From the depths of my closet arose from the dead, stickers from two of my favorite local bands from my high school years and possibly even today. These momentos cause a rush of memories of the OB Java Joes and the 34th Street house. It might be high time to throw on Loam‘s Mega EP or head down to watch Stevie and the Hi-Stax since he resurrected several Conglomerate songs.
Artist: Billy Anne Crews
Songs: The following songs are available to stream on her myspace page:
Overall: Billy Anne Crews is truly a hidden gem in San Diego music, mostly playing the beach coffeehouses and clubs. Her vocals seem reminiscent of the rich notes of Fiona Apple with the country stylings of Lucinda Williams. Her formal music education and love for the genre of art shines through as she crones her heart out.
This review is part of a series on musicians playing at the North Park Festival of Arts in May. Thank you, Lisa B. for booking her on the Beat and Eats Stage.
Albums: Taking My Promises EP (2009) includes the above four songs and can be purchased at iTunes or Amazon.
Calendar: Currently Billy Anne only has a couple shows on her schedule. Perhaps some of my booking peeps will take a look at getting her a few more around town. *Hint, hint*
One of my favorite group of kids (almost grown ups), Tan Sister Radio is playing heading out on a NorCal house concert tour next week. As a kickoff, they are having a show on Easter Sunday at Kava Lounge at 7 p.m. It is an all ages event featuring San Diego’s rising talent of bands and artists. And it’s only 2 bucks to boot.
News is that over summer Tan Sister Radio is going to record a four song EP/ 7-inch they are paying with money from doing a totally random commercial with Tony Hawk for the Cartoon network. I tried to search for the video to include, to no avail. But you must say, it is pretty random and awesome.
Seriously, go see these guys, cause if Tony Hawks thinks they are the bomb, so should you.
The weekend was full of fun and that malty, hoppy, yeasty good stuff. Our #couchellasd party on Saturday turned inadvertently into a bit of an IPA Fest. I thought I would take a moment and share the list of IPAs you could have found in our fridge that night…
And if IPAs weren’t your thing, there were a few choices lying around including some awesome sangria that the boy was immediately attracted to. No worries, the grown ups saw to it the sangria wasn’t wasted on the youth.
The next night was my dad’s birthday party. His wish? To have a beer tasting party. I wish I got photos. Bottles and the rinse vase on the lazy susan, and my sister’s crazy note taking system involving X’s, stars, arrows and circles. I hope she can read in this morning. We had two rounds of tasting with dinner in between and dessert after. We tasted 19 beers with 12 participants. The following list is in order of the beers that were tasted last night including some of my notes.
Round 1
Round 2
I had the last two switched, but others convinced me to taste them in this order. I believe I should have stood by my original order. Either way, it worked out to be an awesome evening. I understand my family’s taste buds better and will be less wary about bringing over a new beer.
Photo courtesy of Tambako the Jaguar
Artist: The Heavy Guilt
Songs: The following are available to stream on the band’s myspace page:
Overall: The Heavy Guilt is the perfect name for this band. They are less “heavy” in terms of metal, but plenty heavy on the mellow, thought-provoking music. I imagine this band doing chill instrumental jams for hours, deep into the sounds of each other. I have yet to see The Heavy Guilt, as many of the bands I choose for the local music review, but I can’t wait to see them soon.
One of the reasons I am reviewing The Heavy Guilt is due to their involvement in the North Park Festival of Arts in May. Thank you, Rosey from San Diego Dialed In for booking these guys on the Main Stage. For the weeks leading up to the event, I will be reviewing bands who will be playing the event on various stages. Stay tuned for more!
Albums: Lift Us Up From This (2009) debut 12 song album is available through the band’s webstore, reapandsow.com, Amazon and iTunes.
Calendar: The Heavy Guilt have a couple shows on their calendar right now:
Photo courtesy of one of the band’s photographers: Anton Orlov, Steve Wiley or Amber Martin
Karmic Life 