ROI and the Music Industry: A Guest Post by Josh Damigo

Josh Damigo is playing at Lestat's TONIGHT (Friday, December 30) at 9pm for his 10th annual Birfday show. We had a conversation the other day that lead to me inviting him to post. Sorry to get this up so late, but you still have time to make plans for Lestat's. (Happy birthday, Josh!! I love you, Bestie!!)

Whattap? It’s Josh Damigo. I took over SDDIALEDIN to teach you all a quick lesson on Return of Investment and it’s role in the life of a musician. It’ll be quick, and it’ll help with your business skills. Ready…. READ!!!

Let’s start with the basics. I’ve been a singer/songwriter in Southern California since 2006. I have a bachelor’s degree in Communications from San Diego Christian College and my Master’s Degree in Organizational Management from Ashford University. I’m a member of SESAC for my PRO (Performing Rights Organization) and have opened for Jason Mraz, Matt Nathanson, Zac Brown, Eric Hutchinson, Andy Grammar, name drop, name drop, name drop… When you put all of that together, it means that I’ve studied the music industry pretty extensively over the last ten years. I’ve had my ups and downs, like the $28,000 royalty check from live shows to losing all of my money and then some on a 30 city - US tour. (It’s give and take in a musician’s life, so buckle up!)

I’m playing at Lestat’s West tonight for my 10th annual “Birfday” Show. Unfortunately, this will be my last show, at the venue, because they are increasing the cut that the venue will take, starting on January 1st from $3 a head (when I started) to $5 a head. (That’s going to cut into my profits by 40%!) And as you know, profits for a musician are already pretty minimal. That got me to thinking – When is a gig TRULY worth it? Let’s talk about what an ROI is and what it means to your music business life. (Read the rest after the jump)

KRPi Hosts iSession with Calexico at Lestat's, 7/6/2015

The Casbah and Observatory have been keeping me so busy that I'm slipping on catching all the secret shows that happen around town throughout the year. Fortunately, my friend Jeff is always paying attention (I mean, he already bought tickets for Jose Gonzalez and the show isn't until 2016!), so when he called me at 3:20 to ask if I wanted to see Calexico at Lestat's (like 4 blocks from my house) at 4pm, I adjusted my schedule, hopped on my bike, and was there for a very special and exclusive performance, with my 25 people in attendance. It was a KPRi iSession, so they had to keep the crowd small, but I felt so happy to see it since the band doesn't have a local stop on their current tour. They played four songs: Falling From The Sky, Bullets and Rocks, When The Angels Played, and my favorite of the set, Cumbia de Donde. You can see all four songs in the playlist below.

Recommended Shows in San Diego December 16-22, 2013

National Maple Syrup Day

The last full week of shows and holiday shopping has arrived. There are many worthwhile live music events worth noting in the upcoming week, so here we go.

Catch local singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman on Monday at the Belly Up...

Indie pop trio Lovers (Portland) play an intimate gig on Tuesday at the Tin Can...they recently released their seventh studio effort A Friend in the World...

On Wednesday The Casbah presents Polica, making their second San Diego area appearance, this time in the larger confines of the Belly Up...

Singer-actress Rebecca Pidgeon returns to Lestat's for a cozy show on Thursday...she just released her seventh album, Blue Dress On...

Friday's pick is Holograms (Sweden) and TV Ghost (IN) over at Soda Bar...

Check the listings for a show on Saturday..

El Vez and Rosie Flores present their Mexmas show at the Casbah on Sunday...sounds like a great way to cap the weekend..

A great week of music lies waiting for the music fans in San Diego...support local venues and act responsibly while doing so...

Watch a video of My Oh My by Tristan Prettyman below.



Watch a video of Oh Yeah by Lovers below.

Recommended Shows In San Diego October 21-27, 2013

As October rolls on so do the great musical events in San Diego. The upcoming week offers some great reasons for music fans to get off the couch and out of the house.

Tim Kasher, noted Cursive front man, brings his solo work (recently released Adult Film) to the Casbah on Monday...Laura Stevenson and Jake Bellows open for a great night of music...

Phantogram make their long awaited return to San Diego at the House of Blues on Tuesday...the upstate New York electronic duo are set to release their sophomore full length Voices...

On Wednesday garage rocker Hanni El Khatib headlines the Casbah with Bass Drum of Death offering support...

