Grampadrew

Acoustic troubadour Drew Douglas, aka Grampadrew, was nominated Best Alt Country and Best Songwriter at the 2008 San Diego HAT (Honoring Acoustic Talent) Awards. He came up performing at the Whistle Stop and later formed a local-based record label, mainly for his own releases. In addition, he’s a registered reverend who performs both weddings and funerals, having studied English Literature & Religious Studies at SDSU. Grampadrew’s Flim Flam Revue will return to the Casbah stage on Saturday, March 13, livestreamed via Twitch.TV and CasbahLiveSD. “We’re cautiously dipping our toes back into the water,” says Douglas of the longtime Casbah event. Guests include Matthew Strachota (Bartenders Bible), Julia Sage, Chad Pittman, and Jules Stewart, all appearing on the same stage. “No in-person audience. We’re also keeping the performers limited to six instead of the usual 15 or so. Half the performers have been vaccinated, and the other three are the quaranteam I’ve trusted to stay safe with me over the last year. I’ll also have everyone tested before the show, and we’ll wear masks if we’re not singing. I’ll personally wear a mask even when I am singing. I have bandanas with filters that are safer than most bandanas, and I have performed successfully with them before.”

Marcelo Radulovich

As a member of the Trummerflora music collective, Marcelo Radulovich performed as Titicacaman, as well as promoting local shows featuring other musicians from around the globe. His band projects have include Gunther’s Grass, Playground Slap, and Me Me the Moth. A new single just dropped, “Over the Unfinished Bridge.” “It’s a collaboration I did with my friend, the Japanese singer and artist Haco,” he says, “it was on her Secret Garden album in 2015. The track was just released by a label in the UK as part of a compilation titled Rough Guide to Avant-Garde Japan. Really happy with how the song turned out, and now honored to be part of this new compilation. All the music was recorded in my studio in Cardiff, I played all the instruments, and then Haco wrote lyrics and recorded her vocals in Japan.” Radulovich previously collaborated with Haco on the Secret Garden track “The Halo and Angel Wings.” His League of Assholes project recently released an album called Coda, a follow-up to their 2018 political roast Im Peach the Sequel. “It was a cherry on top of the Trump-inspired Assholes catalog. I was worn out after I finished this album, so I did nothing to promote it.”

Jus Goodie

Reggae and R&B band Jus Goodie is fronted by Justin Goodman (aka Jus Goodie), who grew up in a Jewish household surrounded by Hebrew music. Among the influences they cite are Gregory Isaccs, Morgan Heritage, Anthony B, Everton Blender, Eek-A-Mouse, Sizzla, Capleton, Culture, Damian Marley, Burning Spear, and Katchafire. They’ve shared headline bills with local reggae stars Tribal Seeds, and they will be playing the Smokeout 5 socially distanced music festival in Yuba City, California on April 17. Their upcoming fourth studio album, due sometime this fall, is preceded by the first single “Light On the Runway,” which was produced by Dan Grossman of Loud City and drops March 19 on their own imprint. The album track “Changes” features longtime collaborator and co-producer Eric Hirschhorn of Rebelution. A recently posted video streaming on their Facebook page captures a live acoustic performance of “So Nice,” filmed at their own urban marijuana farm. “We love our greenhouse,” says the band. “Actually built it ourselves from the ground up, and growing so many amazing things.”

Blink-182

Drummer Travis Barker told the Rock This Podcast that the next Blink-182 album is “60 percent done... there’s, like, a song with Grimes right now that’s really cool that I love. There’s a song with Uzi that’s really cool that we did with Pharrell. I mean, it’s not like Blink’s making a rap song or anything. It’s like bringing Uzi over to our world. So it’s more of a punk kind of like reggae feeling song. I don’t think Blink will ever be anything but a pop-punk band. I mean, that’s who we are. And I feel like our fans have kind of journeyed with us when we’ve done songs like ‘Miss You’ or ballads like ‘Adam’s Song.’ But, like, we’re never going to veer too far off from what we are. Like, I’m like a punk kid at heart, you know what I mean? Whether it’s like pop-punk with Blink or whatever with [Machine Gun Kelly] or whatever with Trippie, that’s where my heart’s at. Like, I was raised on rap music and punk rock music. It’s kind of all I know.” Barker produced the new album by rapper Trippie Redd, Neon Shark VS Pegasus. The project also features verses from Deftones’ Chino Moreno and Scarlxrd, Zillikami, and Machine Gun Kelly.

Beat Farmers

Alternative country rockers the Beat Farmers enjoyed a cult following throughout the 1980s and early 1990s before the premature death of lead singer and drummer Country Dick Montana, who died during a Beat Farmers gig in Whistler, British Columbia, in November 1995. At the end of the third song “The Girl I Almost Married,” Montana slumped over. Guitarist Jerry Raney began to play Hank Williams’ “Setting the Woods on Fire,” as Montana weakly hit a cymbal, looked at bassist Rolle Love, and then sprawled slowly across his kit. When paramedics arrived ten minutes later, the 40-year-old was dead, his cause of death ruled an acute aneurysm. He had cysts on his kidneys, and it has since been revealed by road manager Ames that Montana knew he had a blood clot in his leg but hadn’t gone to a doctor for treatment. The Beat Farmers 1985 debut album, Tales of the New West, will get a deluxe reissue April 2 from Blixa Sounds. The package features the original Rhino Records album, as well as a second disc, Live at the Spring Valley Inn 1983, recorded at their favorite hometown hangout. The two disc set includes a 24-page booklet with liner notes and rare photos.