Back to reality

My life is slowly getting back to normal as is my over-taxed body. The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind so much so that I just realized that I forgot to press “publish” on the last post I did for a band. Now I need to update it with new show information (Sorry, Emily).

If you have been in a cave, you may not know that last weekend was the North Park Festival of Arts… the festival I work on with a team of awesome, committed individuals including Liz and Amy from North Park Main Street, Rosey from San Diego: Dialed In, Dang from Bar Pink, Kathryn from Stage 7, Anna and David from A7D, Natalie from McFarlane Promotions and Svea from San Diego North Park Craft Mafia. Also we had a great media partnership with FM94.9 for the Craft Beer Block that allowed us to expand the block by about 100 ft. I hope you made it out to see the incredible diversity of art, dance or music. The weather was perfect and drunkenness was kept to a manageable level. Good responsible drinking. Even Mayor Jerry Saunders and his wife Rana Sampson made it out for some beer tasting. Apparently, SoundDiego has photos, but I have yet to see them posted. Anyhow, overall the event was a success and I look forward to doing it again next year (after some rest).

Another event that happened in the last couple of weeks as the TEDx Amercia’s Finest City at the Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla. It was an awesome opportunity to meet people who are seeking to drive change and make a difference in the world. The theme was “Get Your Fix” which each speaker took at from a different angle.  Barbarella hosted the as 15 speakers as they each had 12-18 minutes to share their point. Despite technical difficulties, the event ran well and it made me want to get moving on making a positive impact for social good. Yes, I realize the festival qualifies as a positive impact to the North Park community, but I feel like I could do more. And I might just get my chance. One of the event organizers of TEDxAFC wants to collaborate with me on developing a follow-up event with the same sort of theme to continue the momentum of bringing people together creating positive change. We shall see what becomes of that, but it shows promise.

Oh and there is an exciting derby bout this weekend that you do not want to miss. I will be there, but no skates. Skating has taken a back seat to all of my community and family work. Trading love for love. So that is the world of me right now. I hope to be seeing you around!

Local Music Review: Inspired and the Sleep

Artist: Inspired and the Sleep

Songs: The following songs are available to stream on their Soundcloud page:

  • “Chops”: Beats, that will likely case you to stumble on the pavement if you attempt to jog along, surprise you with their innovative stylings. You can definitely hear the influence of Rafter in this one.
  • “The Claw”: Slightly reminiscent of a one of my favorite New Zealand band’s, Zed with oddities that include sound effects and the use of the word, “serotonin,” twice. 
  • “Garden of Your Affection”: Sweet little love song. Toe-tapping drum beats with nothing real obscure.
  • “So Great”: The title says it all.

Overall: Off to a great start, these boys won 1st place at the Cal State Uni San Marcos Battle of the Bands in March of this year. Max Greanhalgh, of Tan Sister Radio leads on vocals and the reins of marketing and promoting. Bandmates, Hayden Stewarton drums and Bryce Outcault on guitar rounds out this trio giving the band the opportunity to truly experiment beyond one individual’s capabilities. Inspired, but no room for sleep. Take a look at what they have been up to:

Albums: Kaleidoscope Years EP (2011), recently recorded with Chris Hoffee at Chaos Records, to be released this Saturday.

Calendar: Currently, they have two dates listed to release their EP:

  • Saturday, May 7 @ Che Cafe with Pilots and Get Back Loretta (all ages)
  • Saturday, May 28 @ Boar’s Crossin in Carlsbad (21  & up)

Conglomerate and Loam

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.

Local Music Review: Billy Anne Crews

Artist: Billy Anne Crews

Songs: The following songs are available to stream on her myspace page:

  • “Hard Life to Live”: Billy Anne’s deep voice resonates against the soulful steel guitar.  Take a swig of whiskey and wallow in your sadness to become the epitome of this songs’ story.
  • “Taking My Promises”: Ringing, swinging guitars with lyrics like “Taking my promises is like gambling, cause when it’s time to cash in you might get nothing” reminds you that indeed this is country music but without the blame.
  • “Gasoline”: Half anticipating to hear The Silent Comedy’s Gasoline, this song doesn’t quite live up to that expectation. About fueling her own internal motivation to make it through the week, with a sort of blasé attitude towards life.
  • “Don’t Want to Settle”: Reaching vocal ranges takes you along a road trip to a saxophone solo? The solo throws the song off slightly, but Billy Anne gets things back on track belting out from her gut.

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*

Tan Sister Radio kicks it off at Kava

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.