what’s inside - San Diego Troubadour · PDF fileHutcherson, four with Wes Montgomery...

Alternative country, Americana, roots,folk, gospel, and bluegrass music news

ROUBADOURSAN DIEGO

December 2003 Vol. 3, No. 3

Welcome Mat………3Letter from the EditorMission StatementContributors

Full Circle.. …………4Harold LandLou Curtiss

Front Porch…………6Billy Midnight

Parlor Showcase...…8Tristan PrettymanHarmonijaRookie Card

Ramblin’ …………10Bluegrass CornerRadio DazeJosé SinatraRantHouse

The Highway’s Song.12Eliza GilkysonSan Diego’s Finest/LestatsClassic Rock Allstars

Of Note.……………13Billy MidnightAnnie BethancourtJ. TurtleAbbie HuxleyAspasia Aid

‘Round About .......…14December Music Calendar

The Local Seen……15Photo Page

what’sinside

P H I L H A R M O N I C S E Z :

“God bless us, everyone!”— Charles Dickens

San Diego Troubadour • December 2003

welcome matwelcome mat

FOUNDERSLyle & Ellen DuplessieLiz AbbottKent Johnson

PUBLISHERLyle Duplessie

EDITOREllen Duplessie

GRAPHIC DESIGNLiz Abbott

PHOTOGRAPHYPaul GruppMillie Moreno

DISTRIBUTIONEllen DuplessieKent Johnson

ADVERTISINGKent Johnson

WRITERSLou CurtissEllen DuplessiePhil HarmonicPaul HormickFrederick LeonardJim McInnesBart MendozaPhilippe NavidadJosé SinatraPaul WilliamsGus WillikerRobert WoerheideD. Dwight WordenJohn Philip Wyllie

SAN DIEGO TROUBADOUR, thelocal source for alternative coun-try, Americana, roots, folk, gospel,and bluegrass music news, is pub-lished monthly and is free ofcharge. Letters to the editor mustbe signed and may be edited forcontent. It is not, however, guaran-teed that they will appear.

CONTRIBUTORS

MISSIONTo promote, encourage, and provide an alternative voice for thegreat local music that is generallyoverlooked by the mass media;namely the genres of folk, country,roots, Americana, gospel, andbluegrass. To entertain, educate,and bring together players, writers,and lovers of these forms; toexplore their foundations; and toexpand the audience for thesetypes of music.

To receive advertising rates andinformation, call 619/298-8488 or e-mail lizabbott@cox.net.

San Diego TroubadourP.O. Box 164La Jolla, CA 92038E-mail: sdtroubadour@yahoo.com.

Alternative country, Americana, roots,folk, gospel, and bluegrass music newsTROUBADOURSAN DIEGO

Dear Readers,A couple of weeks ago, the

San Diego Troubadour received thehonor of “best paper for musicianswithout amps” by CityBeat. Andalthough the category was a bitunusual, what was written wasmuch appreciated.

But Lyle and I do want to spotlight the fact that, though wedid come up with the original ideaand vision for this monthly paper, it would not have happenedwithout Liz Abbott and Kent Johnson (aka Phil Harmonic), thebackbone of the whole operation. Had it not been for Liz, thegraphic designer, we would have had no more than a little 81/2 x 11” newsletter, photocopied to give away. Liz was able toput all of our ideas into form and, with her graphic art skills andcreative touch, give it the look that it has today…an attractive,unique, and credible-looking newspaper.

Kent Johnson’s energy, along with his distribution experience,brought the paper to the streets all across the county. His interper-sonal skills naturally placed him in charge of advertising as well. Lizand Kent’s organizational skills carry the paper to this day. By thetime the first paper was out, we had joined together as a team,complementing one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Lyle andI really consider all four of us to be the founders of theTroubadour, as from the start we have all worked together to getthe paper out for you, the reader.

I speak for all four of us when I say that our monthly readwould have no soul without the grass roots efforts of all our greatcolumnists and writers. Columnists Lou Curtiss, José Sinatra,Russell Bauder (Gus Williker), Les Brennan (Jimmy Diesel White),Paul Abbott, Jim McInnes, Dwight Worden, and all the other writ-ers who have contributed over the past two years have been theheart of the Troubadour, along with the photographers, especiallyour very own Millie Moreno.

Liz, Kent, Lyle, and I just want to say thanks to all of youwho’ve supported the San Diego Troubadour, whether throughwriting, photography, advertising, delivering, letters, or just byyour encouragement. Thanks to all the musicians and to all of youwho support our local music scene. And last but not least, thanksto CityBeat for the nice words!

We at the San Diego Troubadour wish you and your families ahappy and safe holiday season.

Cheers,

Ellen Duplessie

WRITE TO US!We want to hear from you! Send your comments, feedback, and suggestions to: sdtroubadour@yahoo.com or to San Diego Troubadour, P.O. Box 164, La Jolla, CA92038-0164.

Letter from the Editor

December 2003 • San Diego Troubadour

full circlefull circle

by Bart Mendoza

W hile San Diego hasn’tbeen thought of asmuch of a jazz town

until recently, the truth is that manyfamed jazz era musicians got theirstart here, from Arthur Blythe to theLiggins Brothers. Even among suchillustrious company, it’s clear thatone of the most important jazz play-ers ever to emerge from our town issaxophonist Harold Land.

Born on December 12, 1928, inHouston, Texas, Land arrived in SanDiego in 1933, at the age of five. Hisfamily lived at 1703 Imperial Ave. andhe found his love of music early. Heattended Memorial Jr. High in LoganHeights and then San Diego HighSchool, graduating in 1946.According to his wife Lydia, “He wasin the San Diego High Schoolorchestra, but jazz was his love.He’d had piano lessons, but after heheard Coleman Hawkins, a saxo-phone was all he wanted to play.When he was 16 he was given atenor saxophone. Mrs. Land recalls,“Harold had a music teacher whowas very strict. Everything had to bea certain way, so for fun, wheneverthe teacher would leave the room,he would let go with music the wayhe wanted to play it, taking the samesongs and rearranging them.” Hehad just graduated when a friend,bass player Ralph Houston, helpedhim join the Musician’s Union, set-ting him on the path toward becom-ing a world-renowned musician.

Land was influenced by otherfamed saxophonists of the day,including Lucky Thompson andespecially Charlie Parker, andbecame part of the house band atthe Creole Palace as a member ofFro Brigham’s group. “During thesejobs my closest friend and musicalcolleague was the drummer, LeonPetties,” Land remembers. Quotedby Leonard Feather in the liner notesto Land’s own 1959 album, The Fox,he spoke of his days in the club’ssmall combo. “We played the floorshow and jazz sets too. Sometimesmen like Hampton Hawes, TeddyEdwards, and Sonny Criss camedown from L.A. and worked with us.This provided a great stimulus.”

Though the Creole Palace wasa mainstay, Fro Brigham’s bandplayed many other venues. “I was ajitterbugger when I met Harold at theClub Romance in 1949,” says Mrs.Land. “That club was just two blockssouth of the Creole Palace.” Of theband at the time she says, “Theyplayed all the jazz, well really bebop,that they could in a set, and all thejitterbuggers would be there. Peoplejust loved Fro’s voice and wanted todance.”

On April 25th of that year theband, under the moniker the HaroldLand All Stars, cut four songs atSavoy Records in Los Angeles,resulting in the regional hit “SanDiego Bounce” (Regent 1020) whenreleased in 1950. The song alsoproved to be a huge hit in Jamaica,where it was bootlegged under thetitles “Downbeat Shuffle” or“Coxsone Shuffle.” The other threesongs recorded at the session wouldhave to wait until the late seventiesto finally see the light of day on aSavoy Records anthology, BlackCalifornia.

Land and Petties soon left theCreole Palace to work on the road,first spending a year in a group ledby guitarist Jimmy Liggins and thenin the band of his slightly more

famous brother, Joe “Honeydripper”Liggins. Although Land consideredhis rhythm-and-blues road experi-ence invaluable, he was soon backat the Creole Palace, though by 1954he had moved to Los Angeles.

Mrs. Land states, “We lived inSan Diego until 1954, and our sonwas born there. We left San Diegowhen he was four and not long afterthat Harold joined up with MaxRoach.”

Following a succession ofmenial jobs, close friend flutist EricDolphy invited Land to play a jamsession at Dolphy’s house. BothClifford Brown and Max Roach cameto check out Land for their musicalprojects on Dolphy’s recommenda-tion. “Eric had known me since theSan Diego days and after I moved toL.A., we became good friends,” Landsays in that interview. “He wasbeautiful. Eric loved to play any-where, any hour of the day or night.So did I.” Land passed the impromp-tu audition and was soon a risingstar in the jazz world, recordingenough material to appear on thepair’s 16 albums (including reissues)over the years. He left the employ ofBrown and Roach in 1956 due to afamily illness but continued to tour,notably with Curtis Counce.

More important, he began toplay sessions and went on tobecome one of the leading hornplayers of his day. He’s on literallydozens of the greatest jazz sidesever released. Just check out thisroll call: five discs with Bill Evans, 13with Dinah Washington, six withThelonius Monk, 12 with BobbyHutcherson, four with WesMontgomery — and that’s just thetip of the iceberg. It’s an incrediblediscography, which includes count-less recording sessions for the likesof the Platters, Sam Cooke, EllaFitzgerald, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd,and many, many more. Notably, Landmade the acquaintance of trumpeterJack Sheldon (later band leader forThe Merv Griffin Show) in 1957, play-ing on his album Jack’s Groove andco-authoring the standard“Fabulous.”

As a solo act he signed toContemporary Records in 1958,releasing three highly acclaimedalbums in quick succession: 1958’sbrilliant Harold in the Land of Jazzand Grooveyard, then The Fox on thesmall Hifijazz label in the year thatfollowed. Contemporary Jazzrecords re-issued the album in 1969.He next surfaced on JazzlandRecords with a pair of classics:West Coast Blues (1960) and

Eastward Ho! Harold LandIn New York (1960).

Hear Ye was next, seeing Land as co-group leader with RedMitchell. It was released by Atlanticin 1961 and has been re-issued sixtimes since, including once in 1967under the “hip” title “And Keep OnSwinging.” A series of indie releasesfollowed, all stellar. Over the nextfour decades he appeared on everyjazz label of note. The year 1963 sawthe release of Jazz Impressions ofFolk Music on Imperial and 1967 hadThe Peace-maker on Cadet, while1969 found Take Aim issued by BlueNote.

