“All that was left was a destroyed guitar”

Dream Tonic is a classically trained pianist whose new EDM EP is called Essence. “Although this entire EP has songs of darkness intermingled with hope,” she says, “there is one particular song, ‘Spark,’ that stands out to me…I had recently lost a person that I loved very much in a sudden and unexpected way. I felt like I was living in a black hole with no way out. Then I remembered that there are people around me who love me, who are still living, and that they need me to emerge, to come out and be my fullest, truest self.”

“Things are really rolling for The Good Vibe’s The Hunt for the Holiday Spirit,” says singer-songwriter Jefferson Jay of his animated cartoon in development, starring and about disabled performers. “In May, we signed a contract with Mach 8 Media to help us procure pitch meetings with many of the largest media companies in the world. On May 13th, we released our opening theme sequence video on YouTube. It’s received over 6200 views, and we hadn’t even sent it out yet.”

A guitar, once busted onstage while Some Girls covered Unbroken’s “Absentee Debate” in tribute to their late bandmate Eric Allen, is being auctioned. Justin Pearson explains, “It was again one of those moments where a person is not fully conscious of reality...it wasn’t until I had laid my bass down and started to gather my senses, as feedback consumed the room, that I realized Rob [Moran, guitarist] was nowhere near the stage. All that was left was a destroyed guitar and the sounds that it provided to those that were there to share that moment with us.” Proceeds benefit the family of Gabe Serbian, who passed away in April.

“I’m now a regular member of The California Guitar Trio,” says renowned Chapman Stick player Tom Griesgraber. “Last year, they called me to fill in for Hideyo Moriya, right before they were scheduled to tour as King Crimson’s opener. I had two weeks notice, then was off and running playing amphitheaters, famous venues like the Greek, Ryman, and Fox Atlanta, even a small sports arena.” The Trio recently released a live album, and their first San Diego show with Griesgraber happens July 16 at Escondido’s Ritz Grand.

The Inflorescence songwriter Tuesday Denekas says their new single “Board Game” is “probably the most desperate song on the [new] album. At this time in my life, I felt very manipulated, like I wasn’t being myself anymore and that the people I surrounded myself with didn’t really care about me at all. I felt like I was just a piece of someone else’s puzzle, not my own.”