Chrome Sparks headline Soda Bar on Thursday...he plays music classified as chillwave (see video below)...London artist James Blake makes his San Diego debut at the House of Blues...

Spain's Crystal Fighters return to the Casbah for the show of the night on Friday...this one is sure to sell out so don't delay...

Josh Damigo plays his monthly show at Lestat's on Saturday...Kim Richey will sing an acoustic set or two at AMSD Concerts...

Sunday is loaded with some great options: Keep Shelley in Athens at the Casbah, Deer Tick at the Belly Up, and Boy and Jeremy Messersmith make a tour stop at Porter's Pub...

Another great week of music awaits those wishing to enrich their lives...be sure to support live music whatever your choice(s) might be...consult the listings for all the shows...

Watch a video of Don't Move by Phantogram below.



Watch a video of Send The Pain On by Chrome Sparks below.

Friday Night In San Diego: Ari Shine at Lestat's

A couple weeks ago, Ari Shine opened for White Buffalo at the Casbah. I met Ari a few years ago and though he probably doesn't remember that, I do love his music. Sometimes, however, I get tied up (figuratively), and after a long day at a baby shower, I arrived at the Casbah right as he was getting offstage. Still, I wanted to give Ari the opportunity to invite you to his next show which is happening tonight at Lestat's. He's awesome and if you find yourself in the Heights tonight, you should drop by and check him out.

Saturday Night: Josh Damigo at Lestat's

Tonight is another Josh Damigo Saturday at Lestat's, and I know there are a lot of other things happening around town, but if you haven't been to one of Josh's shows, tonight's not a bad night to hit it. His new songs are amazing, his old songs will make you wanna sleep with him, and his banter will make you laugh, weep, and wish you were ten years younger. Oh? Just me? Evs...

Gregory Page at Lestats, 1/1/11

I don't shoot a lot of acoustic acts, but it's a new year so let's try something different.







Check my blog post on the show for more.

The Wrong Trousers Return With Two End of the Year Shows

It's been a while since The Wrong Trousers have played around town, but they're playing a couple shows and I thought I'd give them an extra plug because they've always been such great kids.

First, you can see them tonight at the Casbah for The Smart Brothers Winter Jubilee featuring The Smart Brothers, Gregory Page, Sara Petite, The Wrong Trousers, John Meeks , Joanie Mendenhall, Miss Erika Davies, & Suzanne Reed. That is a pretty incredible lineup for $12...

Then on Thursday, December 30th, The Wrong Trousers will appear at Lestat's for their New Years Eve Eve Ball. They'll be joined again by The Smart Brothers and Kenny Eng.
The show is $8 and you get a prize for showing up dressed up.

The Wrong Trousers' New Year's Eve Eve Ball! from Joseph Lorge on Vimeo.

Last Minute Show: A Scribe Amidst The Lions, Fing!! & Platypus Egg

Last night I was alerted about a benefit show happening today at Lestat's. The show is at 1pm and is a benefit for Bo Radley Marlo, a friend of the bands, so he can get a much needed wheelchair upgrade. 12 years ago, Bo suffered a spinal cord injury in a motorcylcle accident. He's uninsured and his aged wheelchair is resticting his functionality. As a result, he's developed bedsores and other complications from his limited mobility.

Fing, A Scribe Amidst The Lions, and Platypus Egg are all performing.
Today! Sunday, July 18, 1-4pm.
$10.
The show is all ages.

Videos: Jeremy Messersmith at Lestat's

Remember last week when I said I had fallen in love with the music of Jeremy Messersmith? Well, I went to his show at Lestat's on Thursday night and though there was just a sprinkling of people in the audience, it was an incredible performance by a very talented musician. He had some cool looping and vocal effects that made the performance feel rich and full, but he didn't abuse any of the tools to drown out the fact that he is a solid one man performer, either. You can listen to all three of his albums for free, or purchase them with a "pay what you can" deal. Check it out here. Thanks to Elliott for keeping me company at the show, and thanks to Jeremy for saving me a front row seat to shoot the video. My only regret is walking in a few minutes late and not capturing "Novocain" on video. Turns out it's one of my favorites.