It was during this time framethat several rock luminaries let theirlove of Land’s music be known. OnJuly 25, 1969, prog-rock pioneers Yesincluded a tribute tune called“Harold Land” on their debut album.And none other than Led Zeppelin’sJimmy Page took a shine to“Fabulous” and recorded it, eventu-ally seeing its release on countlesscompilations and reissues since theearly seventies. When asked aboutthe many cover versions of her hus-band’s music, Mrs. Land replies,“Harold wrote a lot of music,” saysMrs. Land. “It’s hard to keep track ofeverything. There have been somany re-issues, especially sinceCDs came out. And then theychange the names of things,” shesays of the record labels’ practice ofendlessly repackaging an artist’scatalog. “But we do get statements,so we know what’s out there.”

Land continued to tour, includ-ing a stint in Las Vegas as star play-er with Tony Bennett. He alsoappeared on all the talk shows of theday including The Tonight Show, The

Merv Griffin Show, and The MikeDouglas Show. 1971 saw a pair ofreleases by Land for MainstreamRecords: A New Shade of Blue andChoma. It also saw the initial releaseof Damisi, an album with a tricky his-tory. It would be reissued in 1972,‘74, and ‘91 (at least), with eachissue containing a slightly differentchoice of songs. You need the 1991CD re-issue to get it all.

Next Land worked on a co-bandleader production with BlueMitchell, releasing Mapenzi forConcord Jazz in 1977. It was fol-lowed by Live at Junk in 1980, arelease only available in Japan, thesame year he joined the TimelessAll-Stars, which includedHutcherson, Billy Higgins, CedarWalton, Curtis Fuller, and BusterWilliams. Xocia’s Dance on Musecame in 1981, with A Lazy Afternoonon the indie Postcards labelreleased April 1995.

Unfortunately that would be hislast release for seven years. As fatewould have it, Land had a resur-gence of popularity in 1999 whenPaul McCartney recorded“Fabulous” on the B-side of the “NoOther Baby” single from hisacclaimed oldies album Run DevilRun. He didn’t release an album ofnew recordings again until 2001’sPromised Land on Audiophoric.Sadly, Land passed away on July 27,2001, but he remained fond of SanDiego. “We would return fairlyoften,” says Mrs. Land. “He wouldplay there whenever he could, likewhen he would play the Athenaeumin La Jolla or even the SummerhouseInn, for two weeks at a time. Heloved it.”

Harold in theLand of Jazz

San Diego’s Creole Palace, a hot spot for black entertainment in the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, atThird and Market St.

Harold Land as a young man

Land at the Jazz Bakery in L.A., 1990s

Photo: San Diego H

istorical Society

full circlefull circle

Like many kids who grew up duringthe ‘50s, I guess I was attracted to(among other things) the BeatMovement. I read the booksand fantasized aboutbeing “on theroad” and evenlater did some ofthat, but first I hadto check out the cof-fee house scene. It was1957 (and I was still inhigh school down at MarVista in Imperial Beach). Idon’t know exactly how itall came about, but one ofthe first places I ventured intowas called The Zodiac. It wason the street level of the same buildingthat housed the Pacific Ballroom on thesecond floor, near the corner of 11th andBroadway. The artist I saw on that firstvisit was Mickey Myers and I don’tremember anything about him exceptthat he used the Mickey MouseClub theme song as a closingnumber. About a year later I wentto The Zen Coffee House andMotorcycle Repair Shop downat Broadway and India andsaw Judy Henske there. Ihave to say it made a morelasting impression on me.Neither one of thoseplaces were around forvery long, probablybecause of wherethey were located.At that time, down-town San Diego mostly attract-ed sailors on liberty and a few recklesssouls (like me, occasionally) who weremore interested in other kinds of music.

A coffee house that was more mem-

orable to me was The Upper Cellar at6557 El Cajon Blvd. I first saw FredGerlach there, who encouraged me tobuy my first Leadbelly record, and HadleyBachelder, who got me hooked on BigBill Broonzy. Along about 1960 TerryHouston and I got up on stage at anopen mic at The Upper Cellar and sang afolk song (I don’t remember what it was)and when people actually applauded, Iwas hooked. Bob Stane, the owner of the

club and Pete Serniuk (resi-dent comedian and emcee)were encouraging andtold us to come back,which we did a fewtimes. During the early‘60s The Upper Cellartried to move to abigger location onUniversity Avenueand took a stabat booking bigname folk acts(I saw the

Terriers there) butwere only open for a short

time. Bob went on to a long run asmanager of the Ice House up in Pasadenaand operates a coffee house in the L.A.area to this day.

About the same time a bunch of SanDiego State students opened a placecalled La Parise just a few steps off theSDSU campus. Inside the walls were cov-ered with murals of the interior of a

French bordello, and all the faces ofthe many characters were

those of the thenstudentsand pro-

fessors atSan Diego

State. Notlong after the

place opened,the ownership

changed and thename changed to

Circe’s Cup, but theinterior murals stayed.

The Ivory Tower JazzQuartet played there

regularly and that’s where I saw JoshWhite, Juanita Hall, and several well-

known out of towners. The era of theGreat Folk Scare was in full swing. Theowner of Circe’s Cup was a guy namedButch Miller, who kept it open for threeor four years before eventually driftingon. After that it became a pool hall(called Circe’s Cue — they only had tochange part of the sign), then a sand-wich shop (with all the murals paintedover in a dull flat white), and now thebuilding isn’t even there any more sincethe university has taken over the wholearea. Many people who remember TheCup also remember the cheap apart-ments upstairs, which you had to turnsideways to get in to. Bookcase, bed, hotplate, and not much else. Living upstairsat The Cup was always bohemian stu-dent life at its worst but then downstairsthere was some mighty good music.

The other coffee house that made alot of noise was The Ballad Man in LaJolla, first run by a guy named Jay Turnerand then by Bill Sherman. I was only outthere a few times, mostly to see someoneI was familiar with from The Cellar or TheCup. There‘s a song Jay Turner wroteabout The Ballad Man that I still hearpeople do today some 40 years later.That’s pretty high praise for a small placeon Pearl Street in La Jolla. Forty years —that’s almost a folk song. The Ballad Manclosed its doors at some point in theearly ‘60s.

There were other coffee houses inthose early years too. A place called TheVoodoo Man in La Mesawas open for a shorttime, but I never wentthere. There were also acouple of places — Ithink three different ones— with the same name:La Bohème, howevernone of them lasted verylong.

This was a timewhen folk acts movedinto the restaurants andbars for the first time(when folk became popfor a while) and clubs likeThe Mantiki and others featured “stripedshirt trios.” Some of the performers whowere working in San Diego coffee houses

during those early years, alongwith Fred Gerlach and HadleyBachelder, included Ed Ellison,John Lee, Pattie Hodges, JohnRead, Eric Hord, Hoyt Axton,the John B. Trio, the Wee ThreeTrio, Bill Sherman, Judy Henske,and Jay Turner. I’m leaving a lotof people out, but I can’t putnames to the faces. I was start-ing to make trips to to L.A.then to places like The Unicornand The Ash Grove and placesin between like The GoldenBear in Huntington Beach andThe Prison of Socrates inNewport Beach.

It was an interesting time,more or less disappearing for ayear or two during the early‘60s, and then making a come-back in the mid to late ‘60swith places like The Heritage,The End, and The Land ofOdin, which I’ll talk about later.

Recordially,

Lou Curtiss

Recordially, Lou Curtiss

Upper Cellar exterior

Interior of Upper Cellar

Lou & Virginia Curtiss

front porchfront porch

by John Philip Wyllie

Six years ago, she could barelyplay a guitar. Prior to thespring of 2002, only a small

circle of friends had ever heard herperform. And yet in March andagain this month Del Mar’s TristanPrettyman found herself on anational tour, opening for criticallyacclaimed singer/songwriter JasonMraz. Her meteoric rise is as bafflingto the 21-year old Prettyman as it isto a growing number of veteranlocal musicians who would love tobe in her shoes.

“I just picked up a guitar sixyears ago and kept at it,” Prettymansaid nonchalantly prior to perform-ing before an enthusiastic Twigg’saudience in early November.“Sometimes I feel like I don’tdeserve [all this attention] and that Ihaven’t earned it, but at other timesI feel like I just have to take off andrun with it. I am my own biggestcritic. I often feel like I am not readyfor this. I was hoping something likethis would happen eventually, but Ihad no idea it would happen sosoon.”

Prettyman was recently offeredsomething that many coffeehousemusicians spend years striving for: arecording contract. But after confer-ring with her manager, she electedto turn it down.

“I play music just to playmusic,” she explained. “I write formyself, not for the Billboard chartsor for breakthrough hits. My favoriteartists were never on the radio.When it comes down to it, music isfor the artist and for the fans. If youare really touching people, that isreason enough to do it. If you havea fan base and can book your ownshows, you really don’t need arecording label.” Prettyman fearsthat her style may be compromisedonce she is under contract, so shehas so far resisted all of the over-tures made to her.

Her thinking may fly in theface of conventional wisdom, butthat doesn’t concern her. Music isone of her passions and somethingthat is uniquely her own. Surfinghowever, was her first love.

A regular at Pipes and Swami’sfor more than a dozen years,Prettyman took to the waves at theage of eight. Surfing was a way oflife for the Prettyman family. By thetime she had emerged from TorreyPines High School three years ago,Prettyman was an accomplishedsurfer as well as a model for RoxySurf Wear. Ironically, it was surfingthat launched her musical career.Her first attempt at recording, asong called “Anything at All,” endedup on the critically acclaimed surffilm Shelter. It turned out to be a life-changing event. While she

channels a more of her energy intosongwriting and performing thesedays, she continues to surf severaltimes a week.

“I write a lot of songs in thewater, but unfortunately I forgetmost of them,” she quipped. “[Theocean] is a place where I can go andclear my head and be away fromeverything. A lot of ideas come tome there, but it is also a place whereI relieve my stress and get calm. Ifeel fortunate to be able to comehome and go surfing and then go onthe road and play music.”

The inner calm that she gainsthrough surfing carries over whenshe is performing on stage.

