For a decade bassist/singer James Reader and drummer Scott Frazier were in two different “Casbah bands” that went on to get national buzz: Red Dye No. 5 and, later, Dewey Defeats Truman. The 1995 Red …

Oceanside’s shady days as a wild jarhead romper room are long gone. Residential land values continue to bound upward. Its commercial profile flourishes with the soon-to-be-announced specifics of the new "pier hotel" by developer SD …

Will Del Mar horse groomers and fairground carnies be the next group to get squeezed out in the ongoing housing shakedown? Those temporary Del Mar fairground employees may eventually feel the pain due to a …

“When I saw Starbucks get into music” — selling CDs in-store and running its own label — “I thought it was a genius idea,” says local coffee entrepreneur Daniel Charlson. “I thought what they were …

Rob Farr was embedded in the glammed-up hair metal scene that ruled West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip in the mid-’80s. “There was band called Ruby Slippers which were basically Poison before they became Poison,” says Farr …

A glam-metal headbanger from Philly has been hosting live bands in San Diego for 26 years. “My first club was the Playhouse on El Cajon Boulevard,” recalls Chris Heaney about his first venue that he …

UPDATE: Brenda Moore of the UCLA Registrar's office called back three days after she was first contacted October 30 to confirm Victor Roy in fact did graduate from UCLA with a degree in geography in …

Ammar Campa-Najjar, who got national publicity as a mixed-race underdog running to unseat an indicted congressman can sing, too. A just-released music video has him singing an original song written by his former professor at …

“Brother Benno’s has got to go,” says an irate businessperson in the Oceanside Industrial Park about how the visitors to a not-for-profit support center has impacted her business. “I don’t have a barber pole because …

The on-air hosts producer Scott Richison selects for his locally produced TV shows move on bigger and better things. He tapped music writer and TV novice Troy Johnson to host Fox Rox (2002-2007). The weekly …

The name may be changing, but the music will go on

Legacy reputations have drawn artists to record albums at studios in Muscle Shoals, Rockfield Wales, or the Caribbean island of Montserrat. But South Africa? “We wanted to work with [South African producer/musician] Theo Crous,” explains …

When 33-year San Diego Sheriff Department veteran Commander Dave Myers announced he would be running to unseat Sheriff Bill Gore, he says his boss tried to humiliate him in front of the force. “He took …

Five years ago, rapper Van Brando (born Brandon Van Eklenberg) was driven by anger. His lyrics told how his imprisoned father “fucked up his family” and how that pent-up anger led to his going to …

Gentrification has accomplished what eluded city bureaucrats for decades. Oceanside’s Main Attraction, North County’s only remaining topless club, is going away. A five-story 308-unit, apartment complex is proposed as its replacement. Known to locals as …

Maybe with a little more planning, the upcoming Greyboy Allstars show could have been hyped differently. “I guess it is our 25th anniversary, isn’t it,” says keyboardist Robert Walter about his funk/soul/jazz quintet. “Maybe we …

Adrian "Marty" Martinez sings and plays bass in Vietnam Hardcore, a punk trio based in his native Vista. Late last year he was fed up that North County had become a wasteland for live shows. …

The owner of a downtown Oceanside bar claims the city is railroading her out of business all because of a move to gentrify downtown. “Since we bought this bar two-and-a-half years ago we have never …

Attention photographers: Even if you don’t copyright your work, you can still collect a nice settlement if your photo is used without permission. That’s what Jesse Cuevas of Normal Heights learned last week when a …

Tolan Shaw's Road to Nashville

The 20-year-old swap meet on Highway 76 which has had the reputation with locals as one big garage sale, is populated by vendors who pay $15 on Saturday or $45 on a Sunday to sell …

Free hip-hop and BBQ

Song writing royalty

The top two primary candidates who advanced to the November election to replace Republican Rocky Chavez as assemblyman from the 76th District, were both Democratic women. That area of North County — Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, …

When congressman Darryl Issa said he would not stand for reelection, Rocky Chavez gave up his seat as state assemblyman representing Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, and Vista so he could run for Issa’s seat. While early …

Although fists didn’t actually fly at the June 26 Vista City Council meeting, after a seven week summer break, Councilman Joe Green apologized to council colleague John Franklin at the very next meeting August 14.

