“Everybody ends up making these Faustian bargains”

From 1978 to 1985, James Call played with local punk icons the Penetrators. “Morgan Miller III and I have just finished the first issue of a new project, 2021 Book 1,” says Call of the book for sale on Apple, Amazon, Miller’s website, and locally at Verbatim Books and Folk Arts Rare Records. “Early in 2020, it became clear that the pandemic was going to have a profound effect on our lives, from public policy to interpersonal relationships. It also quickly became clear that political polarity would carry over into pandemic response too. Morgan had already been doing some hand-printed, hand-bound books. The remarkable events of 2020 provided Morgan with a deep well of inspiration, and he began to make drawings of those events. He self-published three books of the resulting illustrations, with text describing them. As 2021 dawned with our bizarre new world showing no sign of any return to normalcy, Morgan asked me if I would join the continuing project to do text. I was quite elated to be asked into a project that I already had a lot of respect for. Morgan would draw the event, and then I would research it and write a description.” The project is ongoing. “We have attempted to be newsy and factual, but we feel we are writing a history. It’s a history not only of the events, but how those events affected us.”

A native San Diegan and graduate of Point Loma High, Jason Scheff got his local start with bands like the People Movers and M&Ms. His father Jerry Scheff was a studio bassist who played for Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and the Doors. While playing L.A. studios in the mid-1980s, Jason Scheff auditioned for the band Chicago, eventually replacing Peter Cetera as their lead singer from 1985 through 2016. Scheff has joined an all-star roster of musicians teaming up to launch the It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: A Tribute to The Beatles tour that kicks off in March. The shows will feature Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland of Badfinger, Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, Denny Laine (founding member of The Moody Blues and Wings), and Scheff performing their hits plus selected songs from The Beatles’ albums Rubber Soul and Revolver. According to a press statement from Rundgren, “This time, we thought, wouldn’t it be great if we played the best songs The Beatles ever recorded for a change? Rubber Soul and Revolver are the boys peaking in front of our eyes and redefining what pop music would be for the foreseeable future.”

Guitarist Mike Keneally - who has worked with Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Devin Townsend, Dethklok, and more - spent part of last year on tour with The Zappa Band (including other FZ alumni), opening 17 shows on King Crimson’s final U.S. tour. He also just joined the band ProgJect. “So many things fell into place for this to feel like a perfect step for me to take right now,” he says. “I grew up loving these songs and bands so much, and taught myself to play the songs, but have only rarely had the chance to play this material professionally. I’ve flirted with prog my whole career, without ever really falling face first into it. Now with ProgJect, I’m having an incredible amount of fun playing music which comes naturally to me, with these brilliantly talented players who not only sound fantastic but whose company I enjoy a hell of a lot. The setlists and medleys that Jonathan [Mover] constructed are hugely creative and fun to play, and I think people - or prog fans, at least - will lose their minds with happiness at the gigs.” The band is rehearsing with Keneally for a tour that begins in Los Angeles April 1.

When A.J. Croce was a week past his second birthday, his father, singer-songwriter Jim Croce, died in a September 1973 plane crash. Since his self-titled debut in 1993, A.J. Croce has worked with T. Bone Burnett, Jim Keltner, and Ry Cooder, among others. The 50th Anniversary celebration of his father’s breakthrough album, You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, includes a Croce Plays Croce concert tour that begins in the fall. Croce will perform his own unique interpretations of his father’s music with a full band and visual presentations of the songs, including “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels),” “Time In A Bottle,” and others. The original album was Jim Croce’s final studio effort, released ten days after he died at the age of 30. The upcoming 50th Anniversary is to include other celebratory promotions by BMG, Jim Croce’s record company, including a special album reissue and accompanying commemorative events throughout autumn 2022. A.J. Croce’s current tour kicked off February 10 and runs through May, with more dates planned for the 50 Anniversary celebration in September through November.

Heart founders Ann and Nancy Wilson, whose father was a Marine Corps recruiter, spent time living in San Diego while growing up. Ann Wilson is streaming a music video and single for “Greed,” from her upcoming album Fierce Bliss, due April 29. “‘Greed’ is that thing in our animal nature that makes us want more,” she says, “whether it be money, sex, power, or ecstasy. It fires our craving. It happens with all of us. When you turn around and catch yourself making decisions because you want the money, or because you’re caught in the headlights of glory, well, those are greedy moments. People who claim to have made every decision from the root of pure idealism, and never done anything dark or greedy, are lying. I think everybody who ventures into the music industry, hoping for a career with big successes, ends up making these Faustian bargains at some point, even if only briefly. It’s an aggressive song, and I think I write best when I’m angry.” The album features seven new originals, her 2021 single “Black Wing,” and covers of the Eurythmics’ “Missionary Man,” Robin Trower’s “Bridge Of Sighs,” and Queen’s “Love of My Life.” Guest players include Vince Gill, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and members of Gov’t Mule. Ann Wilson and the Amazing Dawgs will play Pala Casino on May 7.