Rocket from the Tombs was a mid-’70s Cleveland band that never got a lot of recognition. But Rocket spawned bands that did gain notoriety — such as Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys — and …

On October 17, 2000, Regina Marie Bos, a 40-year-old mother of three, performed during an open mic at Duggan’s Pub, a neighborhood saloon near her home in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her Saturn was parked across the …

This November, local indie-pop quartet Echo Revolution will release their fourth studio CD, Counterfeit Sunshine. Since 2003, the band has released three full-length CDs through their own label, Open Arms Records. They hit a trifecta …

Meklit Hadero’s ascension as a popular and critically acclaimed singer-songwriter began five years ago, when she first sang in public. Born in Ethiopia and raised in numerous cities across the U.S., Hadero came to San …

“I had all these visions of that scene from Almost Famous, where that guy says, ‘I’m a golden god!’ and jumps into the pool from the roof.” When Jake Feala signed up for Better Than …

“A lot of people had no idea it was us when they first heard it.” Chris Frantz reflects on the surprise success of a song that he, his wife Tina Weymouth, and a handful of …

It was more years ago than he can remember when Tom Courtney, a blues singer from Texas, became known as Tomcat. “It was some woman in New Mexico that gave me that name,” he says. …

Jon Spencer named his band the Blues Explosion, but it was never about the blues. With Judah Bauer and Russell Simins, Spencer tapped into the vein of the truest American roots music — plantation, country, …

“You know who [Arizona lawman] Joe Arpaio is, right? Every time we go through there, it never fails... We won’t play Arizona anymore,” says Crocodiles’ Brandon Welchez in response to a question about a song …

In 1986 Charles Thompson dropped out of college and decided to form a band with his friend Joey Santiago. “I broke it to my dad [a medical doctor] by lying to him,” says Santiago via …

“It seems the fans were more into us in New York than they were in San Diego.” Tim Hines plays guitar in the band Lights On. He lives in La Mesa. He’s not sure why …

Contrary to what you might think, true indie rock was invented during the late 1970s by bands that recorded in analog studios, released music on records (or cassette tapes), and hoped for a sweet record …

“It was a struggle to get the permits from the City of Chula Vista,” says Mikey Hernandez. “They rarely issue permits for live music that goes beyond 11 p.m., but I was adamant about getting …

“I’m blown away. I just can’t fathom this.” Gary Beck is the midday radio host at Jazz 88.3. “Kenny and I were real close. I’d known him almost 30 years. I talked to him just …

“The Stones were on tour, and the saxophonist they had with them wasn’t working out.” Ernie Watts, on the phone from his Los Angeles home, is having a bad case of jet-lag after performing with …

“I think Thursday is the best night in San Diego, honestly,” says blogger Rosemary Bystrak, who books music at the West Coast Tavern in North Park. “There’s always the most things going on then.” She …

“Which one of you is Thomas Yearsley?” At 10:30 on a Friday night, a car parks in front of Yearsley’s recording studio on Wisconsin Street in Oceanside. The driver identifies herself as the mother of …

“Reggae had started to get big in San Diego and Tijuana in the 1970s and 1980s.” Adrian Cisneros, known as AK, grew up in Chula Vista listening to his mother and his uncle play reggae …

“I think I’m stealing this line from Kathy Griffin, but we all need to find the strong black woman inside of us and set her free.” Scott Paulson offers this in response to a question …

Primitive Noyes describes their music as “electroniscape pop.” The band’s sound is redolent of those 1960s-era anti-drug films intended to scare junior high school kids away from dope. To wit: “One senses the invocation of …

“The only thing I can think of is my natural hyperactivity, but also the love of punk music,” Dave Lombardo offers by way of explanation. He is often credited with having created an almost impossibly …

Girl in a Coma is a San Antonio trio started by Phanie Diaz and Jenn Alva. Later, they drafted Phanie’s sister Nina. Nina has one of those innocent honey-sweet voices that could melt rocks. By …

When Pierce the Veil takes the stage this summer at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre as part of the Vans Warped Tour, it will be a homecoming for the San Diego band. Vic Fuentes, 27, says he …

You might ask yourself if pop music needs another duo from the Midwest with the last name of White. White Mystery is Alex and Francis White, a brother-sister duo from Chicago. They don’t break any …

“In the course of 30 years, I’ve photographed just about every musician you could name,” says Oceanside-based rock photographer Rick Gould. His list includes Michael Jackson, Madonna, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Tom Petty, …

Java Joe’s last official promotion at the Café Libertalia on Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest was Bushwalla’s performance on Saturday, July 17. For the past year, Joe Flammini had an arrangement with Libertalia owners Donna Orlando …