Drummer Jeremy Hilliard of Mira Mesa pop-punk band Lighterburns happily paid his Warped Tour dues. He or one of his bandmates volunteered as a tour tech on the three previous tours, just to get a …

The Paladins and the Stray Cats like to get together as often as they can. Even if it takes 36 years. “The last time we played together was like 1982,” says Paladins stand-up bassist Thomas …

Drew Andrioff was suspicious about a driver “creeping up and down my street” in the middle of the day. The 495 houses in his Wanis View Estates neighborhood — between the Oceanside Municipal Airport and …

Mauro Campos, 37, served four years in the Marines in the infantry company known as Suicide Charley. After working construction and in a local airplane engine shop, he now manages a gun store called Firearms …

Logan Heights born-and-raised Pablo Cervantez has always been low key about Beach Goons. But that’s all about to change, says the singer/guitarist/songwriter about his trio that grew out of the local garage punk scene. Cervantez, …

The Carlsbad By The Sea Retirement Community’s ten-year waiting list makes it one of the more popular residences of the ten-facility Front Porch Retirement Community group. The minimum entry fee for the 147-room complex on …

Riley Hawk’s earliest rock memory was attending Boom Boom HuckJam, the extreme sports/music tour launched by his dad Tony Hawk in 2002. “I was 9 or 10,” recalls the younger Hawk. “At the time I …

Half a block of prime downtown Oceanside real estate has just been sold, impacting a handful of longtime Oceanside businesses. “We have a week left and then we are moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas,” says …

Update from Ken Leighton: As was first suggested here July 5, the top-rated Dave Shelly and Chainsaw crew could not reach an agreement with Tegna, the Virginia-based TV conglomerate that took over the KFMB stations …

Although they admit to some “talking” over Instagram, the boys in Fashion Jackson say a full-fledged proxy war has not erupted over the use of their name. “We claimed dibs,” jokes bassist Sterling Gietzen. “The …

When Jim Wood talks, Oceanside listens. But Oceanside’s most popular politician is keeping mum. After serving 30-plus years as an Oceanside policeman, Wood was elected to the Oceanside City council in 2002. Two years later …

“Do you know who founded Fallbrook?” organizer Ricardo Favela blurted out on a bullhorn in front of about 60 fellow protestors in a late afternoon rally Monday, July 9. “Reche,” said one who knew the …

Ramona Mainstage owner Orrin Day has bitten the bullet and says he has agreed to pay some $3000 annually to music licensing groups he has called “scum suckers” in the past. “You can’t get away …

When Rice Enright plays solo for wedding or corporate gigs he plays guitar. But when he plays as a “hired hand” for reggae bands J.a.m. Kwest or Gentle Giants, or for tribute bands like Fake …

The Ramones and Talking Heads drew him into radio. Rush Limbaugh and Carl DeMaio pushed him out. Billy Bones worked continuously in San Diego radio for 37 years until he quit Friday, June 29. He …

Zero. Point. Zero. That could be the college dean in Animal House telling John Belushi’s character his grade point average. Or it could represent the status of the all-sports radio 97-3 The Fan, as it …

Mixing slot machines and booze with traditional Jamaican vibes may make rasta purists wretch, but the formula has become a hit at Funner, California. “The world is not going to end if you mix gambling …

Erny Nuñez became a DJ and a concert promoter out of need. “Until five years ago there was a night called Brixton Beat at the Whistle Stop,” says Nuñez about the occasional DJ gig at …

If Oceanside residents who occupy some 2,500 mobile home spaces think they have housing security, maybe they should think again. The 57-space Catalina Mobile Home park on Coast Highway in South Oceanside has been razed …

Noticing that there are no local bands mixing '50s rock with the pop buoyancy of the Go-Go’s and the kitschy camp of Southern Culture on the Skids, sax player Emily Connell and her drummer/husband Kevin …

When he’s not on tour, Casey Turner is either at his house on Oahu or the one in Pacific Beach. He’s wrapping up an extended stint in Hawaii and will be flying back here next …

Whether the original members of As I Lay Dying should or should not get back together with Tim Lambesis is now only a philosophical question. The five internationally famous metalcore bandmates are in fact reuniting …

There’s good news for neighbors who spoke out at a May 9 Oceanside City Council meeting against a 99-room hotel to be built on a hillside just west of I-5. Based on drawings, they trashed …

“We lived in a house in OB,” singer Jon Piotrowski says of the salad days of his post-punk, art-rock band. “It was loosely called the Demasiado house. It was a magical moment. We didn’t realize …