Grant-Lee Phillips at Lestats, 12.13.2009

About a month ago Jeff and I were having dinner and he was filling me in on upcoming shows. We were comparing notes on who'll be touring in December and the early part of the new year to make sure we keep the good stuff on the radar, when he told me that Grant-Lee Phillips was playing at LeStat's. I believe I gave him an Elaine from Seinfeld response, "Get out!". We kinda stressed about the show, too...LeStat's doesn't have any presale tickets and it's so intimate a venue, I didn't know what to expect.

The night of the show, we planned on grabbing dinner at Blind Lady and getting in line, but when we parked, noticed that despite the website saying 9pm, the marquee now had Gregory Page opening at 8. A kink in our plans, so we ate at Tao, spending the entire meal craning our necks in hopes the line wouldn't get too crazy so we could still get a good view. In the end, we somehow scored a couple seats in the second row and were able to enjoy the incredible show. I saw Grant-Lee Buffalo years ago, and have seen Grant-Lee Phillips a few times over the years, but NEVER like this, in a quiet room with about 75 people. He played for 75 minutes and covered the full spectrum of his catalogue making for an amazing show.



Between songs he was hilarious, with banter about bottled water coming from "the land of Kirk...where is this magical place called Kirkland?" (a reference to Costco for those who might not be bulk shopping addicts), about whether or not he should take off his blazer ("50% of my sophistication comes from me wearing this coat."), and a funny bit about Oasis and how Brit bands don't sweat, among other things. The show was $15 at the door and worth every penny. I hear he's based in L.A. and plays Hotel Cafe and Largo a lot, I hope that he found a welcoming crowd in San Diego and makes a habit about playing here in the most intimate of venues.

As I mentioned, we were in the 2nd row, so some of my video has the heads of the women who sat in front of me, but the sound is so phenomenal I still want to share. I eventually switched seats with Jeff and I think those videos are more or less unblocked. I will also say, for the record, that Gregory Page opened with a nice 30 minute set and I shot him playing my favorite Christmas song that I mentioned last week as well as another song, but unlike Grant, Gregory wouldn't ok me posting them. boo. So I'm going to keep harassing him but until then, enjoy these Grant Lee Phillips videos.



There are more if you 'keep on reading'.

A Week In Review: August 31- September 4, 2009

Several months ago I got this crazy idea in my head that I was going to move this site to WordPress. It still might happen just as soon as the thing in my head can be actualized and it becomes worth the time and effort. But as I sought guidance and was convinced it wouldn't take that long to do, I chilled out on updates on the site. Now I find myself still using my original Blogger template with months of photos (dating back to May, to be exact) and a whole bunch of stuff between then and now that I just never posted about. I mean, it's not like I stopped going to shows and taking pics, but I've just been brief about those updates.

Now that it's looking more and more like my move to WordPress is postponed at best, and since I think I'm finally inspired enough out of my writer's rut, I wanna get back to the old days, when I wrote like nobody was reading, if you don't mind. I may never get back to most of those 4 months of photos, but I don't want to keep putting off the present because of the past. I was trying to break my writing into digestible, tagable, and web-searchable nuggets, but fuck it. My brain doesn't work that way and it's been so long since I've really wanted to write, so now you get a deluge.

With that said, last week, once recovered from Street Scene was a pretty good one. Click 'keep on reading' to read all about it.

Bad Veins at The Casbah, 2.1.09




My post-Street Scene adventures started on Sunday when I went to Jimmy's party with Josh Damigo. Jimmy hosts open mic at Lestat's and it was a beautiful day among warm people. I recognized a few faces- photographer Steve Covault was there, with his new bride Sweet Joyce Ann, Sara Petite, and others had gathered to celebrate the birthday. Dat Phan was there and naturally when at a party, one doesn't leave a conversation with a comedian. He had us in stitches until it was time to go. On the ride home I snapped Josh singing along to his music. Next time he better be careful or I'll shoot video.



Monday was eaten up with projects and stuff and just as a break, I walked over to Lestat's to catch Josh for a couple songs during open mic, which is where that video for "Indescribable" that I posted last week came from. I stopped into Lou Jones, too, but Tuesday was another early day for me so I didn't stay long. Let me tell ya, though, if you ever want total extremes, go to Lestat's for Open Mic Mondays, then to Lou Jones to visit Chrystal on Metal Mondays.

