From Love on the Rocks to Champagne Supernova

Singer/guitarist Scott Samuels arrived in San Diego in 1988, going on to play with Roxy Monoxide, Roxy Dioxode, Kitten’s Pharmacy, and A.M. Forever. His Scott Samuels Band made their concert debut at Navajo Live in late 2021, where his covers band Vinyl Pirates also played. “If you like Oasis,” says Samuels, “or if you just like the fact that I’ve moved forward in time from my Neil Diamond tribute by a few decades, please like our musical tribute to the kings of ‘90s Britpop, Oasiz.”

LA-based rocker Kate Clover recruited her current boyfriend, Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles, to record a cover of X’s “Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not” featuring keys by Gregg Foreman (Cat Power, Delta 72), who produced the song with Welchez. A video is streaming online. Clover recently released her debut full-length, Bleed Your Heart Out, recorded in Mexico City and mostly produced and co-written by Welchez. The album features his Crocodiles bandmate Charles Rowell guesting on guitar, as well as vocals and guitars from members of Davila666.

Celtic punk rockers Flogging Molly recently reissued their album Swagger with exclusive tracks, an Irish traditional set, a 60-minute video feature, and exclusive merch in a collectable box set. They just launched a co-headlining tour with Los Angeles four-piece The Interrupters, whose fourth album, In The Wild, drops in August. The trek kicked off June 7 in Indianapolis, IN, and includes a September 23 date at Chula Vista’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre. The bill includes Tiger Army and The Skints.

Promoting the spirit of diversity and equality, Hemisphere draws on rock, pop, jazz, fusion, and metal for inspiration and has played prestigious events such as the Newport Beach Jazz Festival. Their American Dreams full-length was nominated Best World Music Album at the San Diego Music Awards and scored over 400,000 YouTube views and streams. July 1 will see the release of their new album Unity, featuring Peter Sprague engineering and arranging, with a live string quartet.

Reelin’ in the Years Productions is one of the main footage libraries that supplied VH1 specials I used to write copy for, and has released several award winning DVDs. Company honcho David Peck was recently named co-executive producer for an upcoming multi-part Stax Records series. “Stax Records is very near and dear to my heart,” he says, “because the music that was cut in that Memphis studio from the late 1950s until it shut its doors in 1975 flows through my veins. Back in 2007, I directed a documentary on Otis Redding, Dreams To Remember, as well as producing the DVD release of The Stax Volt Revue Live In Norway. So now, 15 years later to be deeply involved in such an amazing and monumental project, is really incredible.”