“There is a grace about her thatyou usually don’t find in folks herage,” explained singer/songwriterJeff Berkley of Berkley Hart. “Shehas what I would call an old soul.While she is very young, there issomething about her that seems veryexperienced and aged. She also hasa lot of intense energy.”

That energy and poise was ondisplay at her recent Twiggs per-formance as well as on her Love EPCD.

More than a demo, but not ahighly polished recording accordingto Prettyman, she calls it, “a sketchof some of my songs so that peoplecan hear them.” Recorded in twoweekends, the songs on the Love EPwere recorded in three takes eachwith Prettyman accompanying her-self on the guitar and drums andpiano added later.

She sees her music as a work inprogress and her style as one that isstill developing.

“It is hard to develop an indi-vidual style. I tend to be easily influ-enced, so that can be a problem. Ithas helped to come back to where Iwas by listening to my own record-ings and then trying to recreate thatsame raw sound.”

Songwriting, like many thingsin Prettyman’s life, seems to comenaturally.

“The songs tend to come whenthey come. I don’t sit down and sayokay, I have to produce a song. Theycome regardless of whether I amhappy or sad. I do most of it either

late at night or when I wake up firstthing in the morning. My songs areabout moments in my everyday life.”

With a voice somewhat remi-niscent of Jewel and lyrics that oftenooze emotion and speak of heartache and longing, it is easy to seehow Prettyman, at the tender age of21, has already established a loyalfollowing. And this could be just thetip of the iceberg.

Tristan Prettyman performs atKelly’s Pub, 6344 El Cajon Blvd., onDecember 19.

Tristan Prettyman: NotJust Another Pretty Face

Prettyman with Jason Mraz

front porchfront porch

by Paul Hormick

The music of Bulgaria is impos-sible to describe; to compare itto anything familiar could not

do it justice. In reviewing Le Mystèredes Voix Bulgares, a CD of the BulgarianWomen’s Choir, the BBC simply said,“This is the most beautiful music inthe world.” And for the past eightyears the all-female quartet Harmonijahas brought the same searing, sublimeharmonies and seductively complexrhythms of Bulgaria, along with otherofferings from Eastern Europe, to thestages and coffeehouses of San Diego.

“I feel high when I sing thismusic,” says Mary Ann Downs, one ofthe sopranos of the group. “The har-monies and rhythms, that’s whatmoves me. It’s marvelous to sing.”Downs fell in love with Bulgarianmusic while she was performing with aSlavic chorus in Boston and joined theBulgarian chorus, Malaika, when shemoved to San Diego.

When two of its members movedaway and Malaika disbanded, Downsgot together with neighbor SueMcGuire and Marie Hayes, a fan ofMalaika, and formed Harmonija. Twoyears later Sanna Rosengren joined theensemble. Rosengren says that after allthis time the band has gelled and it isnow effortless to sing the difficult har-monies and rhythms.

Rosengren, a trained musicianfrom Sweden who has played Brazilianand other music, explains the uniquebeauty of the Bulgarian music.“Bulgaria fell under the OttomanEmpire, but they still used the westernscale,” she says. The western scale isthe do re mi that we have all grown upwith. This mixture of East and Westproduced something, “differentenough but not impossible to under-stand,” she says.

“It’s a challenge to sing,” saysMcGuire, who has a degree in musicalengineering. Some of the harmoniesrely on what she calls “crunch notes,seconds that don’t resolve.” She alsosays that the method of singing differsfrom that found in most music familiarto us. Instead of using the chest as theresonator, typically the way an operasinger gains projection and volume, thesource of resonance is the head. Thisgives a different timbre to the voice, aswell as a penetrating projection.

The rhythms are also unfamiliar towestern ears. Some of the songs are inrhythms of 7/4,

5/4, or even 11/4, requir-ing the singers to count 1-2-3-1-2-1-2,or 1-2-1-2-1-2-3-1-2-1-2 to themselvesas they perform. Hayes says, “It tookme an entire year to learn the countfor 7/4.”

As none of the women speakBulgarian, they use a variety of meth-ods to learn their repertoire. They pickup songs from Bulgarian records, recre-ating not only the difficult harmonies,but the unfamiliar words as well. Theyalso attend workshops given byBulgarian immigrants and attend the‘Bulgarian Camps’ that are held each

year, one in Mendocino and the otherin Maryland. Knowing that she wantedto sing this type of music after attend-ing a Bulgarian concert, Hayesdescribes her initial steps to teach her-self, “At first I would sing into a taperecorder while I played CDs of theBulgarian Women’s Choir. I would doit over and over until I memorized thesongs,” she says. McGuire adds,“Because the music is not in English,our harmonies have to be right on.”

The women realize that a wholeprogram of eastern European musicmight be difficult for the average lis-tener. If they are performing at a cof-feehouse, fighting the espressomachine, they might mix in some jazztunes. “We are ambassadors, notpurists,” explains Rosengren. In a con-cert setting with a more receptive audi-ence, they will perform more of theirBulgarian material.

Harmonija performs the evening ofDecember 6 at the UnitarianUniversalist Church in Hillcrest. Findout more about these women and theirwonderful music at www.harmonija.com

by Robert Woerheide

UUntil I met RookieCard, I thought“pop” was a

dirty word—right upthere with “commercial-ism” and “target market.”But that changed when this San Diegoband, fresh from a turbulent, lengthyformation and with demo CD in hand,showed me what pop could really be.Their debut release, First Day of Class,is a collection of well thought-outsongs delivered with confidence butnot presumption.

Rookie Card—consisting of found-ing member Adam Gimbel (leadsinger, rhythm guitarist), NasrallahHelewa (percussionist), Jason Hee(bassist), and Dylan Martinez (lead gui-tarist)—is doing everything it can toget noticed these days. And that stickymoniker, pop, is following right along.

“I’m totally fine with that,” Gimbelexplains. “I think more than anything Iwrite pop songs, and we dress themup different ways: country, indy rock,blues, whatever. I’m geared to writesomething that’s catchy, and I hopethat is the main mission of what wedo. Pop to me just means a catchy

song, and we’re all about that.”This may be true, but for many of

us the term pop still has a bad after-taste. If Rookie Card is pop, then it ispop at its best, pop the way it shouldbe, pop on artistic steroids.

Proof in point: First Day of Class isreally only a demo, but it has managedto get Rookie Card considerable atten-tion in San Diego, garnering a nomina-tion at the 2003 San Diego MusicAwards for Best Local Recording.

Gimbel tells of their surprise at thenomination: “We were shocked. OurCD says right at the top that it’s ademo. And not just a demo but adebut demo. To have it nominated forBest Local Recording was just unreal.”The four-song demo has been re-released to include seven songs andcan be picked up at Lou’s Records, M-Theory Music, The Muse, and Off TheRecord.

What makes Rookie Card remark-able is their energy and conviction,coupled with just the right amount oftongue-in-cheek humor. Whether it’scoming up with anagrams for theirband name (they’re up to 16, includ-ing OREO KID CAR and I ADOREROCK) or lacing their songs with care-ful sarcasm, these rockers maintain apalpable wit.

This wit is something Gimbel rec-ognizes with reluctance. “[Humor is] asmall part of our music, I’d like tothink. I’ll try to be interesting or clever

. . . but most happy, fun music I thinkcomes off cheesy. We try to make wellthought out, good music that mighthave something a little clever in thelyrics. We don’t want to be a noveltyband.”

So what do they want? Fame andsuccess? The two seductive tangents ofthe rock ‘n’ roll triangle, sex anddrugs? Fortunately, they are able to seepast such artistic distractions. “If Icould snap my fingers and [get us]huge success, that’s not really what wewant,” Gimbel says, “but if we couldquit our day jobs and do Rookie Cardfull time that would be great.

“The problem with trying to be amusician is you gotta have a day job.

We [recently] went on a four-dayroad trip and just had so much fun,and kept saying it would be so great ifwe could do this full time.”

In the meantime, the band has itssights set on the future. “We’re goingback into the studio to record analbum. We’ve got enough songs we’rehappy with to make a record, and stillhave some left over. We’re going totake some time to get our CD out tomore people—record labels and press

outside of San Diego. We’re try-ing to impress some folks and

spread the word.”The album, tenta-

tively titled NearMint, will feature 12tracks and shouldbe released some-time next springor summer.

If the songson their debut

demo release areany indication,

Rookie Card’s firstofficial album should

definitely get themnoticed. In a remarkably short periodof time, they’ve managed to leap thehurdle so many other, more experi-enced, bands continue to trip over:maintaining a sound all its own, with-out releasing an album full of tracks sosimilar to one another they becomepatently redundant. The only thingredundant about Rookie Card is thesatisfying nature of their songs. Likesherbet on a summer day, these guyscouldn’t have come around at a bettertime. Just in time to save pop—but nopressure, guys, honest.

Harmonija Delivers Heavenly Harmonies

Rookie Card at the Casbah Rookie Card at M-Theory

Harmonija

parlor showcaseparlor showcase

by Ellen Duplessie

he mysterious Billy Midnight. Who ishe? Where did he come from?How come the music thisgroup puts out is so good?And how come I haven’theard more aboutthem?

Okay, even my questions are abit confused as to whether BillyMidnight is a “he” or a “they.” BillyMidnight could be a cool stagename for a solo artist. It is actuallythe name of this four-membergroup. I had at least found outthat much before I ever heardthem play but the rest was, to me,still a mystery.

In a little promo blip in the 2002Adams Avenue Street Fair program,this band was described as “Pink Floydmeets Gram Parsons.” This really sparkedmy curiosity. I wanted to know more. I won-dered why I hadn’t heard of them before. Theanswer was simply that they didn’t travel in the samefolk-country-rock circles that I did, which basically cen-tered around Java Joe’s, Mikey’s, and the whole coffee-house scene. Little did I know that they had alreadywon a San Diego Music Award in 2001 in the “BestRoots, Rockabilly, or Swing Band” category, and that BillyMidnight had already been together since 1999.

So, back in September of 2002, I made my way tothe DiMille’s Stage at the Street Fair just in time to catchtheir act. I was immediately captivated by their show.Not only were they amazingly talented musicians, butthey played some great original music as well. Aftertheir performance, I told them that we’d like to do astory on them.

