"At this point, I realized that we were really in a strange crowd. I mean, I can barely describe how strange it was."

Counterpoint Culture is a four-piece beach/alt-rock band from San Diego. They are vocalist Cameron Pappas, Andrew Krause on lead guitar, bassist Dylan Streshly, and Carlson Miller on drums. Recently, the band returned from a grassroots summer tour. They played clubs …

New music from North County's Privatized Air Band

Johnny Q launched Privatized Air, a post punk alt rock trio in 2009. Since, they have pretty much put out an album each year. The band includes Nicky Vasquez on drums and bassist Laura Smashley. Recently, Mr. Q dropped some …

Ex-Kiss rocker spotted getting his antique on in the Village.

"I have a funny story for you," California Rangers drummer Jim Dougherty emails. "I was in La Mesa a couple of Mondays ago, just doing some errands. I walked past an antique shop (he confirms it was Park Estate on …

"We're doing something that has never been done before."

"So I made a music website!" Filip Mandaric of Capital Grey checks in to talk about his latest project which for once, does not involve his band. This time, the composer/producer is tapping in to his day job as: a …

"Basically a mix of heavy music with a little Spanish feel.”

Don't stress if you missed Pierce the Veil's last arena gig in San Diego. They have a tour film slated for release Nov 11 titled This Is A Wasteland that will be available as a digital documentary on iTunes, along …

But the showcase name, says curator Donna Larsen, may be too long

Donna Larsen, a singer/songwriter, explains her long sabbatical from local stages: "Because I was a mom." She still is a mom, but the kids are older now and there's this backlog of material to deal with. "I kept writing songs," …

First, Poway. Then the planet.

Wednesday night the Saxations, a quartet of saxophone-playing women consisting of LeiLani Vidal (she's the band's creator and leader and plays alto and soprano saxes), Shannon Bates (alto sax), Allison Boles (tenor sax), and Kyrie Lombard (baritone sax) debuted at …

And the hits keep coming:

The view from the Palace Ballroom these days is good. Timothy Joseph emails that a producer of some stature is all over his band's latest project, recorded at his Studio 350/Phaser Control studio in Grantville, and he's happy with the …

New music from the locals

Love is Slow/Remix Christopher Leyva, et al Christopher Leyva raps every possible reference to pop culture in his "Love is Slow" remix with Red Flag and Thomas the Franchise, which I take to be one man's search for a musical …

IB grindcore-punk-metal trio Hocus is putting the finishing touches on their next CD

There's a digital advance of Outside Your Door, the coming album from IB rockers Hocus in my inbox. Hocus is Fat Lando on vox and guitars, with Rhino the drummer and Lolita on bass and backup vocals. The release date …

KGB FM counts 38 years of a public spectacle they call Sky Show

"I sat in my room, and I listened to the music on the radio and I heard the fire works in the background." It's Coe Lewis, one half of the KGB FM morning show team on the phone to talk …

A pair of locals takes five, and then comes back, but for vastly different reasons

Note: This story originally appeared in the street edition of the SD Reader. It was edited do to the word count restrictions of print. What follows here are my original conversations with Lafayette and Stoney B, each recorded on separate …

San Diego sax legend teams up with Barbara Dennerlein tonight at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for some organ combo jazz

“What are you doin’ Monday?” Daniel Jackson, the tenor sax man phoned over the weekend to talk about a special gig that in fact happens to be tonight. “I’m sitting in with Barbara Dennerlein, man. In Balboa Park. She’s gonna …

It's Bobby Fernandez, the bass player from Symbolic on the phone, taking a break from band practice at their guitar player's home studio in Escondido. Escondido? "One of us commutes all the way from La Mesa," he says. That would …

'Kaos Cut Loose in San Diego' hopes to expand on Kaos Tom's past romance with local rockers

“I’m getting ready to gear back up. I want to do this.” Kaos Kut Loose in San Diego is what Tom Romano, aka Kaos Tom is planning to launch. He explains how this will be different than what he's done …

"Even in the eigth grade, I blew most everybody away." -- Matt Holmen

Years ago, while interviewing blues guitarist Walter Trout in the minutes before his set at a Street Scene concert, we talked about the rising youth factor in blues music, about the sudden crop of dazzlingly competent kids with electric guitars. …

Gigging: a lesson with Saximus, master of all things altissimo

Todd Rewoldt goes by the name of Saximus, on stage. He performs in a cutting edge avant chamber group headquartered in La Mesa called Swarmius. Saximus should give away the instrument Rewoldt plays, one that he and I have in …

The Surfaris return to Solana Beach

When I was 10 or 11 and in the fifth grade at Henry Clay Elementary near Rolando Park, I got my first gig as a sax player. It was as a member of a surf rock combo with some other …

"We are really beyond words at this point."

"Why is San Diego Music TV being targeted again?" Megan Erickson reports that the offices of San Diego Music TV were robbed again, this time during the Memorial Day weekend. "Yes, we have security and cameras," she emails, "but these …

Sex, drugs, and mashups: what a deejay does

This is how Cubic Lust starts: "Wake up in a pool of blood. It's soaked into the sheets of this oversized bed. Everything is blinding white." Cubic Lust, a first novel written by Bay Area deejay/producer Gavin Hardkiss is due …