Tuesday night was all about the Casbah for me. LoveLikeFire from San Francisco opened the night and sadly my photos are beyond terrible. But they're really great with a highly energetic female guitarist vocalist up front.

I was there for two more bands living on the Dangerbird label that for me, so far at least, can do no wrong (Silversun Pickups, Eulogies, Dappled Cities). On this night, it was Bad Veins and Division Day who are co-headlining the tour. As I mentioned last week, I've been listening to both albums religiously and I was not disappointed by the live performances. Bad Veins, being just a two piece, rely on prerecorded beats that are usually played through a reel to reel, but "she" broke the night before so they were bummed they had to iPod the stuff, but I don't think it made a difference to the crowd.



I'm not gonna lie. The crowd was much thinner than I expected. And much, much smaller than I'd hoped. These are some incredible bands doing really great things and I guess me saying so can't get someone like Daye convinced that it's ok to miss Big Brother. I especially felt bad for Division Day because my city wasn't very courteous to them when they played Bar Pink during NPMT. In fact, apparently there were some not nice words from the drunks at Pink that night when DD said they were from L.A. Maybe Bar Pink should charge a $20 cover to anyone with a True North stamp on their wrist as a filter.

Regardless, the band performed a great set and hopefully will be back soon. I noticed Bad Veins is booked at Soda Bar in October, so perhaps more shows will excite more people about them.



Since I was pretty sure the few photos I took sucked (as evidenced above), somehow I convinced the boys in Bad Veins to pose for me after the show so at least I could get them with some light.



Wednesday I took it easy, going to dinner at Tita's Kitchenette, a filipino place in National City with Jake, but deciding that a night at home wasn't a terrible plan. Plus I had work to do. When I talk about 'work', btw, I'm still not working, but I'm hoping some shit falls into place soon and the 14 or so hours a day I'm online actually turn into the kind of work that pays money. So there that is. Haven't brought that up in a while, have I? Money or not, an email inbox with hundreds of emails crying for attention, to me, is still work.

Naturally Thursday I was ready to hit the nightlife again, so I was back at Casbah for Local Natives and Heartless Bastards. If the show didn't sell out, it was pretty damn close, but I was there to see Kelcey and the band once again. This was my third time seeing the band (this time without the girl), and they're the kinda band where you almost shouldn't check out their music beforehand, because while their EP is good, it really does no justice to their live shows. I especially dig when the band busts into 4 part harmonies. They just got picked up to tour with White Rabbits which makes so much sense because they're so percussion heavy. Maybe Britt Daniel will jump on board when they put out a full length and get them the attention they deserve. Though I should say they're touring their asses off and when they're not, they're playing Spaceland residencies and such, so it's not like they're being ignored.



Heartless Bastards headlined that night and while they sounded great...man, does that chick have a powerful voice, or what?...I was more into chatting with Local Natives and Andy in the back bar. No photos. I don't think I could've gotten through that crowd anyway. I had gone to the show with Jeff and he loves Heartless Bastards and was stoked they played an extra long set. From Casbah, we checked out Expressway To Yr Skull, Mario's Thursday night thing over at Soda bar, and as Soda Bar goes, bands were still playing, though no appearance by Crocodiles as listed.

Friday was tough because as much as I wanted to see The Styletones at X1FM, it's been a couple years since I've seen Pete Yorn and I'm really digging his latest record, Back & Fourth. I also had an afternoon meeting with a label rep who gave me an advance of Break Up, his album with Scarlett Johansson that comes out next week (9/15), so I had even more incentive to go. When I got to the track, we stopped by the 91X booth, and got hooked up with wristbands for the patio and even got a pair of tickets to The Honey Brothers.

We had time to kill and bet on a couple races. (My girl, Kicking Vixen held on to her lead for the first half mile before burning out). 3 races later and we found our spots on the patio to wait for Pete. And wait. And wait. It was about 7:45 before he finally started, but it allowed for more people to see him and he kept gushing about how playing Del Mar is his favorite gig of the summer. Judging by the 21 song, hour and a half set that he played, I would say he was being truthful, and it was worth the wait. And maybe the wait wasn't even that long, but we were surrounded by those loud-talking track drunks who brag about how much money they won or lost in their khakis and polos and it was just nauseating. Unfortunately it is to be expected. What can ya do?

