Taken By Canadians

Birdy Bardot

Emily Reilly — aka Birdy Bardot — is known from multiple incarnations of the New Kinetics and all-female rockers the Rosalyns. Her debut solo album was recorded in collaboration with Al Howard (Heavy Guilt, Midnight Pine) and released digitally and on CD on the local Redwoods Music label. In concert, she’s frequently backed by players like Howard, Jake Najor (Taurus Authority), Matt Molarius (Transfer, the Midnight Pine), Daniel Cervantes (Creature & the Woods, Mrs. Henry), and Howard’s Heavy Guilt bandmates Jason Littlefield and Josh Rice. Members of Birdy Bardot have also performed on releases from fellow Redwoods Collective artists such as Rebecca Jade & the Cold Fact and Dani Bell & the Tarantist. The local-centric bill includes Blood Ponies, who were recently singled out for a mention in a Vice.com feature story called “San Diego is Paradise For Goths.”

Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe is proudly weird in much the same way as inspirations such as Bjork, Kate Bush, and astrophysicist Carl Sagan. She has a fever dream approach to both lyrics and instrumentation. Her latest album, Birth of Violence, was released in September, pretty much completing her transition from the early wannabe pop star releases that she has since disavowed. Notwithstanding her determination to not repeat past marketing mistakes, it’s kind of a throwback album, in that her usual 21st century high tech electronic finishes are downplayed in favor of more folky, acoustic backdrops. That said, there’s still an undercurrent of barely controlled metal headbanging just waiting to break out at any moment. Though sometimes epically multitracked and so mood-infused as to attract the attention of both prog and goth rock fans, her energized pop presentation makes the operatic oversaturation seem almost contemporary, and certainly accessible in a way that few outside Billie Eilish have managed to pull off at the tail end of the 2000-teens.

Sophie Webber

The performance is a pre-release concert for Sophie Webber’s B2C: Bach Cello Suites to Choir. “I will be performing both recorded Suites, No.1 in G Major and No.3 in C Major, with the choristers of St. Paul’s Cathedral, San Diego under the direction of Martin Green,” says Webber. “These Bach cello and choir arrangements have already gained national and international interest, including potential concert engagements in Germany, England, and Chicago. The San Diego concert will be the global premiere for this music, and will include an opportunity to purchase the album ahead of the January 2020 release date.” The record was tracked in Chicago in September 2019 with multi-Grammy-winning audio engineer Chris Willis. “Since releasing my debut album, Escape: Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello, in early 2018, it has been my dream to create this segue album. I have always loved singing and am a strong advocate for connecting with one’s musical instrument like a voice...so the pairing of solo cello with the human voice seemed like the most natural combination and a wonderful way to bring Bach and classical music to both those who already love it, and to those who may not normally find it particularly accessible, but are looking for a way in.”

Taken By Canadians

Designed as both a music fest and a fundraiser for local nonprofits, the 5th annual SaltDog Classic festival features local craft breweries in support of the Rancho Coastal Humane Society and their animal shelter, with a silent auction and a live raffle featuring premium packages and prizes. The event includes a performance by blues, soul, and Americana artist Shane Hall, who spent several years fronting Shane Hall & the Diabolicals before going solo, new music from Emily Afton, and headliners Taken By Canadians. The Oceanside-based rock band features fiddler/keyboardist Anna Zinova (Di Nigunim), bassist Marco Savoia (Despite the Wolves), and singer/guitarist Ben Ambrosini. In July, local label Blind Owl Records released their newest 7-inch vinyl, featuring a new song, “Magdalene,” and a re-recorded version of “Black Heart,” an older track. “Magdalene” was recorded in September 2018 in San Francisco at Bauer Mansion studio (Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Howlin’ Rain). “Black Heart” was tracked at Lost Ark Studio in Pacific Beach, and both songs were recorded live to two-inch tape and mixed by Mike Butler. The cover photo was taken by Elizabeth Lekas on the roof of Northern Pine Brewing in Oceanside, where singer/guitarist Ben Ambrosini has worked as a bartender and sales rep. A music video for “Magdalene” was shot by Blake Dean (Schizophonics, Mrs. Henry).

Pruitt Igoe

Named after an infamous St. Louis public-housing project, Pruitt Igoe was co-founded by poet/artist (and occasional Winstons bouncer) Ted Washington (vocals, synthesizer), with local native Jon Cordova (guitar). The members draw from their backgrounds in classical music, jazz, funk, ambient grooves, opera, rock, electronica, poetry, dance, theater, metal, and world beats. According to their bio, “The band fuses spoken word, jazz, electronica, and various music genres to create an emotive landscape for poetry that explores issues of love, drugs, nihilism, and socio-economic casting.” Since releasing their debut EP, they have performed at the San Diego Museum of Art, Sushi Visual and Performance Art, Galerie D’Art International, the Casbah, Kava Lounge, the Knitting Factory, the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood, and Bill’s Place in Harlem, NYC. They’ve been awarded a grant from the Synergy Arts Foundation and have appeared on the Illfonics Show on KSDS-FM Jazz 88.3, the Local Pyle 94.9 FM, and Big Sonic Chill on local 94.9 FM. The band is currently distilled down to a trio featuring Washington (whose Puna Press imprint publishes poetry) and Cordova now accompanied by Krista Coppedge (trumpet, synthesizer), a Jacksonville Beach, FL, transplant who moved to San Diego in 2010 to surf and start a piano tuning business. Also appearing is Haydee Jiminez.