15, 2017
A house in Torrey Pines State Reserve
Beds: 5 Baths: 9 Current Owner: David Batchelder Asking Price: $29,000,000 The bluff-top estate at 100 Stratford Court in Del Mar offers prospective buyers nearly 6000 square feet of living area in a just-completed “coastal …
March 15, 2017
Local DJs drive me insane
Adam Gimbel is an occasional gunslinger for Rookie Card and a full-time Geezer. What’s your favorite local band? “I’m way biased since I filled in as the Schizophonics’ bassist for a month, but besides being …
March 15, 2017
A concept clubs should get back to
Blues belter Sue Palmer who became known as the “Queen of Boogie Woogie” during her reign fronting Tobacco Road, currently holds down a Tuesday residency at Tio Leo’s with her Motel Swing Orchestra. Which local …
March 15, 2017
San Diego Latino Film Fest returns
It’s that time of year when one of San Diego’s top-tier cinematic showcases comes to town. The 24th San Diego Latino Film Festival brings with it, among other things, a return visit from the reigning …
March 15, 2017
I was enthralled
Next month will mark 20 years in San Diego radio for Hilary Chambers. Now holding down the midday DJ gig on 91X, she is also that station’s music director. Since you are responsible for what …
March 15, 2017
But ’70s surfers didn’t wear skinny jeans
I’ve decided to do the sensible thing by breaking down this message, clause by clause (the letter writer’s query in italics), to tease out the subtleties. After all, we’re not so different, he and I. …
March 15, 2017
That nice homey feel
Sam Chammas, the co-owner (with Joe Austin) of the Live Wire and Whistle Stop is part of San Diego’s roots-rock era of the 1980s and ’90s led by the Beat Farmers and Mojo Nixon but …
March 15, 2017
The perfect place to become human again
The team of Gilbert and Lorraine Castellanos make music together and apart. She plays guitar and sings in Besos de Coco and her own sextet, and he might be San Diego’s busiest jazz musician.” The …
March 15, 2017
Modern English melts fantastic
Modern English will always be “I Melt with You” to America — an essential ’80s love song that singer Robbie Grey once admitted is about sex during nuclear war. They’re back with a new album, …
March 15, 2017
Didn’t miss a beat
Lety Beers is the drummer-in-chief of the Schizophonics, the Rosalyns, and the Little Richards. What’s your favorite local band? “Tie between the Loons and Creepy Creeps. Always lifts up the spirit when you see these …
March 15, 2017
The trade war that could wallop San Diego
The law of unintended consequences warns individuals, governments, and corporations that any action may backfire. The possibility of a trade war with Mexico is a classic example: the consequences could be brutal, especially for San …
March 15, 2017
Slick backline
Longtime San Diego music booster Cathryn Beeks promotes weekly Listen Local events around town, provides musician photo services, and performs with bands such as the Ordeal, Groove Kitties, and CalAmity. Best free photo backgrounds? “I …
March 15, 2017
Slavery trial draws all eyes to San Diego
In October 1946, near the end of a 33-day cross-country trip from Massachusetts to San Diego, the prominent Boston blue-blood couple of Alfred and Elizabeth Ingalls stopped over in Berkeley, California, to visit their daughter, …
March 15, 2017
Less cowbell
Daniel Ellis is the Splavender mastermind who utilizes his synesthesia super-power to his creative advantage. What’s your favorite local band? “Spooky Cigarette because they showed me a style of music I wasn’t aware of. At …
March 15, 2017
Elvin Harrison’s service to the church began at age five
Community Congregational Church of Pacific Beach Membership: 40 Pastor: Elvin Harrison Age: 53 Born: El Centro Formation: Jarvis Christian College, Hawkins, TX; Howard University, Washington DC Years Ordained: 26 San Diego Reader: What’s your main …
March 15, 2017
Ducks and mannikins
Since the late 1970s, the freaky lounge music made by occasional duck owner and mannikin enthusiast Gary Wilson has been championed by everybody from Beck to Jimmy Fallon and the Roots. Favorite locals to share …
March 15, 2017
The Chargers biggest contribution to San Diego was “leaving”
Proving that old grudges die hard in San Diego politics, Jason Cabel Roe, the high-dollar political consultant known among insiders as Kevin Faulconer’s brain, is still gunning for the recently departed Chargers. “Already playing more …
March 15, 2017
Fast, punchy, straight to the point
Three One G label owner, promoter, bassist, and vocalist Justin Pearson has been wrapping up a Dead Cross LP on Ipecac Recordings with the addition of Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Fantômas) on …
March 15, 2017
A place for soup at 3 a.m.
To El Cajon–based pianist Joshua White, “vibe” is the determining factor for just about every place he chooses to spend his time. “My number-one music venue is the Athenaeum Library in La Jolla. It’s a …
March 15, 2017
Read our mail!
Soccer Is Boring Re: City Lights, "Could Major League Soccer Kick the City Where It Counts?" Football, soccer — whatever it’s called it’s the most boring game I’ve ever watched compared to the NFL. Was …
March 15, 2017
Not a lot of sweet rooms
“I think San Diego has a really wide music scene and it’s fairly splintered, too,” says drummer Nathan Hubbard as he tries a variety of techniques to entertain his two-year-old son while we speak. “There’s …
March 15, 2017
Noise at the library
Sam Lopez is a promoter, label owner, and noise musician. Local artist? “I’m very partial to the artists who have had releases on [my label] Stay Strange — Monochromacy, Xavier Ramirez, and Michael Zimmerman.” Live …
March 15, 2017
Get your head caved in
Projection artist (RETOX, Die Mißbildungen Des Menschen), videographer, musician, and Space Time curator Xavier Vasquez... Local band? “RETOX, Hexa, Gloomsday, Schizophonics, Monochromacy.” All-time local band? “Black Heart Procession.” Venue to perform/host? “The Casbah, the Hideout, …
March 15, 2017
Diana Death likes the hourly-rate room
“Hmmmmm...that’s a hard one,” Diana Death says when asked who her favorite local band is. Finally, she narrows it down to a name: “I’ve gotta give mad props to Deadbolt. It’s pure, old-fashioned three-chord rock …
March 15, 2017
Talk about doing something with nothing
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 …
March 15, 2017