A year passed by since then. Ihad read a couple of mentionsabout them in CityBeat’s “LocalsOnly,” and that was about it. Westill hadn’t gotten around to doingtheir story. Then I saw them againthis past September on that samestage on Adams Ave. They wereeven better than before. BillyMidnight was still much of a mys-tery to me and, like a good detec-tive, I had to investigate. Not onlywould I get my questionsanswered, but I knew that this wasone group that, in my humble opin-ion, the whole world should knowabout. Of course, the SanDiego Troubadour doesn’tquite reach the wholeworld, but at least we canget the word out to a fewmore folks.

So finally I was able tosit down last month withthe founders of BillyMidnight at Gelato Vera inMission Hills to solve themystery. Here is what I found out — first ofall, the band was formed by brothers Billy

Billy in Fiji

Bobby in Fiji

Bobby on drums

Wild and crazy guys (l to r): Jeremy Cooke, Bobby Shaddox, Billy Shaddox, Ben CookAt the Adams Ave. Street Fair

The Brothers Shaddox

parlor showcase

Bobby Shaddox. I also found out that these two guysare very smart. When they stayed for a month in Fiji thispast year, the islanders expressed the same thing afterhearing Billy playing some of his lead guitar for them.“He’s a smart man, a very smart man!” the Fiji folks pro-claimed.

“People in our Western culture don’t appreciatemusicians like that. It’s like, if you can play guitar or anyinstrument really, there’s a certain science about it.” Billyshared. “Our culture just thinks of it as a nice hobby.”Billy has a degree in civil engineering, while Bobby hasone in art (graphic design), both from SDSU.

Not only are they smart, but they are also wise.They both have jobs to support their music. They playbecause they love it and it’s a huge part of who theyare, but they have realized that enjoying what they do ismost important, rather than trying to “make it big.”

“Think about all the people that you really enjoy,”Bobby enthusiastically shares his words of wisdom.“They weren’t out to be stars. It’s just that they weregood, and people realized it. I think that if you try toohard, it’s not going to happen to you. I think that whatmakes you more famous is if you really like and enjoywhat you’re doing. Then people will notice that andthey’ll come see you.”

“We had a record deal and we turned it down. Itwould have been one more voice in the equation thatwould have really complicated things . . . like someonetelling us to play this style or that,” adds Billy from his mathematical mindset.

“We talk about music being fun and having a good time, but when it’s about money andfinancial obligations, that’s just too stressful. We’vealways said that as soon as we stopped enjoying it,we’d quit.” They both agree.

The boys figure that if you’re good, people willeventually find out through word of mouth.

“We don’t hype at all,” declares Bobby.“Yeah, we’re really bad at promoting ourselves,”

Billy adds, laughing. They recently gleaned more wisdom through a bad

experience on their last tour. This is where another mystery unfolds, one that has not yet been solved. InApril of 2001, the band booked a West Coast tour.Being on a tight budget, they either camped or slept intheir van. After a gig one night in Eugene, Oregon, theywere invited to stay the night at the home of a guy wholived three doors down from the venue. They acceptedthe offer.

“At some point during the night I either fell out ofbed or got up to go to the bathroom or something, andI fell down. I hit my head really bad and had somehemorrhaging in my brain. It really messed me up. Sothat was the end of touring for us.” Billy remembers.

Bobby interjects, “We had to stop the tour and hehad to stay in the hospital for a week. At a certain pointwe thought he was going to die. We didn’t know whatwas wrong. We thought that maybe he’d had ananeurysm or something.

“Yeah, I cracked my skull.”“I personally think he was hit by someone, because

he couldn’t have fallen like that. It was really strange.After that, he had to recover at our parents’ house forsix or seven months.”

Since that dark day in 2001, the band has givenmuch thought to their vision, goals, and direction.They’ve chosen not to tour at this time. Touring wasdraining, both financially and emotionally, so they’vedecided to simply stay here in San Diego and just playtheir great music for all their local fans.

“We really like the Bay Area. For roots rock andAmericana-type music, that’s the place to be. We’llprobably still go up there a couple times a year. SanDiego is not a great town for the Americana/country-rock kind of music we play, but there is a scene thatwe’re grateful for. There is an audience, and sometimesit can be small, but there are enthusiastic people outthere and we’re grateful for that,” Bobby shares.

Billy adds, “Adams Avenue Street Fair has beengreat for us, and we’ve gained a lot of new fans throughthat.”

Growing up together in a musical family in Dehesaout in East County, they moved to Jamul when theywere in high school. The brothers were immersed inmusic at home. They both learned rhythm guitar, but itseemed like Billy never really differentiated betweenrhythm and lead when he started playing.

“My dad, the way he plays, has a real DocWatson style of holding the pick and using his fingers. He combines a lot of melody with rhythm. Igrew up with that sound just ingrained, and I naturally emulated that.”

Billy continues, “When I got my first electricguitar, I was really into Jimmy Hendrix. I’d sit and listento him all the time. I wanted to learn how to do that. Inever learned how to read music or anything. I just listened and tried to learn things by ear.When I play, I try to tap into that feeling where you’rejust trying to get something out. It doesn’t happen allthe time. It’s really a magical thing when it happens.”

Bobby excelled as a rhythm player and he alsolearned drums. In addition, he was a natural lead vocal-ist and front man with stage charisma to spare.

By the time they were 15 or 16, they startedplaying together in various bands, most of which wererock. Bobby was the front man for their earlier bands,putting on quite a show with influences by such theatri-cal acts as David Bowie and Queen. In 1999 BillyMidnight was formed, with Bobby taking over on drumsand harmony vocals. Billy headed up the band on guitarand lead vocals. Ben Cook, another intelligent memberof the band majoring in the academic study of religionat UCSD, joined in on bass. The newest member isJeremy Cooke, who must be pretty smart as well…atleast he knew enough to join such a fantastic group!Jeremy was added to play fiddle, lap steel, and “vari-ous noisemakers.” Their new band took on a whole newdirection.

“At first we were more like a straight country-rock thing. The country music was what we grew upwith — my dad and my grandpa were these bluegrasspicker-country singer/songwriter guys. And then I sawthis group — The Band — who mixed rock, country,folk, and blues,” Bobby recalls.

He continues, “What stood out for me aboutThe Band was that there was history in their songwriting.They pulled from the roots of American music. Andthey were really rough around the edges. No one in TheBand had a perfect voice. I think for Billy — he kind offound his voice there, because Billy doesn’t have a pol-ished Michael Bolton-type voice or anything, but hisvoice is soulful. Soulful, yet not polished.”

“Yeah, The Band was a major influence, alongwith the Mother Hips.” Billy agrees.

So, in time, Billy Midnight evolved from plaincountry-rock to an eclectic, psychedelic mix of country,blues, and roots-rock.

“Our first CD was basically just a demo to getgigs. We landed all these 3-4 hour gigs and that’s where

we really cut our teeth. We did lots of covers becauseat that time we only had about 10 or 15 originals. Wejammed a lot, too,” Billy remembers. “I didn’t really startwriting much until after this band got started.”

The boys played around town at local bars andvenues, gradually gaining a following. The band gradu-ated to gigs at the Casbah and the Belly Up. Now thatthey’ve stopped trying so hard to get out and “make it,”everything’s just starting to happen for them. For example, instead of trying to get a gig at the Belly Up,this popular venue just called them up out of the blueto book them. They opened there in October for theBastard Sons of Johnny Cash.

They’ve released three CDs altogether, the firstbeing the demo called Live at the Tradewinds. The nextalbum is their self-titled CD, released in 2001. The thirdrecording is Live at Earthling. Billy has recently finishedhis solo album Mellow Me, an acoustic version of somenew Fiji-inspired songs. Bobby has his creative projectsgoing as well. He heads up his own group calledBobby Fantasy, which usually includes players from BillyMidnight. He spent quite a bit of time playing with theStereotypes but has now left them and is joining upwith Greg Loaicono from the Mother Hips to play in anew band called Sensations. That band will be playingsome shows together with Billy Midnight.

The best way to sum up is to start back at thebeginning with the words that first intrigued me fromthe Adams Avenue Street Fair promo blip. This camefrom their own bio on the billymidnight.com website:

“Their youthful, live energy, tight harmonies, and Billy’sraw (often experimental) guitar style has earned them thecomparison of “Pink Floyd meets Gram Parsons.” Listeningclosely to they boys’ sound, one can definitely detect achildhood steeped in California rock, à la the Beach Boys,the Eagles, and the Byrds. Billy Midnight’s rootsy, WestCoast sound borrows from the past while still pushingahead in a fresh direction. ‘Our music is something yourdad might dig. It’s got harmonies and riffs that remind himof the Rolling Stones, but then we’ll dive into a noisy wallof sound that he can’t relate to and it’ll freak him out. He’snever listened to the Pavement or Wilco albums that wehave.’”

“The band’s latest release is a return to do-it-yourselfrock ‘n’ roll. Everything from the recording to the packag-ing has been a labor by the boys themselves. The songsrange from raw country ballads to progressive songs ofspace exploration such as ‘Mir,’ a song Roger McGuinnmight have created had he ever collaborated with Yes.Billy Midnight is taking California rock into new territories;it’s the sound of the song from the past surrendering tothe noise of the future – coyotes howling above the roarof four lanes of traffic en route to field of bermuda grassgrown on solid granite beneath a sky of birds dodging jetplanes carrying humans to the moon and back.”

If that description doesn’t get you out to one oftheir shows, then nothing will. I hope now that you’re atleast as curious as I was. They say that curiosity killedthe cat. But at least the cats surely find some fantastic,amazing things along the way!

Billy Midnight will play Friday, December 5 andMonday, December 15 at the Ould Sod, and onSaturday, December 6, at the California Club with RookieCard and Bart Davenport. See page 13 for a review ofthe Billy Midnight CD. Find out more atbillymidnight.com and bobbyfantasy.com.

ramblin’ramblin’

by Jim McInnes

Mixed Media(part two)

We (my future wife,Sandi, and I) chattedfor a couple of hours

about whatever ... including my pas-sion for playing basketball 365 daysa year. Finally, I had to go. As Ireached the front door of my friend’shouse, Sandi shoved a note into myjacket pocket and said goodbye.

When I got into my car I read thenote.”Give me a call. Let’s play bas-ketball.” The next day I called herand we met at the playground nearher house in P.B. She looked so hotin her sweats! I could tell right awaythat ... this woman had never evenseen a basketball!

