“Bring on the Ferraris and the swimming pools!”

Alex Garcia and Sal Samano began cutting bedroom demos together in 2019. Their debut self-titled Thee Sacred Souls album drops August 26 via Daptone Records, previewed so far with singles for “Will I See You Again” and “It’s Our Love,” and a video for “Easier Said Than Done.” The album was produced by Daptone co-founder Gabe Roth, who attended their first club performance and had them recording at Roth’s Riverside, CA studio three days later.

Robin Henkel calls his new album 2022. “Yes, fame and fortune are right around the corner, and we’re all going together. Bring on the Ferraris, the swimming pools, and all the other good stuff we’re supposed to get. On this release, most of the tracks are bass-and-drum groove-style techno, with a sprinkle of jazz harmony.” But not “Oh How I Cried.” “This one is played by real humans, imagine that. No samples, no loops, none of this virtual BS. Can you believe we live in a world where the word ‘virtual’ actually means it’s NOT real?”

Vocalist Whitney Shay’s groups have included Shay & the Hustle, the Whitney Shay Quartet, Whitney Shay & Robin Henkel, and the JazzKatz Orchestra, as well as the blues/R&B group Whitney Shay & the Shakedowns, who won Best Blues Album at the 2021 San Diego Music Awards. Shay’s recent vocal cord surgery went well, and she’ll soon take the stage again for a series of local performances, as well as an upcoming European tour.

Spice Pistols bassist Sppike Mike Muellenberg is collaborating with Pacific Records CEO Brian Witkin on a series of fundraising singles for the San Diego Music Foundation program Guitars In School. The first, covering Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” includes Mike Watt (minutemen, firehose, The Stooges), Mike Reiter (27 Various, The Dig), Doug Walker (The Dwarves, The Spice Pistols), Bart Mendoza (Manual Scan, The Shambles), Anna Zinova (Pinkeye), Nick Aguilar (Slaughterhouse), and Will Lerner (Shake Before Us, Strawberry Moons). Next up is a cover of "Simple Man" and then a Tubes tune, all with different lineups.

Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker is recovering after his recent hospitalization with pancreatitis. “During an endoscopy,” he posted online, “I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by specialists, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube. This resulted in severe life-threatening pancreatitis.” Country star Warren Zeiders recently released a collaboration with Barker, a new version of his one year-old hit “Ride The Lightning.”