Anyway, I was pleased because Pete played a variety of music from all of his albums, focusing mostly on his new album and then reverting back to his debut, musicforthemorningafter, a lot, but also throwing in some tunes from the in-betweeners. Since we were in this VIP patio, we were above and behind the stage. Here was our view:


After the show I looked for setlists but no luck, but someone who did get one was kind enough to let me take a picture. A couple notes: "Social D" is Social Development Dance from the new record. Bizarre Love Triangle is the New Order song, played more like Frente's version but not quite that slow. Fans should know that "Chain" is "Life on a Chain" and "Crystal" is "Crystal Village". Super great set.



From the track, we stopped by Subtext but had already missed Swim Party's set. It was my first time in the gallery, however, and the building is beautiful, as is the driveway/common area where the band played. We hung out for a bit to chat with friends for a while before noticing it was already past 10:30.

We headed to Bar Pink to check out The Weight and fortunately for late band sets, we arrived before they started with time to spare. I wrote about them last week, too, so I don't need to say much more except that they're "from Brooklyn", which means they're all from all over the place...the singer having lived in Athens and Atlanta, and everyone else from Connecticut, Jersey, PA, wherever. As they said, "Nobody in Brooklyn is from Brooklyn, unless you're Puerto Rican." I guess I expected them to look a little less Brooklyn and a little more countrified like their sound, but what do I know.

Their set was incredible and it was nice to bump into friends who were just at the Bar to hang out gushing about the band by the end of the set. Comparisons to Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, The Band, and The Rolling Stones were thrown around. I have their record "Are Men" (as in "The Weight Are Men") and if any of those musical influences turn you on like they did me or Andrea or Tim, go pick it up or buy it off iTunes.



After their set I introduced myself because it's what I do when a band's publicist takes the time to write me a personal email about a specific show and I couldn't help but adore how Joseph said hi and gave me and awkward hug, then immediately excused himself for sucking at conversation and for not being good at talking with strangers. I asked him about the tour, about their hometowns, and incidentally, he doesn't suck at conversation.

We stayed a bit for Bartender's Bible but the bar got packed quickly, and usually I can tell the A/C is on there, but that night it was out or too crowded to feel a thing, so we decided to bounce. We decided to check out Ruby Kitchen and got burgers, though we were disappointed that the "late night comfort food" menu has been suspended for now.

With that, I'll close out. I want to write about Saturday in a separate post because it was that awesome. And shit. Did I just write until the sun came up again? Dammit. See you tonight at the SDMA's.

Show Preview: Josh Damigo At Lestat's, 9.3.09

If you've been following along (especially on twitter), you know that I met Josh Damigo at NPMT and we've become fast friends. Obviously I knew about Josh as he's been in my listings for quite some time, but I've been shy of the local singer-songwriter scene if only because other people more involved can cover it much better than I can. And I don't drink coffee. But that's the funny thing, in high school I ran two extremes...the local straight edge hardcore scene and the singer songwriter thing, seeing a show at "Club Mitch" with 5 hardcore bands on one night, then going to Java Joe's or Intermezzo Espresso on another. I like aggression and I also love to get weepy.

Josh was kind enough to blog his first solo tour of the midwest for the blog a couple weeks ago and the dude is a hardworking and extremely talented musician, and now I'm glad I can call him a friend (my new BFF, as you know from my tweets). Josh is playing at Lestat's this Thursday night and there are a lot of reasons to be there. He's playing with Chris Ayer from NY who is great, the show is a low cover...$5 or $6 bucks, Josh's SDMA nominated CD Raw will be available for $10 (instead of the usual $15), and everyone who attends gets a gift from Josh (which I can't announce but if you're a fan, you'll definitely want.)

All that said, I caught Josh tonight at Lestat's during Open Mic doing a little preview for his show on Thursday and I wanted to share it with you.

Greg Laswell on KCRW

Greg Laswell is always working hard and his latest project is called Covers which will be released on October 6. And, despite the "LA based" description, we all know he's another product of San Diego that we can all be proud of. You can catch him on KCRW performing a cover of "Your Ghost" and make sure you download it for free. Now I'm even more bummed to have missed his Saturday night performance at the Casbah.