After crushing Sandi in 36 con-secutive games of “Horse,” we wentto her bayside condo and watchedthe sun glistening on the water.When it was time for me to leave Iasked her if I could kiss her. Shekissed me above and beyond all myexpectations. I won’t go into details.

Over the next few months, Sandiand I would hook up whenever andwherever we could, usually at mylow-rent hovel in P.B ... or in herJeep at the top of Mt. Soledad ... orin her Jeep in the KGB parking lot ...or in her Jeep in the desert ... or ontop of her Jeep....

In July of 1981, Sandi divorcedher radio deejay husband andmoved in with her new radio deejayboyfriend, even though her employer(the original 106.5 KPRI) had explic-itly told her that she could not dateJim McInnes! (Huh?) So we had sepa-rate phone lines after she moved in... and we never talked about ourrespective jobs when we weretogether. That way we couldn’t beaccused of sharing “trade secrets”!

A couple of months later, Ireceived a call from a guy whowanted to interview me for his tinyradio fanzine, Skedge (a publicationwhose circulation made this paper

seem like USA Today!). Two dayslater he and I met at The LoadingZone, a convenient watering-hole.We had been amiably chatting foralmost an hour when Sandi walkedin and joined us at our table. I (stu-pidly) introduced her as my girl-friend, the Music Director andAssistant Program Director at (theoriginal) KPRI 106.5 (The Enemy!).

“Who’s ever heard of Skedge?” Ichuckled as Sandi and I drove home.“I hope he sends me a copy, ‘cuz Idon’t know where to find one.”

A few weeks later came the newSkedge. There I was ... in picturesand in words ... only it was nolonger an interview with me, it wasan interview with WE!

The day after the issue came out,Sandi was called to the (original)KPRI 106.5 general manager’s office.When she walked into his office, hewas holding up, at eye level, a copyof the brand new issue of Skedge.

She spent the next 18 monthslooking for work in the business sheloved.

Radio DazeSTORIES CULLED FROM THIS DEEJAY’S 30+ YEARS IN THE BIZ

Jim McInnes

Bluegrass Cornerby Dwight Worden

Here are three key individualsyou should know who make blue-grass music happen in San Diego.

WAYNE RICEWayne pro-duces andhosts KSON’s“BluegrassSpecial” everySunday, 10pm-midnight, forwhich he

received IBMA’sBroadcaster of the Year award in1995. Now entering its twenty-sev-enth year, Wayne plays the best ofbluegrass music, featuring localbands and new material. This yearhe produced the annual IBMAawards ceremony in Louisville,Kentucky, generally considered tobe the “best ever,” having served asmaster of ceremonies in prior years.As an active musician throughouthis career, he was a member ofBrush Arbor, a country/gospel groupthat recorded for Capitol records inthe early 1970s and was namedVocal Group of the Year by theAcademy of Country Music in 1973.As a five-string banjo and guitarplayer (and he sings, too!) he cur-rently performs with Lighthouse andGrassology, two local bluegrassbands.

Wayne knows absolutely every-body in the bluegrass world and hasbeen a major influence in bringingtop national acts to San Diego. Hehas emceed many local shows andhas generally acted as “Mr. SanDiego.” They don’t call him theBluegrass Ambassador for nothing!El Cajon even declared a WayneRice day in 2001! We are lucky tohave him.

MIKE NADOLSON is owner andoperator of Tricopolis Records inLake Elsinore. He has producedmany successful local concerts and,for the last two years years, hasundertaken the production of somekey bluegrass festivals, including theGreat American Festival in Hesperiaand the Temecula BluegrassFestival. This year, Mike took overproduction of the annual JulianBluegrass Festival in September,which had a strong first-year show-ing with the Ronnie BowmanCommittee in a rare San Diegoappearance along with perennialfavorites Bluegrass Etc. andSilverado, led by Mike on lead guitarand vocals.

Mike and his Tricopolis Recordsare a constant presence at mostfestivals West of the Mississippi.The colorful Tricopolis booth carriesa stunning collection of bluegrassCDs, guitars, banjos, dobros, andevery kind of paraphernalia a blue-grasser could want.

Mike says he wants to be themain source for our bluegrass needsand is well on his way to achievingthat status. If you need informationor supplies, stop by his booth at yournext festival visit, or check out hisgreat web page any time: www.tri-copolisrecords.com.

MIKE TATAR is president of the SanDiego Bluegrass Society and sits onthe board of the California BluegrassAssociation as San Diego’s regionalrepresentative. He also hosts aweekly web-based bluegrass radioshow, “Bluegrass Central,” whereyou can hear great music and dis-cussions on bluegrass topics. It’s onevery Sunday, 11am-1pm, andrebroadcast on Wednesdays, noon-2pm. He also plays banjo in VirtualStrangers, one of the area’s top per-forming bands where he takes onthe lion’s share of lead singing. Lookfor Virtual Strangers to open at theRhonda Vincent concert at the LaPaloma theater on February 9.

Mike has been a key leader inhelping SDBS evolve into a vibrantand active San Diego organization,having organized the firstSummergrass Festival last August.His stature in the local bluegrasscommunity is reflected by his beingnamed Chair of the 2004Summergrass committee by hispeers, which under his guidancepromises that next year’s show willbe even better than the first one.

RESOURCES FOR BLUEGRASS MUSICIANSwww.jaybuckey.com offers freestuff you can access and downloadand sells instructional products. JayBuckey’s Virtual Band products fea-ture bluegrass classics, both instru-mental and vocal, which let you playalong on your instrument at varyingspeeds.www.firebottle.com/flatpik is SteveKaufman’s site, which caters mainlyto guitar players. Whatever yourinstrument, though, consider gettinga copy of his Four-Hour BluegrassWorkout, a set of CDs that allow youto play along with each song, onceat a slow speed and once up tospeed. Also included is a musicbook.

www.homespuntapes.com is thepremier site for instructional videoson every instrument imaginable,some of which feature many blue-grass greats.www.tricopolisrecords.com, MikeNadolson’s site, offers event calen-dars, event tickets, CDs, products,and instructional aids.

Now that you have some prac-tice materials, here are a few tips onhow to maximize the benefits of yourpractice, no matter how much, orhow little, time you have.

1. ESTABLISH A GOAL for each sessionand make it modest, i.e., today Iam going to learn all the 7thchords in every key; or learn anew song or practice readingmusic.

2. EXERCISES It’s important that youexercise your techniques everysession, such as scales andarpeggios.

3. FOCUS Turn off the television andfocus on your music—15 minutes offocused practice is better than anhour of noodling in front of the TV.

4. METRONOME Practice with ametronome at least some of thetime. Get a loud one so you canhear it over your instrument.

5. TAKE IT SLOW! Practice new mate-rial slowly and correctly. Whilelearning, never (without reason)go so fast that you make mistakes.Practice doesn’t make perfect, itmakes permanent! If you practiceit wrong, it goes into your musclememory incorrectly and then youhave to unlearn it and relearn it,which is much more difficult.

6. SPEED When learning, occasion-ally it’s okay to play fast deliber-ately as an exercise to help buildspeed, but only after you’velodged the piece in your musclememory slowly and accurately.

7. BE PATIENT As a rule it is good tohave long-term goals. If you are abeginning to intermediate player,decide on a five-year goal.Recognize that there is no short-cut. Studies show practice is waymore important than talent indetermining how good youbecome.

8. HAVE FUN! Reserve a portion ofevery practice session for fun:play whatever you like.

9. GET OUT AND PLAY! Whatever yourlevel, try to get out and play withothers. It’s fun and instructive.Whatever you can play in your liv-ing room at the A level will proba-bly drop to B or lower until you getthe hang of playing with others!Next month I’ll have more info

and tips for you bluegrassers outthere!

Virtual Strangers

Silverado with Dennis Caplinger

Wayne Rice

ramblin’ramblin’

by Gus T. Williker

This is the end, my friend the …mmm…naw.

Hit the road me, and don’t I comeback … uh … er …nooo…

So long, farewell, alf … alveeter… alfee … ohh …. fergit it.

Saying goodbye ain’t easy, but itcan git cheesy, so I decided to make itshort ‘n’ sweet like a minigoat’s teet.

I’m taking my retirement from theTroubadour. My demanding career as asuperpinup (www.WhiteHotTrash.com)combined with my hugely successfulhat biz (www.ClunkerStore.com) havesucked up all my time. I thought ‘bouttrying to write a moving, masterfulfarewell, but a “Best Of”* seemed likethe right way to sum up my turn at theTroub (okay, okay, it’s also pretty mucha cut ‘n’ paste job…so yeah, I’m a lazybasturd, too).

My column began in October 2001,and carried the moniker “Gus KnowsBest.” It was quickly changed to“Local Yokels,” and finally finished upas “RantHouse, The Local MusicScene (Well, Mostly).” Here’s sumhighlights…

Dec. 2001 – Vol. 1, No. 3 – Local YokelsYes, I have the talent, but you have areceiver, and you should feel good‘bout the part you play each week:turnin’ yer knob.

March 2002 – Vol. 1 No. 6 – LocalYokelsOh sure, when the deadline dings atthe door, plenty o’ writers have noproblem fillin’ thar columns wit’watered down junk, like wine coolersin a canteen.

Aug. 2002 – Vol. 1 No. 11 – LocalYokelsInstead o’ whinin’ like a billionaire popstar who lost his touch (‘cept on hiscrotch, which has bin tugged moretimes than the Queen Mary), I decidedto take the criticism to heart and makesum changes.

Dec. 2002 – Vol. 2 No. 2 – Local YokelsIt’s time fer every patchwork publica-tion ‘n’ media halfwit to come out withthar “Best of”lists fer 2002. It’s a bun-cha generic crap like “Best JazzBand” or the “50 Most BeautifulPeople,”and I fer one ain’t gonna playthat lame game. (Donald Rumsfeld? Ireckon it’s beautiful to blow folks up?Whut ever happened to big-boobedgals fer world peace?!)

Jan. 2003 – Vol. 2 No. 4 – Local YokelsAre you a regular reader who can’tmake it thru the month withoutMetamucil and MY column? Or, couldya take it or leave it like a free canKoozie from K-mart?

March 2003 – Vol. 2 No. 6 – LocalYokels“Free Bird” ain’t just fer Skynard nomore. Yer favorit double-wide deejayhas busted loose like a rabid gooseand dropped his last gig like seagulldoo on a day-tripper from Des Moines.

