Blurt: San Diego Music News
Missy Alcazar took up classical piano at an early age, and was considered a child prodigy. Her teacher permitted her to practice only “the greats” — composers such as Bach and Chopin. But by elementary …
In 2013, local pop-punks Western Settings set sail on what would become a very active five-year run. “We had one EP out and were like, all right, we’re gonna go tour now, so we just …
Time to Shine There’s an unreleased Steely Dan album finally seeing the light of day after languishing in limbo for 52 years. Its gestation and suppression is a fascinating tale of how Linda Hoover, a …
Bassist Sean Hicke didn’t always play the upright. In fact, the San Diego native got his musical start on its electric cousin. “I was playing in punk bands and whatnot in middle school,” says the …
Tapestry Blu was a 1980s electronic pop duo, highlighted by the fabulous falsetto of William Gregory (who went by the French pronunciation, Guillaume Gregory) and Nick De Herrera, AKA Niko, a velvet virtuoso on Yamaha …
Residential radio redux: Radio caught Gary Kelley’s ear when he was 13 years old. A year later, he had a built a small radio station in his closet. (“I kind of came out of the …
Musicians worry about money. They worry about gear. They worry about the van. They don’t usually worry about the horn player falling over a cliff. But to hear it from Ryan Hughes of Crucial Blend, …
“IZOLA Bakery will not exploit this local artist any longer,” reads a recent Instagram post from local singer Fre3sty13, “as they expect us to art inside their shop for free; that’s modern-day slavery… You want …
The wrecking ball took out downtown's long-shuttered 4th & B nightclub, the final fall of a concert venue fondly remembered by many (but not all) local music fans of the late 20th century. During its …
You might never expect a Ph.D, in anything to discover a passion for outdoor sidewalk busking. But for Dr. Bruce L. Thiessen — Dr BLT to the music world — it’s all part of the …
A one-time resident of Huntington, West Virginia, Iranian guitarist Farhad Bahrami arrived in San Diego in the early 1980s, bringing Persian music to the experimental Trummerflora Collective and serving as musical director for ensembles like …
The perks of playing for the Padres: Major League Baseball’s season is nearing its end, but musician Bobby Cressey is still living the dream. Not only is he one of the lucky few to make …
Dante Loaiza, late of Agua Dulce and currently of Maracuya, knows both sides of the border, and he allows that weirdness can break out on either side. “In Tijuana, we had one [gig] where some …
When Arizona native Ashley E. Norton moved to Nashville, she landed an interesting gig hosting “songwriter rounds,” gatherings which featured groups of three or four songwriters on a stage. They rotated down the line, not …
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Hugh Noble came to San Diego from the UK in 2014. Over the past eight years of gigging with his band Slum Summer (new album Living in Milk out now), he’s delineated the highs, …
Eighteen-year-old bassist John Murray has won multiple awards over the last few years, including “Outstanding Soloist” at both the Monterey Next Generation and Essentially Ellington competitions in 2018 and 2019. He had his pick of …