Live Five: La Jolla High alumni

“Avenue Army relocated from Saint Paul, MN to San Diego specifically because they felt that their sound would fit nicely in Southern California, and because they strongly felt that this was the place to build a better foundation for their music and fanbase,” says singer-songwriter Max Bergstrom. The group played around the Minnesota and Midwest scene between 2010 and 2013, when they released their debut album Words with Action. They moved to California in 2016, where Bergstrom eventually recruited an entirely revised lineup, currently featuring Drew Smith (Rough) on bass and backing vocals, Vaughn Esparza on lead guitar, and Jack Owens on drums. Their American Criminals EP came out in 2017 and was rereleased the following year with three additional tracks. After signing to Cleopatra Records this past October, their Holding Steady EP was recently rereleased by the label. The all-local bill includes cat-pop rockers Mittens, which started in 2009 as a duo featuring longtime friends Lia Dearborn (Uniform Victor) and Ramona McCarthy, and mod mainstays Manual Scan.

Formed in 2016 as Sights & Sages, alt-experimental rockers Ten Bulls were founded by one-time La Jolla High School water polo team member Christian Clark (Neveready, Pumphouse), Jay Sanchioli (Trunks, Neveready), and Chaz Lamden. Clark also played sax in La Jolla High’s jazz band and attended UC Berkeley, and both Clark and Sanchioli have played together in Love Glow, whose debut EP Honey dropped in 2017. Sights & Sages released their Doubleplus EP in summer 2017, preceded by singles for “Give” and “Aghori,” shortly after Clark’s band Pumphouse released their Too Broke for Fun EP. By last year, Sights & Sages had expanded to include two new keyboardists (Ida Naughton and Sebastian Rizo) and changed its name to Ten Bulls, with an album under that name released last November, The Physician’s Magician. Also appearing will be no wave band Spooky Cigarette, featuring Frank Mindingall (Trips, Northern Tigers), Skylar Eppler (Trips, Kooties), Danny Gallo (Hills Like Elephants), Jakob McWhinney (Trips, Kooties), and Pepe Gonzales. Boychick will round out the evening’s entertainment.

Three-time Grammy winners Los Lobos will headline the Concert of Hope, benefitting Doors of Change, which provides support to homeless youth in San Diego. Citing all the genres that have inspired their playing is akin to reading off the table of contents of a complete history of popular music, with a focus on traditional Latin folk blended with Tex-Mex, zydeco, blues, country, R&B, and rock and roll. Though founded in 1973, it wasn’t until 1987 that they first came to mainstream attention with their version of “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens. They’ve gone on to rack up countless accolades and awards, as well as being nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. Still featuring the founding trio of David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, and Cesar Rosas, accompanied by longtime bassist-singer (since 1974) Conrad Lozano, their most recent album from last October, Llego Navidad, includes Christmas music from Central America and South America, with Mexican folk songs as well as a new original tune by Hidalgo and Perez.

The Paladins were already combining country and early rock & roll with blues and jazz when the members were still attending local high school, long before the term rockabilly had been popularized. They’ve gone on to release several acclaimed full-length albums and a number of singles, and consistently performed and toured worldwide, upwards of 200 shows per year, often driving up to 75,000 miles annually. Rock promoter and future Casbah owner Tim Mays was the Paladins’ first manager in 1982, recognizing the band as akin to L.A. roots acts such as Los Lobos, the Blasters, and X, with a touch of Link Wray, Carl Perkins, and San Diego’s own Beat Farmers. In 2018, the Paladins received a San Diego Music Awards Lifetime Achievement trophy, but they’re by no means retired. Last April, they were part of the 18th Annual Lonestar Round Up in Austin Texas, then in May they headed back to the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point California, before crossing the pond to hit Europe for a summer tour. Headliner Reverend Horton Heat is still supporting his most recent album, Whole New Life, which charted at number four on Billboard’s Heat chart (not named after the Reverend, though his previous albums have maintained a presence there, climbing as high as number two).

Electro-blues band Low Volts is fronted by guitarist Tim Lowman (Blackout Party), whose great-grandfather J. Warren Lowman (aka Doc Lowman) was a Missouri gospel singer who wrote a book about how he escaped the electric chair. Twist Shake Grind Break came out in May 2011, earning the project Best New Artist and Best Blues Album trophies at that year’s San Diego Music Awards, where Lowman’s other band Blackout Party won Best Americana. Their most recent CD, Roam with You, shipped with a handwritten thank you note, stickers, and a bonus holographic Low Volts guitar pick that reads “Property of Low Volts.” The bill also features the Havnauts, formed in 2017 when Shelbi Bennett (the Midnight Pine) began working on songs with Jenny Merullo (Black Sands, Heavy Guilt), a fellow teacher at the San Diego School of Rock. Their 2018 Go For It EP, recorded at Earthling Studios in El Cajon by Mike Kamoo, won Best Local Recording at the San Diego Music Awards, and a new video debuted in September for “Gained Weight.” Headliners Dani Bell & the Tarantist released their sophomore album Wide Eyed last January, sporting cover artwork by John Gourley of Portugal. The Man.