While I'm at it, did you know he played North Park Music Thing (or NXNP) last year? Here's part of that stellar performance (and the loud as hell fan attempting to cool the room):

Overdue Recap: NXNP, 8.2.08

I had been looking to North By North Park all summer and when it was all said and done, I think it showed how great this town can be for musicians. I arrived at a little later than I planned, just before noon, checked in to registration, and went into my first panel, Music 101. (panelists Robbie Lloyd (Silva Artist Management), Ben Moore (Independent Producer), Steve Churchyard (Producer INXS/The Pretenders), Chris Cantore (X1FM), Ken Leighton (San Diego Reader), Nathan Dinsdale (San Diego CityBeat), Paul Abbott (Zen Mastering)) and I found the disagreements by the panel to be the most interesting part of the deal. Cantore suggested that MySpace is dead (I very much disagree) while he plugged Twitter, though I think it's premature to assume Twitter can work in any meaningful way for bands. Leighton plugged his own club and held up his flyers, which Dinsdale ended up writing about in the following week's CityBeat. Then there was a lot about how Blink 182 and how great they were and their marketing machine and how they did everything right and how everyone should be just like them. I ended up joining Bart and Al in the back. Like last year, everyone recommended reading All You Need To Know About the Music Business and Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991. Click keep on reading for the rest.


Between sessions, we went to the bar for a drink and mingled in the lobby, then returned for the keynote speaker, Jerry Heller. He told entertaining stories about the early rap scene and his part in making things happen. I listened with a bit of skepticism because clearly the dude made a fortune off the music of others. He gave his own list of ten rules, but then he jumped around so I didn't catch all ten, but here's some of the advice on how to make it in music. 1. Work harder than everyone else. 2. Emphasize your strengths. Strengthen your weaknesses. 3. Take every "no" personally, use it as a starting point to a "yes". 4. Be imaginative. 5. Don't be discouraged. Remember most people are mediocre. 5. From a label perspective, look for artists that are trendsetters, unique, and the very best at what they do. As artists, be unique, remember it's always great to be 1st, and you should always be involved with people who are the very best at what they do. 6. Be scrupulously honest in everything you do (or it will bite you in the ass later) 7. Always be ruthless on behelf of your projects or clients. 8. From a label perspective, the only thing you have in common with the artist is that you both like what they do, and that is enough. 9. Remember to turn out the lights before you go to bed. (chuckle, chuckle.)

Like I said, I lost count. After that, I went back to the bar for drinks and ran into friends and hung there for a while before returning to my last panel of the day, which was about touring and booking gigs. (Panelists: Bart Mendoza (Touring Musician), Len Paul (SOMA San Diego),
Steve Poltz (Singer-Songwriter), Candace Mandracia (Live Nation/House of Blues), Kristen Worden-Harris (Croshal Entertainment), Tim Mays (The Casbah)) and that ended up being mostly a Q&A, with people asking how to get shows at Casbah, HoB, and Soma and how to get noticed, and what other places there are to play. Some kid asked a really weird question asking if it was ok to call in a bomb threat on a competing venue in hopes of getting more people to your own show and everyone was puzzled at the question, but later I was told that there were rumors in the past of Len from Soma doing just that, so I guess the kid was trying to call him out. Bart also gave me a huge shout out on the panel as the music source in town which was pretty awesome. I wish the past couple of weeks weren't so crazy and I could live up to that kind of compliment.

After the panel, I hung out in the lobby/bar where they announced the San Diego Music Award nominations and we enjoyed the free beers. I thought it was a really great event and hung out for quite a while with various people before heading home. My plan was to catch the shuttle at the Ken and start my night at Chasers, but Matt didn't know where Chasers was, so I had him pick me up and we went there together.

SayVinyl kicked ass and I was happy to see a full set for the first time in a while.
I hear their new record is almost complete too, so I look forward to that. I hadn't been to Chasers in some time, but I still really like the bar. I hope the neighborhood cleans up some more so people aren't so sketched to go there. Hotel St. George were fun as always, and Matt was performing really loose to the small crowd.



I felt bad leaving after their set, especially after talking to Justin from OAKS, but we had planned on meeting people at U-31 for The Silent Comedy. When we got there, it was insane. There were two lines, each with maybe 50-75 people in each. One was for people paying cover, the longer was for people who already had wristbands. I was also disappointed to hear that people were being given priority if they paid $20 at the door. We found Erika and she walked us in, but then I realized that The Silent Comedy was breaking down their gear. Turns out that the venue decided to switch around set times and move Buddy Akai later. Not cool. It was crazy packed at U-31 and I was out to see music, not "to be seen" as so many people seemed to be, so I left. Matt and the rest of them stayed.