San Diego–based Webceleb, a dot-com startup that went live in March, bills itself as a “social marketplace where you can get paid to download music.” Cofounder Scott Fetters says that the price of a song …

In 2006, Richard S. Friedman — an entertainer who fronted the Texas Jewboys, a band known for such songs as “Asshole from El Paso” and “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” — ran for …

“Some people are, like, ‘Can you write off my ticket?’ I’m not a cop anymore. I’m a civilian now,” says Latin jazz trumpeter Melissa Mejia. “But some people think that even though I resigned [from …

In 2001 a neurologist named Barry Bittman published a curious study claiming that drumming could improve one’s immune system. “Well, it must,” says Bill Kreutzmann by telephone from Hawaii when told of the report. “I …

Don Miggs says he wrote his first song when he was eight years old, but he didn’t turn pro until years later after one of his songs landed with a producer named Gavin MacKillop. MacKillop …

On June 3, Chicano rock band Los Lobos announced that they would join the list of businesses boycotting Arizona in protest of the new immigration law there by canceling their June 10 concert in Scottsdale. …

“Dizzy’s,” explains Chuck Perrin, “has always been an artist-driven space.” He offers this on a Saturday morning as an explanation for why he is setting up a stage, chairs, and sound system in the Culy …

A friend of mine who had gone through a long and dateless dry spell had hooked up with a new girlfriend. Time passed, and all seemed good — meaning they were still together. One night …

“There’s a study by Barry Bittman,” says Davida Price, “that found that 30 minutes of drumming actually improves the production of T-cells.” Price, 29, is a certified music therapist. “Those are the cells that are …

“Jay Bogart — that was his punk name — was killed by a guy who went by the name of Chris Jarhead and whose actual name was Chris Cruise.” Eric Rife talks about a scene …

In early January, Leon Russell underwent brain surgery at an undisclosed hospital in California to correct what was described as a chronic condition. Some news reports also claimed that the 68-year-old Oklahoman had suffered heart …

When ex-Paladin Dave Gonzalez plays a CD-release show at the Casbah Friday night with his new “Texas funk” band the Stone River Boys, he will in effect be honoring his San Diego roots by performing …

When Sharon Jones was eight or nine years old, her father took her to see James Brown. The Godfather of Soul made an indelible impression. Decades later, Jones told NPR that she believed she never …

“People have told us we sound like the Black Keys meets the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,” says Lucina Gonzalez, singer for Black Hondo. “Or the Jefferson Airplane. Shocking Blue kisses the Doors. Or PJ Harvey in …

Chris Braciszewski’s alter ego is Snuffaluffagus, based on a large wooly mammoth that lived in the imagination of Sesame Street’s Big Bird. It also happens to be the name of Braciszewski’s collaborative music project. “I’m …

In 1963, Jamaicans Neville O’Riley Livingston, Peter McIntosh, and Nesta Robert Marley — jacked on weed and American pop by the likes of Ray Charles and Fats Domino — formed a group of their own. …

Evona Wascinski is a bassist with deep roots in the local trad-jazz scene. She has at various times backed or worked with first-call locals such as Gilbert Castellanos, Mikan Zlatkovitch, and Sue Palmer at area …

A few weeks ago, Bonnie Wright’s laptop crashed after she spilled tea on its keypad. It was cheaper, she said, to upgrade. But the problem was that the newer laptop couldn’t read her address book, …

“Our older brothers had a huge influence,” says Jonathan Mattson, who is one-half of jazz duo the Mattson 2. “My brother Mike played in Kut U Up. They toured with, like, Green Day, Jimmy Eat …

Dave Wakeling calls from his tour bus. His band the English Beat, the U.S. version of the Beat, is on the road and passing through New Mexico. He is the only member of the popular …

“I don’t know how to play a musical instrument,” says Sue Spray, “but I know how to make a guitar that sounds really good.” Spray also builds ukuleles and Celtic harps. “Some of my guitars …

In 1985, in Aberdeen, Washington, Kurt Cobain headed a band named Fecal Matter. He was 18. Some of the members of that band (Dale Crover, Buzz Osborne, and Mike Dillard) were also in a fledgling …

“We had a fire-breather at first,” says Queensrÿche front man Geoff Tate via telephone from his home in Bellevue, Washington. “That didn’t quite work out. I didn’t really see the point, you know?” Queensrÿche Cabaret …

While Poison front man Bret Michaels recovers from a potentially fatal brain hemorrhage, San Diego writer-psychic David Moye recalls interviewing the L.A.-based rocker in 2007, after which he says he gave Michaels a psychic reading. …