June 2003 – Vol. 2 No. 9 – RantHouseHey, 94.9 ... we’re all really proud thatyer deejays don’t talk over the music,but howz about shutting up thatwhiney promo guy, eh? I’d rather hearHarvey Fierstein sing “Frère Jacques”over an intro than yer cooler-than-thoucraptalk.

Aug. 2003 – Vol. 2 No. 11 – RantHouseYou see, deejays can’t just say swag,which is bad enough. NOPE, they haveto pronounce it ‘schwag,’ as if thosecrappy CD singles and Incubus postersare some kind of pirate’s booty.

Nov. 2003 – Vol. 3 No. 2 – RantHouseEverybody Hurts when they’re exposedto R.E.M.’s music. It’s the End of theWorld as We Know It? No, but I amworried ‘bout losing my lunch, let alonemy religion.

Hope ya got at least one giggle outof my column over the last coupleyears. Thanks fer readin’!

xoxo, Gus

*Lazy Basturd Part II. The “Best Of”was culled from whatever issues Icould dig out of my second-level stor-age room minutes before writin’ thiscolumn and does not reflect the totalityof my genius.

P.S. I’ll be a little hurt if I don’t git any e-mails, or at least one letter to the editor, so write … dang you …gus@whitehottrash.com

Our man fer all seasons, Gus Williker

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Music provided by Java Joewww.javajoes-sd.com

by José Sinatra

One of the more provocativediversions I concocted during mystreet theater years (1972-present)took place in this city’s most “hap-pening” country western bar, in thewake of the faddish Urban Cowboyfilm. If you’re over 25 or so, you mayrecall those disturbing few yearswhen America found in countrymusic a viable alternative to discoand New Wave and again started tolose its collective mind (once againconfusing style with substance). Linedancing (to me as visually repulsiveas the concurrent robotic/aerobicstyles) was becoming quite the rage,but of equal importance to well-exe-cuted dance steps was the crisp“manliness” of the accepted uni-form. Yup, them was the days whenthe gals was purdy and the dudesthunk, drank, even talked like Texans— ‘least ‘til closin’ tam. Some of themost gawdawful commercial countrycrap was hungrily gobbled up inthem days, and the aftertaste evennow occasionally burps up like alonely, jilted mechanical bull.

Even after the craze dried up,most guys kept their Stetsons hang-ing some place in their living roomsfor years, before eventually storingthem away in the closet or passingthem on to their kids on Halloween.They were rarely just tossed out,serving as valued reminders ofhappy times when the wearer was aself-assured sombitch, a genuine,high-falutin’ party dawg.

Oh, Lord. Then came Hip Hop.But that sad story will not concernus today.

Anyhow, I divulged my plan tosome friends and had little trouble

accepting their monetary bets that Iwouldn’t carry it out.

I won a hundred bucks thatnight.

I would walk into that countryMecca down on Midway Drive, stay-ing long enough to finish a pitcher ofBudweiser, dressed up as ClintEastwood’s man-with-no-name char-acter: battered cowboy hat, serape(!), cheroot, stubble, the works. I waseven able to borrow a pair of cow-boy boots from Bruce, a retardedguy down the street.

My first bit of trouble was withthe doorman (named Yancy or Nancy,I think) who demanded that I take thebig silver cap gun out of its holsterand leave it back in my car. I gavehim my practiced squint and hoarselywhispered, “Yeah . . .,” still feelingpretty secure with that can of mace Ialways had in my back pocket.

I went into the club. No soonerhad I settled down in the one avail-able booth in a corner than a prettywaitress appeared, politely askingme to take my feet off the table.When she returned with my frostymug and pitcher, I paid and tippedher. But under the brim of my hat Icould only see her delicious thighsfor a remarkable amount of time: shehadn’t left. I raised my orbs of steelto encounter a smile that threatenedto melt my prairie oysters. “Are youfor real?” she asked sweetly.

“Yeah. . . . Got a spittoon here,ma’am?”

The next 20 minutes werethrilling, as far as I was concerned. Ifeigned indifference to the fact that I,a mysterious loner, was becomingthe talk of the room. Every lady want-ed me alone, (oh, yeah), and all theguys wanted me dead but seemedbaffled trying to figure out why and

how. Was I just a misfit (duh) or wasI, in some rude way, showing disre-spect toward their recreationallifestyle?

The beer was delicious. Thedance floor magically parted when Imade my exit.

The only further words spoken tome were from the two malcontentswho followed me out and tried tograb me as I unlocked the driver’sdoor to my car. They are words asfresh in my ears today as they werewhen originally screamed so longago:

“You mother! You mother! Dang!You mother!” the gender-confusedapes cried as they rolled around theparking lot pavement, clutching theirfaces as I drove off into another SanDiego sunset. I’d get a new can oftear gas in the morning.

And I’d use the hundred bucks tobuy something I’d never had before:my own pair of brand-new cowboyboots.

They never go out of style.Have a merry one and a happy

one, folks. I’ll see you next year, Godwilling.

The debonair Mr. Sinatra

tonHosing Down

the highway’s songthe highway’s song

Lestats Adds LiveTaping ofLocal TV Showto DiverseSchedule

by Phil Harmonic

San Diego has never had asmany venues for musicaltalent as it does today.

With the number of clubs and coffeehouses increasing, you canalso add a number of spaces that promoters are leasing, such ashouse concerts, halls, and com-munity centers. But how manyof these actually suit the needsof the musician?

One coffeehouse has risen tothe forefront as a great place toperform. Lestats on AdamsAvenue near Felton Street, whichis also open 24 hours, has con-stantly improved in ambience,lighting, seating, and sound.

Owner John Hustler is theman responsible for makingavailable this wonderful space.His involvement and backing,along with the vital contributionof sound man, Louie Brazier, hasturned Lestats into a first-rateconcert hall. Brazier’s dedication,working countless hours to givethe musicians the best soundpossible, has been key in makingthis one of the best small musicvenues in San Diego.

Lestats has begun hosting alive television show everyWednesday called San Diego’sFinest, which features local musictalent. Musician-songwriterDelmus Jeffrey from Sing on theWeb.com, a co-sponsor alongwith Lestats, is the man behindthese shows, the first of whichwas taped on November 12.Jeffrey and Kelley Buhles video-taped the entire event, whichwas hosted by local musicianJenn Grinels and Lestats baristaTroy Garland and included excel-lent performances by GregoryPage, Robin Henkel, AnyaMarina, and the Jenn GrinelsBand.

Gregory Page, a master song-writer who plays old vintageacoustic guitars, recreates anauthenticity reminiscent of1930s’ jazz songs. He was joinedon stage by violinist FloydFronius who offered traces of JoeVenuti with a style that blendedvery well with Page’s tunes. Co-host Grinels and her top-notch

trio followed with tight originals that showcased her incrediblevoice. I especially liked the song“God Bless the Pretty People,” which almost became the themesong for a reality TV show calledRich Girls. At times Grinel’s voicewas reminiscent of the groupHeart, but her Peggy Lee style onthe song “Friction” demonstrat-ed her diversity and talent.

Performing third was RobinHenkel, a powerhouse of a musi-cian whose drug of choice is theblues. A virtuoso guitarist andinnovator, he is what the oldjazz musicians would call “a cat,”man! Outside of performing, heteaches music and offers“rhythm clinics” to his studentswho learn concepts and how dif-ferent instruments work togeth-er. Annie Dru joined Robin for aclever, racy original song by Druthat set up the last performer,one of the queens of racyism:Anya Marina. Marina’s wistfulvocal style is smooth and easy tolisten to and was welcome to myears, especially as the eveningwound down. Marina, a multital-ented persona, writes, sings, andplays guitar, but what commandsthe attention of her audience themost is her banter between songsand her masterful story-tellingability. She is one comedian whois very funny and entertaining.

This first show was high-lighted by an impressive roster oftalent deserving of being on tele-vision. It will be interesting tosee whether the final edited ver-sion captures an essence thatgrabs you and causes you to say,“I really like that show” in addi-tion to determining the show’ssuccess. San Diego’s Finest istaped live every Wednesdayevening at Lestats.

by Philippe Navidad

What separates theClassic RockAllstars from so

many other touring R&Rrevival shows is its similarityto a real Revival —emotionsare soaring, flowing freelyfrom their healthy, happypores.

The enthusiasm on stageis real. The vocals are inspir-ing and passionate, the full-ness of the arrangementsamazing for so small a group,the musicianship masterfuland tight as a spandexed rearend.

The Allstars recently ignit-ed the stage at Sycuan, andthe happy pilgrims in atten-dance were gifted with oneof the most surprising, superbconcerts of the year.

The core of the group(veterans who’ve beentogether now for 12 years)consists of Jerry Corbetta(Sugar Loaf, the FourSeasons) on keyboards,Dennis Pinera (Blues Image,Iron Butterfly) on guitar,Dennis Noda (Cannibal and

the Headhunters) on bass,and Peter Rivera (Rare Earth)on drums. All of these agelessmasters shared vocal chores,often even improving ontheir original renditions ofseminal hymns like “Green-Eyed Lady,” “Land of 1,000Dances,” “I’m Losing You,”and the transcendent“Tobacco Road.”

Luckily, the local showalso included the double-bar-reled blast of occasional adju-tants Spencer Davis (theMan!) and J.J. Breeze (the BoxTops). The sextet createdrocking symphonies of severalclassics (“I’m a Man,” “TheLetter,” “Gimme SomeLovin’,” “I Just Want toCelebrate”) that may neverreceive finer readings.

Breeze (a.k.a. JasonMershon) will be taking anextended break from thegroup to focus on his musi-cal, Heaven Rocks, while theothers remain perpetually ontour. Your soul will thank youfor tracking them down andtreating it to the Classics.

Old Farts Don’t Fizzle

Eliza Gilkyson: A Warm Presence on a Chilly Eveningby Ellen Duplessie

What a lucky lady I am! Igot to go see ElizaGilkyson to hear some of

the best music I’ve ever heard. Andto catch her show in the warm andintimate setting of Jimmy Duke’shome was a privilege indeed! I knewlittle about her, other than havingheard her name mentioned in thesame circles with Kim Richey, who isa definite favorite of mine. To thinkthat I almost didn’t make it out thatnight makes me feel extra thankfulthat I did.

