In the middle of the night I realized I omitted a pretty major opportunity for free music in the last post: In Store Preformances. Several record stores in town host a variety of musicians both local and those that pass through San Diego to promote their records. Here are the places that I know that have performances on a semi-regular basis. Be sure to check their websites/schedules for upcoming acts.

M-Theory Music
Lou’s Records
Borders Books and Music

Saturday April 17, 2010 is National Record Store Day (always on the thrid Saturday in April)! So make sure you take the time to visit and support your local record stores.
Oh and as a bonus, these places are all-ages. I realized that my last post highlighted bars but no all ages venues (except the fairs, festivals, and summer concert series). I tried to find coffeehouses with regular free music, but found most charge some sort of cover or don’t offer much in terms of live music aside from an open mic night.