Lisa Sanders has a new single and video from her upcoming album Daughters of the Rising Tide

Bluesy jazz singer Lisa Sanders grew up in Philadelphia. “My earliest memories about music,” she says, “begin with my mom bringing home a hi-fi and 45 [rpm] records, mostly Motown.” After moving with her family to San Diego, she began writing commercial jingles in L.A., where she was approached to write songs for the Jacksons, though that group’s recording and touring plans never materialized. After early open-mic performances at Java Joe’s and the Metaphor Cafe, she was signed in 1998 by MCA Records. Her debut album Isn’t Life Fine was produced by local hero Steve Poltz. She won Diego Music Awards for Best Folk/Acoustic Artist in 1998 and 1999, and she was inducted into the San Diego Music Hall Of Fame in 2021. Sanders has a new music video for "Daughters of the Rising Tide," the title track and lead single from her upcoming album due in August. Sanders describes the song as an anthem about women's empowerment, survival, and standing in one's true purpose. Featuring guest Allison Russell, the track was co-written and produced by JT Nero of Birds of Chicago, while the video was directed and produced by Cathryn Beeks. The 8-song Daughters of the Rising Tide album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, at Steve Dawson's Juno award-winning Hen House Studio. Lisa Sanders & Brown Sugar will perform July 18 at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church for Summer Of Love 2025, alongside Big Boss Bubeleh, JT Moring and Mary Jo Preti, Yale Strom & Elizabeth Schwartz, The Garners, Blue Healers, The Beard and the Bird, and Nathan & Jessie. 

The award-winning California-based Hawaiian band Slack Key ‘Ohana is a San Diego-based guitar group with an ever-expanding roster of guest talent rotating in both studio and live performances. With a “Tiki” Waikīkī 1940s vibe, they blend Hawaiian melodies with Beach Boys-style harmonies, using old school recording techniques. The band has a new single for “Mai Tais in Paradise,” which precedes their upcoming album The ‘Ohana Sessions, due August 7. "While we’ve built our sound around a rotating cast of incredible guest musicians, our new album highlights the core of the band - the literal ohana," says Brian Witkin, who had a hand in writing all ten original songs and produced the album with Chris Hobson and Reba and Jim Marabotto. "It’s the first time we’ve made a full studio record centered entirely on the trio, and that was very intentional. There’s a unique energy when it’s just the three of us, and it brings out a different emotional depth in both the performances and the songs themselves. We also continue to stay true to our recording philosophy: tracking together in real time, using vintage and analog gear, and avoiding samples, extreme effects, or shortcuts. That human element has always been essential to our sound.” Slack Key ‘Ohana’s previous full-length, 2024’s Hawaiian Cowboy, was the band’s second album to debut at number one on the iTunes World Music chart. The group will perform at Pacific Records Fest on July 19 for a bill that includes Sandollar, Twilight Highway, VB By the Sea, and the Tourmaliners.  

Matthew Phillips released his debut single "So In Love” in July 2023, also produced as a music video, followed in November by "Till It's Over," which came with a video filmed live at downtown's House of Blues. A video for "Time Fades Love" was filmed live at the Belly Up. He won Best Pop Artist at the 2024 and 2025 San Diego Music Awards, performing onstage at Humphreys for the latter ceremony. As he told the Reader, "The singles helped take me from playing open mics to headlining the House of Blues [for] LiveNation, the Belly Up, the Del Mar Fair, and even performing at the SDMAs at Humphreys." By the end of 2025, his debut album Till It's Over had earned 138,000 Spotify streams, with around 15,700 Monthly listeners. His Spotify account has over 800,000 views, with Till It's Over accounting for 574,000 of them. The August 9th, 2025 release party in San Marcos for Till It's Over was recorded. That recording, Matthew Phillips — Till It’s Over (Live at The Bornemann Theatre), was released on all streaming platforms on October 15, 2025, the same day he opened for David Cook at the Belly Up. Phillips just released a new single called  “Battlefield Of Love,” which he'll be playing at the Del Mar Fair today, July 1, on the Paddock Stage. 