Now living in Austin, folk singerextraordinaire Eliza comes from along family line of folk singers. Herstories usually preface her songs,which are sung with a slight cyni-cism gathered from the well-traveledroads of life. But included also is anidealism that she has seemingly notallowed to be trampled under along

the way. Her poetic and personallyrics expose her gift as a songwriter,along with a sound that reminds meof a mixture of Patty Griffin,Lucinda Williams, and CaseyChambers, though she’s totallyunique. Unique, yet so familiar.

Eliza tells how her father movedthe family to Hollywood when shewas very young. He was a folksinger and was one of the few tobridge the gap from folk song tocommercial success. But this accom-plishment was not looked uponfondly by his folkie peers. In fact,she said that they really didn’t likehim for that and were quite angryabout it. One of his many songs isthe well known and loved by all,“Bare Necessities”…yes, the themesong from the classic Disney movieThe Jungle Book.

His daughter’s songs are evenbetter. They are so good that theyare addicting. I bought one CD from

her that night. I feel bad about thefact that after I tell my friends abouther or let them listen, I can’t evenlend it to them because I’m hooked!I just can’t get her songs out of myhead. To live one week without thatone CD would be more of a sacrificethan I am willing to make. Okay, I’mselfish…but at least I want to makesure that you know about ElizaGilkyson, so that you can enjoy hermusic as well.

I am now a hopeless fan for life. Ican’t wait for my next chance to seeher again. And I hope that you willget to see her too!

l to r: Spencer Davis, Dennis Pinera, J.J. Breeze

Spencer Davis

l to r: Spencer Davis, J.J. Breeze, Dennis Noda

Jenn Grinels, Troy Garland, and

Gregory Page

Eliza Gilkyson: A Warm Presence on a Chilly Evening

Photo: Kent Johnson

of noteof note

BillyMidnightby Phil Harmonic

This 13-song CD has anadded surprise track that rein-forced a feeling I had prior tohearing it — I had a flash of acountry Pink Floyd with GramParsons and Roger McGuinn.There is a fusion of somethinghere at any rate. A band that istraditional and underground atthe same time. A true dichotomythat bleeds itself into the songs,both lyrically and musically.

This stellar band, comprised ofthe Shaddox brothers, Billy (gui-tar and vocal) and Bobby (drums,vocals), Ben Cook (bass), andJeremy Cooke (fiddle, lap steel),can deliver with a high intensitykickback energy that ignites andamps the voltage of any soul tomore inspirational, thought-pro-voking soundscapes.

In “Golden Coast,” writer BillyShaddox states, “Somewhere itseems I lost my dreams or itmight be that they were all takenaway.” “Long Time Lady,” whichto me is a metaphor for MotherEarth, is a captivating piece. “OldSaloon” talks of the many gigswhere you are “payin’ yourdues.” Billy Midnight’s soundruns the gamut of emotions,from the intoxicating “RanchoGhost Town” to an insightfulsong about space station Mir.“Green and Blue” is a highlyreflective, hypnotic dream-likepiece. Every song on this CD issuperb, but what is truly notableare the exceptional harmonies ofthe Shaddox brothers. Theircohesive blend and matchingtones evoke the likes of the Everlybrothers or the Louvin brothers.Flawless arrangements, excellentlyrical phrasing, and musicianshipof the highest quality breed thischarismatic sound. The last twotracks, “Home” and the surprisetrack have a driving beat thatbecomes magnetic and infec-tious. I really liked all 14 songswell enough to put it in my car,along with the Wallflowers’Bringing Down the Horse. I have ahabit of listening to just one CDfor weeks. so when I say I’ll put itin my car, it’s got to be prettyspecial.

See cover story on BillyMidnight in this month’s issue,pages 8-9. Billy Midnight playsthe California Club on Saturday,December 6. See calendar, p. 14.

Abbie HuxleyPop [R.E.D.]by Frederick Leonard

This is a different CD. ImagineFreddie Mercury (my left eye-brow raises) buried in one of histongue-and-cheek, campy showtune melodies — only on a cof-feehouse open-mic-night guitar.This is what opens the CD with atrack called “Laughing Eyes.” It’shauntingly weird and trippy. It’seven a little uneasy. I even findmyself a little shaken as soon asit’s over. Resolve is then estab-lished on the second tune, “ForMe,” which is more of a key-board Oasis/Verve take and stillkinda trippy but a little moretangible on pop terms. And Ifeel somewhat better.

Then we’re back to theFreddie thing on song three,titled “Humble Pie,” and myeyebrow raises itself again. Andwouldn’t ya knowit, accordingto a seeming logic, track four ofPop [R.E.D.] resumes a morepalatable soundscape. Only thistime it resonates hauntinglymore so like the Beatles’“Because.”

Now, this work bears somebrilliant musical ideas. And Abbiecan definitely sing very “chops”vocal parts, stunning in somecases. There are gorgeousarrangements and plenty ofunique musical situations. Butthere’s another element.

This is the kind of recordingthat challenges the listener withits own unorthodox musicalbehavior. With no expectationsfor the norm, it contains some-thing familiar while also bearingthe unfamiliar. In some caseswhile exploring a variety of influ-ences, he wears them proudlywithin the arrangements. On theother hand there is somethingthat demonstrates an affectionfor a retro sort of show tunequality here, and it seems to popup consistently as a recurringtheme.

And it’s from Nashville, noless.

VariousArtistsAspasia Aidby Phil Harmonic

Here is one CD that everyoneshould own. For all of you thatreceived a free one, I suggestthat you go buy another one ortwo to send to someone youknow. There are many reasonsfor doing this. One is to helpAspasia acquire the money need-ed for her operation, which ofcourse is why this CD was com-piled in the first place. The sec-ond reason is to expose theincredible local talent to otherparts of the country. The all-starline up includes Lisa Sanders,Jason Mraz, Gregory Page, StevePoltz, Tom Brosseau, Lindsay andAnna Troy, Carlos Olmeda, Deadrock West, Patrick Dennis, AtomOrr, Berkley Hart, Angela Correa,and Bushwalla.

Most of the recording andproduction was done by GregoryPage on Ben Pan Recordingsexcept for Jason Mraz’s “MostUnusual,” Bushwalla’s “WhiteGirl in a Soul Train Line,” and aversion of “When You WishUpon a Star,” which were allrecorded and produced by PeterBrentnall. The Truckee Brothers(Patrick Dennis and Atom Orr/Christopher Hoffee) were respon-sible for recording and produc-ing their individual efforts in“Toro Toro” (Dennis) and“Smoke Machines” (Hoffee) aswas Angela Correa on her“South Sea Juan.” Add Page’shandling of Lisa Sander’s “Crazyfor You” and another by Mraz“On Love in Sadness,” Poltz’s“Sex You Up,” and “My, My,My,” written by Jeff Berkley,Calman Hart and (a not-credit-ed) Dave Howard.

Because of the stellar list ofperformers, there may be a timein the near future when this collector’s item may not be available. To order the CD online, go towww.lousrecords.com/order:HTML. Iknow that Aspasia is incrediblygrateful to those who have con-tributed and to you for purchas-ing her CD.

AnnieBethancourtThe GarageSessionsby Frederick Leonard

This debut solo effort by AnnieBethancourt features 13 tunesrendered, with a few exceptions,on one guitar and one sweetvoice. The cover of this CDshows her jamming in front ofan auto garage, open-mic style.The Garage Sessions was pro-duced by her father and partiallyinfluenced artistically by hermom, this humble productionboasts no pretentions.

I’ll get my standard quota ofsuspicion over with first. On sev-eral tracks you can hear the influ-ences of Joni, Alanis, and Jewel’stoo-many-syllables, rocking firm-ly on her sleeve. But I don’twanna talk about that. Why?Because this humbly recordeddemo-esque CD has a couple ofserious “hits” on it in raw form— the truest test of a great song,which exceed any of my modestcriticisms.

“My Beloved” is a beautifullywritten ballad that’s free of influ-ences and truly her. Lyricallyspeaking, she sings so sweetly auniversal message, transmitted ina gorgeous time-transcendingmelody, that seems to swirlthrough its pretty changes. Andher talent shines through like aray of hope.

“Lemonade Iced Tea” toucheson a classic theme, while thelyrics are the kind that could bespoken either to her lover, or toGod. She does a wonderful jobhere, balancing interestingmetaphors with raw images ofher realism. She offers admis-sions and ponders the most chal-lenging of all questions. (you’llhave to listen for yourself...).She’s young but is thinking like amatured woman.

“En Cuanto a Mi” testifies thatanything sung in Spanish isbeautiful. This is by far myfavorite track for its inherentbeauty alone. It sounds likeanother hit to me. Although it’sin Spanish, I would bet that onecould probably sing along withit, anyway. And, once again,Annie is talking about biggerthings in simpler terms . . . sacri-fices, waiting, dedication.Siempre.

Beware of hidden tracks.

J. TurtleTurnsby Phil Harmonic

J. Turtle, formerly of Jason andJane, has a newly recorded solodemo CD, titled Turns, contain-ing five formidable songs that hewrote, produced, mixed, andrecorded, except for “A Sonnetin Lieu of a Special Occasion” byBrian Hurley, who wrote thelyrics. And I must say that Turtledid an excellent job of recordingand producing these tunes. Headds various percussion, instru-mentation, and vocal back-grounds to create a completepackage with a high quality pro-fessionalism. His capabilities andtechnical knowledge enable himto enhance each song withnuance and dynamics layered ontop of catchy melodies and intel-ligent lyrics.

Jason (J. Turtle) grew up innorthern California and wastrained on the piano from thetime he was five years oldthrough high school. His highschool a capella choir experiencehelped develop his vocal abilitiesand by his senior year he tookup the acoustic guitar. He beganwriting songs in community col-lege and, while attending theSDSU School of Music for fouryears, he was starting to playlocal coffeehouses. The positivefeedback he received encour-aged him and in 2000 heformed a duo with his friendJane, called Jason and Jane,which lasted until February2003. The following monthsafter breakup were filled withintense songwriting. Turns is theresult. “Day Five’s” melodybounces through its lovelornmessage. “Naked Hands” is ahaunting ballad with a chordalprogression and walk-downmelody that hints at an influenceof Gregory Page. J. Turtle is defi-nitely a new name to add to thelong list of talent spilling overthe brim of this cup of SanDiego mocha.

the local seenthe local seen

tuesday • 2Virtual Strangers, SD North CountyBluegrass/Folk Club, Round Table Pizza,1161 E. Washington, Escondido, 7pm.

