Underage and underground

Ignant Benches was founded in 2014 by Chula Vista 8th graders Anson Kelley (guitar, vocals) and Andy Tistoj (guitar), who wanted to play that year’s school talent show. Subsequent gigs were scored at the Casbah, followed by multiple appearances at Soma and elsewhere around town. They ranged in age from 15 to 17 when they made their first professional recordings with Brian Karsig (Louis XIV, Nervous Wreckords) in early 2018. That July, they were invited to open for Foster the People at a Soda Bar party, after that band played Mattress Firm Amphitheater with Paramore, despite not being old enough to legally enter the bar. Initial singles from last year’s debut full-length include tracks such as “You Gave It Your Best,” which has a retro-British glam vibe with underground garage accents, the kind of down and dirty rock and roll that many tastemaker blogs would have you believe is all but dead. Asked to describe their sound, Kelley says “If Julian Casablancas and Alex Turner had a baby, you’d get a beautiful baby. We’re that baby’s ugly friend.” The bill includes the Red Pears and Archer Oh.

Mildly progressive British rockers Wishbone Ash are celebrating 50 years and half again as many members over that time period, with singer-guitarist Andy Powell the only continuous player who still remains on the roster. Seriously, did you know that Asia/UK bassist-singer John Wetton was once a member of Wishbone Ash? Or Andy Pyle from Blodwyn Pig and Savoy Brown? Trevor Bolder of the Spiders From Mars and Uriah Heep played and toured with Wishbone Ash in the early ‘80s. Today’s version of the band is still notably missing Martin Turner and Ted Turner from the early ‘70s through early ‘90s heyday that saw all of their notable releases in circulation. In fact, Martin Turner battled Powell in court over use of the Wishbone Ash name, eventually losing (though all parties have been known to appear at fan gatherings like AshCon and AshFest). They’ve continued to put out occasional albums with Powell at the helm, including the newly released Coat of Arms. His current lineup includes one member who’s been on board since 1997 (bassist-singer Bob Skeat) and a drummer who dates back to 2007, so this isn’t an inauthentic incarnation, by any means.

Covering classic country hitmakers with first name recognition like Merle, Johnny, Willie, Waylon, and all three Hanks comes easy to the Sickstring Outlaws, whose very moniker demonstrates their rowdy honky-tonk swagger. Their album Johnny Drank Jack was nominated Best Local Recording at the 2013 San Diego Music Awards, and a second full-length released the following year, Electric Moonshine, earned coverage on countless alcohol blogs fascinated by what was essentially a concept album paying tribute to famed hillbilly moonshiner and bootlegger Popcorn Sutton. The album was so popular with the liquor subculture that Liberty Call Distilling produced a run of Electric Moonshine, with bottles sold online, in stores, and at shows. In addition to albums, the 2017 film Buckshot: The Movie (aging country superstar mentors struggling newcomer) includes a Sickstring Outlaws original, as well as frontman Ron Houston singing a song written by director Josh Smith. The band’s setlist is heavy on barnstorming originals and classic country, and they also cover current contemporary artists such as Blake Shelton, Eric Church, and Dwight Yoakam.

‘Tis the Year of the Former Sidemen, with onetime bandmates of deceased frontmen like Prince, Frank Zappa, and Michael Jackson hitting the road for reunion tours. This year’s Bowie Celebration: Bowie Alumni features several of the thin white duke’s former backing players and special guests playing the entire albums The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (Bowie’s fifth studio full-length) and Diamond Dogs (album number eight). Keyboardist and bandleader Mike Garson performed over 1000 concerts with Bowie, while Gerry Leonard was both a music director and touring guitarist for Bowie’s bands. Bassist Carmine Rojas played on and toured behind Let’s Dance, Serious Moonlight, and Glass Spider. Kevin Armstrong appeared with Bowie in Tin Machine and at Live Aid, and Alan Childs drummed on the 1987 Glass Spider world tour. The Bowie Celebration returns to the Belly Up for an encore staging on Saturday, March 7.

Before songwriter Michael Tiernan moved to town in 2003, he was playing solo sets in Rome while studying to become a Catholic priest, a vocation he abandoned at age 27. The longtime host (over a dozen years) of Acoustic Wednesdays at En Fuego Cantina in Del Mar has been able to supplement his musical income by licensing songs to TV shows on the Discovery Channel, TLC, I.D. (Investigation Discovery), the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), and Animal Planet. “I have a tender and heart-warming song I wrote about my absolute love for my kids being used in one of the raunchiest makeout scenes on the TV show Temptation Island!” This concert serves as the release party for his seventh studio album Trading Cards For the Faithful, produced by two-time Grammy winner Andre de Santanna (Jason Mraz, Sergio Mendes). “A lot of my previous albums were a bit more heavily produced as far as bells and whistles, so on this album, we really were trying capture that stripped-down and honest live band sound. Five dudes in a room, playing the song, one take, just as the good Lord intended.” Fellow local Dave Booda is also dropping a new record that night. “This show will be in the round, which means we’re both going to be on stage together, trading off playing the songs we wrote. On some songs we’ll join each other, on some we’ll just listen. What’s also special about this type of performance, is that we get to be both a performer and an audience member.”