I was trying to figure out where to go and what to do and ran into a couple friends and told them about the lineup switcharoo. North Park looked like downtown, with crowded sidewalks and lines at every bar, which is good for the owners and good for the event, but I was ready for an escape. My friends ended up agreeing to drive up to Lestat's and that's where we ended our NXNP experience, meeting up with Dagart and Jake and watching Greg Laswell. I posted video here and here of the performance. Seeing Greg perform always gives me chills and if you haven't bought his new album, get on it.

After his set, we went to Lou Jones for a quick drink, and intended to go back to catch Steve Poltz, but we ended up staying there and some more friends came and met up with us. There was also some lame bar fight, which I guess, in a way, punctuated the end of a long but fulfilling day in San Diego.

For obvious reasons, Sunday was a lazy day for me, spent with family and a last dinner with my God-sister Claudia before she returned back to Alabama a couple days later.

Greg Laswell, Lestat's, 8.2.08

I was having some major technical issues tonight when I intended to upload the rest of my pictures from last week, so I guess that will have to wait until the weekend, but I was looking through my photos and couldn't resist posting this one of Greg Laswell from his set at Lestat's for NXNP. Do you ever look at some people and just say to yourself, "Hot damn! This person is too good looking for me to actually know them in real life?" Yeah. That's how I am with Greg. And, on top of it, they're incredibly talented, devastatingly kind, and shamefully humble? We are very lucky to have such people in San Diego and Greg deserves all the success in the world. It almost makes me look like I'm a good photographer.



Here's another video from that night if you didn't take the time to go to my YouTube page. I love this one because the chords sound like "Canon in D" by Pachelbel which is my all time favorite and most listened to piece of music. I even like the effect that the fan on the floor gave to this recording.

Greg Laswell "That I'm Home"

Monday Newsy Bits: Demasiado; the Shambles & Anna Troy;

So much MySpace stuff this weekend, so I'm gonna just repost some of the bulletins I saw as noteworthy; some of them will warrant their own posts:

From the band Demasiado (sorry for the Caps, I just cut & pasted):

Normally we are prideful gentlemen, but...
Body: WE ARE IN A BIND. . . PLEASE KEEP READING.

ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS BAND WAS JUST INVOLVED IN A VERY BAD CAR ACCIDENT... HE IS ALRIGHT I GUESS BUT UNFORTUNATELY OUR TOUR VAN IS NOT...

NOW WE HAVE NO WAY TO GET TO TEXAS WHERE WE WILL BE PLAYING A SOLD OUT SHOW WITH 30 FOOT FALL. THIS IS A RARE LIVE PERFORMANCE AND MANY WILL BE THERE. MOST IMPORTANTLY THE 1000 KIDS THAT WILL FILL FITZGERALDS TO SEE THIS SHOW SADDENS US TO THINK THAT WE WILL NOT BE THERE FOR THEM.

PLEASE GO TO OUR PAGE AND CLICK ON THE PAYPAL BUTTON TO DONATE $1.00 TO HELP US GET ON THE ROAD. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

-DEMASIADO

Please contact us if you want to help in ANY way.



*****
The Shambles & Anna Troy Band This Wednesday-Live Recording!
Body: The Anna Troy Band

The Shambles
Wednesday July 11
Lestats - 3343 Adams Avenue / Normal Heights
All Ages. 9 pm. www.lestats.com

The show is being recorded for possible release - come on down and be part of the taping. Mod powerpop garage r&b blues - between the two bands tonight, we've got you covered!

*****
Hensley's Flying Elephant is having a big official Grand Opening on Wednesday, July 11th. At noon there will be a ribbon cutting, at 4 there will be a free appetizers, and at 6, Matt, Ned Giblin, and friends will be playing on the center stage. Cash'd Out will be on the big stage.

Mr. Clay Hensley from the Padres is going to be here!
More shenanigans to be announced!
I-5 and Tamarack Carlsbad.