The Wacken Metal Battle USA 2026 National Final on June 13 at Brick By Brick brought together the top six bands from across the country, after months of battles in cities nationwide. Local metalheads Gannondorf won this year's contest, earning a slot at Wacken Open Air, one of the world’s most iconic metal festivals. The group will now advance to the international Wacken Metal Battle, where rising bands from across the globe compete before a live crowd. Gannondorf is an avant‑garde black metal project from the San Diego/Escondido, California area, with members who have been playing together since 2008. The band began as a fusion of black metal and video‑game‑inspired themes. In August 2011, they formed as Gravespell, playing what they called blackened death metal, with a melodic and atmospheric sound punctuated by moments of brutality, blended with the raw power of black metal. Known as Gannondorf since 2020, their current music blends experimental, gothic, and extreme‑metal elements, drawing on dark, apocalyptic, and fantastical themes. Their full-length The Nightmare Institution dropped in 2024, an eight‑track, hour‑long album sporting technical guitar work, atmospheric horror‑driven aesthetics, and genre‑blending approach. Industry judges at the San Diego Wacken competition included Rod Kukla (Silver Lining Music), Martin Koller (Prophecy Productions / SPKR Media), and Kelly McLauchlin (Pessimist). "My fourth time judging the USA final," says Kukla, "and I can honestly say the quality of the finalists was the best ever." Gannondorf appears July 11 at Brick By Brick.

Almost monday's sophomore album thank god it's almost monday is due September 9, preceded so far by singles for “skinny dip” and “no more regrets.” According to the band, "We made this during the best and worst year of our lives. It’s the result of an honest life lived; the highs, the lows, the pain, and the joys are all there on this record." A new single and video for “delicate” tells a story with lyrics like “Take a drink, pretend that I’m relevant / Try to love it but I hate it / And I just, and I just can’t fake it I’m, delicate.” According to the band, “In a lot of ways, the song is an elevator pitch for a short story. “We’ve always been so inspired by filmmakers and world builders. So ‘delicate’ is a tongue-in-cheek, wink-at-the-camera-esque journey of a guy who wakes up feeling overly confident, only to discover just how fragile his ego truly is.” They'll open for Young the Giant and Cold War Kids on July 15 at SDSU's Open Air Theatre, and you can also catch them October 22 at Observatory North Park.       

Jenn Grinels grew up in Northern California, before landing at UC Irvine to study musical theater. After graduating, she moved to San Diego and began appearing in local stage productions. One of her most challenging roles was in reverse-drag, playing bearded rock musician Yitzhak in the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, at the Cygnet Theatre. She also portrayed Janis Joplin in the 1960s musical Beehive, at the Theatre in Old Town. She tours and plays as a solo singer/songwriter, having released her debut full-length Little Words in 2007. She has won two HAT/Honoring Acoustic Talent Awards, for both Best Performer and Best Vocalist in 2007, and she also won the APCA 2010 Female Solo Artist of the Year award and the Best Female Solo Artist trophy at the 2011 APCA National Awards. Her song “Little Words” was featured on MTV’s The Real World, and she was named among the 2012 Top Indie Acoustic Musicians You Don’t Want To Miss by Indie Music Reviewer Magazine. Grinels' upcoming album Western Heart, due later this year, is so far preceded by singles for "Always On the Run" and "North to Escondido." According to Grinels, "These songs were born from a collaboration with poet/lyricist Alfred Howard and led me somewhere unexpected and exciting as a songwriter."

Geffen Records released a 25th anniversary edition of Blink-182's 2001 full-length Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, the first punk rock album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, including six tracks that have never been available on streaming platforms. The first printings of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket were split among three configurations, corresponding to the three emblems on the album cover – the red airplane, the yellow pants, and the green jacket. Each edition contained its own pair of exclusive, hidden tracks. Prior to the new 25th anniversary release, these six songs had never appeared together on one album. The reissue is available as a 2-LP set, pressed on black vinyl. A plane, pants or jacket emblem will be individually etched onto Side D of each vinyl set at random, creating a surprise moment for fans as they open their vinyl and see which emblem they have received.

Jared Mattson of The Mattson 2 and Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra recently released their collaborative instrumental album FEAR via Jagjaguwar, along with a visualizer for the single “WEDGIE,” an intricate interplay of two guitar virtuosos and one of the album’s most pristine, celestial moments. FEAR was recorded in June 2024, the year Mattson and Nielson first met in person, having previously crossed paths online through being longtime admirers of each other’s music. It wasn’t long before they began playing music together, and during that first improvisational session, Nielson hit record, and within a couple of days they had captured the seven tracks. All recording and mixing took place in Palm Springs, with mastering by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios in London. The duo will appear at the Casbah on July 6.