"We kinda came up with the concept a number of years back," ex- Psychotic Waltz guitarist Steve Cox says, "to do some choice old Ozzy and early Sabbath." Ozzy tribute bands abound. They are to be found in places like …

You ask me, "Was it worth it all?" I say "Yes" with all my might 'Cause I live in a Lakeside trailer park and everything's gonna be all right. -- Country Dick Montana How the band name Trailerpark Rockstar came …

"I'm in the middle of getting a police report for our stolen gear." It's Kevin Martin on the phone. Some may remember him from Get Back Loretta. "I still play with them once in a while." Otherwise, Martin's a solo …

"Back in the day," the guitarist says during a break between songs "the blues was the real deal, and it had soul, and there were the greats playing it like Lightnin' Hopkins and Albert King and Muddy Waters." Humphreys Backstage …

Instead of a single artist BETAMAXX pays tribute to an entire decade, in this case, the '80s. On a sunny Friday afternoon in summer, three of the members explain. "Our competitors call us an '80s tribute band," says guitarist Eric …

"I play Flea, the short guy with the gap in his teeth." Bassist Jonathan Savage, a surfer who uses the handle fourstringsavage on Myspace, found the first round of members for his Red Not Chili Peppers tribute band some time …

"It's a celebration of St. John the Baptist." Tommy Rosas explains Dia de San Juan, which is also the name of his salsa and bachata festival. "It's celebrated in most Latin countries. It's been most important in Puerto Rico for …

Almost as entertaining as the music are the various rock writer attempts to define San Diego - based Tropical Popsicle: "Lava lamp people" "Dark acid trip and occult fantasy" "A trio of gothy bad trippers" Darkness and bad acid? The …

It's a new day for Clayton Edward. He recently put his band Pretty Too Bad on hold for a new project he calls TONTO, an electronic/soul/punk trio with guitarist Brandon Like and Spencer Jaquay on drums. It turns out that …

The Crocodiles Take Manhattan It seemed inevitable: the Crocodiles have finally left Southern California. In a past conversation with the Reader, Crocs co-founder Brandon Welchez expressed his dismay at having grown up in a brown stucco strip mall-ish northeastern San …

Ron Bocian (it rhymes with ocean) is the only person I know who is actually from Treme, a place I once thought existed only in a television writer's imagination. My own ignorance: Treme is in fact a real place, a …

Low Volts A cross between Elvis and Evel Knievel: someone else's words, not mine. That said, Low Volts is really just one guy, Tim Lowman, who plays smoldering electrified guitar and wails on a kickdrum and sings like a person …

A new duo rises from the ashes of Dynamite Walls "Right now we're making videos for the background of our live show." Former Encinitas rocker Tom Pritchard is on the phone from East Hollywood, Franklin Village to be exact, where …

"In terms of gay/straight/lesbian acts, we didn't book anybody because of their sexual orientation," Tour Booker Annie says via email. "We booked the acts because they play good music." This Ladyfest, she says, is not the same Ladyfest that the …

And now for something entirely different: "Romance Metal." One can almost hear the grin in Clay Hackett's voice as he says the words. He's on the phone, talking up the Suicide Chord's current EP-in-progress. "We're trying to find our own …

1. DFX2 On a sidewalk in Hillcrest near the Albertson's the letters DFX2 are inscribed into what was once wet concrete. I have to think it was done in memory of the band that everyone was talking about in the …

By the late 1980s Christopher Hollyday's jazz career was on fire. Critics were calling him a Young Lion along with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman, and the rest of the bebop and hard boppers trying to save the doomed …

"The overall idea," Vic Fuentes says, "is of people jumping off of ground that is breaking up beneath them." He's on the phone from his home near Mission Bay, talking about the cover art for Pierce the Veil's next album. …

"We did some unconventional things. And we played local artists. We played their albums." --Roger Agnew "The buzz was all over town. This was an AM station that was doing something that nobody in town was doing." From the beginning, …

Amazed: "It's about three friends who are always getting into some kind of mystery and going on adventures to solve them. But what it boils down to," show creator Richard Allen says, "is friendship." New episodes stream every Wednesday on …