Staring At The Sun Volume 5 to be released

This info from Bart Mendoza:

I just wanted to let you know about two events we're putting together to celebrate the release of Staring At The Sun Vol. 5, a FREE compilation of local music. The music on the disc is all over the place with a little bit of everything:-)

Feb. 8 Lestats / All Ages Event
Podunk Nowhere
The Grams
Mark DeCerbo & Four Eyes
Marie Haddad
$5 admission. All attendees recieve a free CD - All Ages. 9 p.m.

Feb. 25 The Casbah / 21 and up
Presented by Tim Pyles and FM94.9
Vinyl Radio
Buzzkill Romantics
The Shambles
Anna Troy
Free Show - Free Food - Free CD
Live FM94.9 Broadcast from the back bar aka The Atari Lounge
7:30 p.m. 21 and up. Free.

The CD includes music from all the above artists plus Will Edwards, Barbara Nesbitt, The Coyote Problem, Citizen Band, Berkley Hart, Christopher Dale's Superdoo, The Spring Collection, Heathen Kings of Olde and Blizzard. Also there is a bonus video of Scott Wilson's song "Coffeehouse 101" featuring cameos from over 50 local performers and music media types, from Troy Johnson to bluesman Robin Henkel!

Thanks
Bart

Open Mic TV-featuring Decca Tree

It was after a night of talking to Chris Karn and Jesse Nason of Deccatree that I was inspired to create this here music only blog because really, what was the point of writing a blog for 3 years if I'd cringe everytime I found out someone I knew was reading it?

Deccatree is playing at Lestat's on January 12th. Daye and I will be there again. Won't you come?

Saturday @ Lestat's: Deccatree 11/6

For the second night in a row, I went to Lestat's. Daye was sitting on the side of the stage, so I joined him, said hig to Chris Karn and Jesse of the band and chatted for a couple minutes and then they played. History of this band for me: Chris was the singer for a band called Sonichrome that I loved. They played at the Casbah back when I had my fake ID. A few years ago, I heard a song called "Belong" on my digital cable radio station that I listen to and I instantly recognized the voice, jotted down the name of the band and then did my internet research to find that in fact, it was the same voice. I emailed Chris and he sent me a 4 or 5 song advance CD but then the full release lagged...they got dumped by their label and had to put it out themselves. I had even asked the band to play my high school reunion in Sep 94 at the Ken Club but one of the guys was getting married the same weekend.

So I've tracked the band and got the album, befriended them on myspace, etc. This summer they played with several other bands at the Soma sidestage and I actually went. The show started at 7 (gasp!) and I left as soon as they were done with their mini set of like 4 or 5 songs. The full band played that show.

This show at Lestat's was just Jesse on Keys and Chris on guitar. Chris has this amazing voice that still kinda fucks with my head everytime I hear it. Especially in a hushed room playing acoustic... They played Belong, Battle of Life, Shallow, Release, Father, String Song and a few others. I will do a better job at paying attention to song titles when I listen to music. Chris talked about how the full album was written in a time of his life when he was going through a lot of major events, namely the birth of his daughter and the death of his father, and a whole bunch of other stuff that just added to a rough time (which he acknowledged happens to everyone, but this album was his release) From that, he played Battle of Life and Father and I'm sure there were a couple sniffles in the crowd. I was getting shifty trying not to lose it myself.

I learned from the night before that a night out seeing live music in a coffee shop can feel like a long night, so I smuggled some rum and coke and sipped on it while they played. After they played, they talked to some friends and I enjoyed some of my smuggled hooch while I eavesdropped on kids talking about their role playing games and legend of zelda and computer hard drives and one guy talking about his emergency room visit after he and a friend were "messing around" showing each other "how to take someone down" and how his medical didn't cover the ER. Neat.

Eventually Chris and Jesse came over and we talked. I was talking about all the cool venues here, how on any given night there are 2 or 3 worthy shows to go to during the busy touring season (though Nov and Dec slow down a whole bunch), blogging (further inspiring this blog), getting more involved in the music industry, and just general chat about them. Chris talked about all his personal ups and downs with labels. It was just really interesting talking to them. Eventually, though, they went back in to see whomever it was that they had opened for, and I left to try and catch Long and Short of It at the Ken Club.

L&SoI had already played and Earthless, the band with the sausage fest draw was playing, so I just stayed on the bar side of the venue. I am not into 20 minutes all guitar/bass/drums and no lyrics. Ouch.