Earl Thomas, Seville Auditorium, SD CityCollege. Call for info.

wednesday • 3Sue Palmer Supper Club w/ DeejhaMarie & Sharon Shufelt, Caffe Calabria,3933 30th St., 6pm.

Deborah Liv Johnson, Christ LutheranChurch, 4761 Cass St., P.B., 7pm.

Hot Club of Cowtown, Casbah, 8:30pm.

North Star Sessions/Kevin Tinkle/Madafacts/Pariah, Lestats, 8:30pm.

J.J. Slyde Pro Blues Jam, Tio Leos, 5302Napa St., 8:30 pm.

thursday • 4Eleonor England, Prioli Bistro, SolanaBeach. Info: 1-800/206-4258.

Stand Up for Kids Benefit w/ Sven-ErikSeaholm Band/Gandhi Method/The CatMary/Vertibird/HM75/Acoustic FunkSociety/Peter Bolland/Danielle LoPresti/Carol Ames/Dave Howard/LisaSanders, Humphreys Backstage Lounge,Shelter Island, 7pm.

Charlie Daniels/Kelly Bowlin Band,Sycuan Casino, 8pm.

A.J.Croce/Steve Poltz, Croce’s, 8pm.

Meghan La Roque/Gentle John/Josiah/Anna Troy, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

friday • 5John Bosley, Golden Goose, 10001 MainAve., Lakeside, 7:30pm.

The Cat Mary, 101 Artists Colony,Encinitas, 7:30pm.

Deejha Marie & Pieces CD Releasew/Sue Palmer, Dizzy’s, 8pm.

Pete Thurston/Chris Carpenter/TheInside/Snow on Roses/Katie Strand,Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Vertibird, Kelly’s Pub, 6344 El Cajon Blvd.,9pm.

Tod Steadman, Tio Leos, 5302 Napa, 9pm.

Robin Henkel, Lestats, 9pm.

Billy Midnight, Ould Sod, 9pm.

saturday • 6Willie Nelson, 4th & B. Call for info.

Boys Choir of Harlem, Ca. Ctr. for theArts, Escondido. Call for info.

Jim Earp, Wynola Pizza Express, 4355Hwy 78, Wynola, 6pm.

Not Quite Open Mic Hootenanny, SanDieguito United Methodist Church, 170Calle Magdalena, Encinitas, 7:30pm. Info: 858/566-4040.

Harmonija, Mtg. House, 1st UnitarianChurch, 4190 Front St., 7:30pm.

Tom Brosseau/Gregory Page (AmericanFolk Singers), Millies by the Bay, PacificBeach, 8pm. Info: 858/273-1880.

Collin Elliott/Dave Easton/Randi Driscoll,Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Kova & Dehra Dun, Lestats, 9pm.

Robin Henkel, Patricks, Poway, 9pm.

Jake, Kelly’s Pub, 6344 El Cajon Blvd.,9pm.

Flying Putos (ex-Beat Farmers), Tio Leos,5302 Napa St., 9pm.

Billy Midnight/Rookie Card/BartDavenport/Two Pump Chump, CaliforniaClub, 5522 El Cajon Blvd., 9:15pm.

sunday • 7Tom Brosseau/Gregory Page, KSDT,UCSD, 10pm-midnight. Info: ksdtradio.org.

tuesday • 9Gospel Overdrive, SD Bluegrass SocietyMtg.. Fuddruckers, La Mesa, 7pm.

Hot Club of Cowtown, Dark ThirtyProductions, Lakeside, 7:30pm.Reservations: 619/443-9622.

wednesday • 10Sue Palmer Supper Club w/ DeejhaMarie & Sharon Shufelt, Caffe Calabria,3933 30th St., 6pm.

Saba/Mike Flynn/Soothsayers/KatieStrand, Lestats, 8:30pm.

thursday • 11Meghan La Roque/Eddie Anthony/JamieCrawford/Sara Bancroft, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

friday • 12Robin Henkel, Coyote Bar & Grill,Carlsbad, 6:30pm.

Joe Marillo/Gary Lefebvre, Dizzy’s, 8pm.

Autumn/Teflon/Matthew Foster/Jack theOriginal/Leigh Taylor Band, Twiggs,8:30pm.

Baja Blues Boys, Patricks Irish Pub,Poway, 8:30pm.

Carol Ames, Tio Leos, 5302 Napa St.

Sven-Erik Seaholm Band/GandhiMethod, Tio Leos, 9pm.

Rock Trio w/ Joey Harris, Kelly’s Pub,6344 El Cajon Blvd., 9pm.

Billy Midnight, Ould Sod, Adams Ave.

saturday • 13The Mavericks, 4th & B, Info: 231-4343.

Will Edwards Band, 101 Artists Colony,Encinitas, 7pm.

Saba/3Simple Words/Mosaic/Mundaka/Lucy’s Falling, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Anya Marina, Kelly’s Pub, 6344 El CajonBlvd., 9pm.

The Enchanted/Angela Correa, Lestats,9pm.

sunday • 14Third Coast Jazz Band/Eleonor England,Lestats. Info: 1-800/206-4258.

tuesday • 16Blind Boys of Alabama, Ca. Ctr. for theArts, Escondido. Call for info.

wednesday • 17Sue Palmer Supper Club w/ Deejha Marie& Sharon Shufelt, Caffe Calabria, 3933 30thSt., 6pm.

Driver Jake/Trevor Davis, Lestats, 9pm.

thursday • 18Sue Palmer w/ Candye Kane CalypsoRestaurant, Leucadia, 7:30pm.

Meghan La Roque/Jim Bianco/TimMudd, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

friday • 19Patrick Landeza Hawaiian Slack Key,Normal Heights Comm. Ctr. 4649 HawleyBlvd., 7:30pm. Info: 619/303-8176.

Peter Sprague & Pass the Drum, Dizzy’s,8pm.

Renata Youngblood/Kat Parsons/JimBianco/Until John, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Truckee Brothers/Ray Argyle, Lestats,9pm.

Tristan Prettyman, Kelly’s Pub, 6344 ElCajon Blvd., 9pm.

Big Daddy Orchestra, Tio Leos, 5302Napa St., 9pm.

saturday • 20Sue Palmer, Bookworks, Del Mar, 1pm.

Deborah Liv johnson, Bamboo Yoga, 1127Loma Ave., Coronado, 8pm.

Mermaids Journey/Christiane Lucas/JimBianco, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Christy & Aliah Selah & Friends, GalokaVegetarian Cuisine, 5622 La Jolla Blvd.,9pm. Info: 858/551-8610.

sunday • 21Aliah Selah/Mama Christy & Friends,101 Artists Colony, Encinitas, 7pm.

Lucy Falling/Angela Correa/The Walking,Lestats, 9pm.

wednesday • 24Itai/Pepper Sands, Lestats, 9pm.

friday • 26Saba/Gregory Page/Annie Dru/RobinHenkel, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Powerthud w/ Joey Harris, Tio Leos, 5302Napa St., 9pm.

saturday • 27The Strummers w/ Peter Sprague/Sarah& Sean Watkins, 101 Artists Colony,Encinitas, 8pm.

The Inside/Anna Troy, Twiggs, 8:30pm.

Pete (She Blonde Swede)/RenataYoungblood, Lestats, 9pm.

wednesday • 31Steve Poltz & the Rugburns, Belly UpTavern, Solana Beach. Call for info.

First Night Escondido w/ BluegrassEtc./Baja Blues Boys/WestlinWeavers/Anya Marina, 6pm-12:15am.Info: 760/788-7509/www.firstnightescon-dido.com

Peter Bolland, First Night on theEmbarcadero, KSON Stage, 6pm.

New Years Eve Party, Lestats. Call forinfo.

WEEKLYevery sunday

7th Day Buskers, Hillcrest Farmer’sMarket/DMV parking lot, 10am-1pm.

Irish Dance, 3pm/Michael McMahon,7pm, Dublin Square, 554 Fifth Ave.

Traditional Irish Music, Tom Giblin’sPub, 640 Grand Ave., Carlsbad, 3pm.

Celtic Ensemble, Twiggs, 4pm.

Cobblestone (Irish Music & Dance),The Field, 544 Fifth Ave., 5-6:30pm.

Jazz Roots w/ Lou Curtiss, 9-10:30pm,KSDS (88.3 FM).

The Bluegrass Special w/ WayneRice, 10-midnight, KSON (97.3 FM).

every mondayOpen Mic Night, Lestats. Call 619/282-0437 for info.

Open Mic Night, Rosie O’Grady’s,Normal Heights, 7pm.

Jenn Grinels (Irish music), BlarneyStone, Clairemont.

every tuesdayOpen Mic Night, Casa Picante, 10757Woodside Ave., Santee, 7:30-9:30pm.

Traditional Irish Music, Blarney Stone,Clairemont, 8:30pm.

Traditional Irish Music, The Ould Sod,Normal Heights, 8:30pm.

every wednesdayOpen Mic Night, Metaphor Cafe,Escondido, 8pm.

Open Mic Night, Twiggs, 6:30pm.

Open Mic Night, Adams Ave. Studio ofthe Arts, 2804 Adams Ave, 8pm.

Skelpin, Dublin Square, 554 Fifth Ave.,8:30pm (also on Saturday night).

Brehon Law, Tom Giblin’s Pub, 640Grand Ave., Carlsbad, 9pm (also Wed.& Sat. nights).

Live Taping of San Diego’s Finest TVShow , Lestats, 8:30pm (no shows Dec.24 & 31).

Hatchet Brothers, The Ould Sod, 9pm.

every thursdayRockabilly Thursdays w/ Hot RodLincoln, Tio Leos, 5302 Napa St., Callfor info.

Celticana, Dublin’s Town Square,Gaslamp, 9pm.

Open Mic Night, Just Java Cafe, 285Third Ave., Chula Vista, 7-10pm.

every fridaySongwriter Showcase w/ SHEMM,Bridge Brigitte/Josi’s Ghost/ReneeBuchenroth/Karen Real, CaffiendsLounge, 634 Broadway, 609pm.

every saturdayOpen Mic Night, Coffee Bean & TeaLeaf, 9015 Mira Mesa Blvd., 8pm.

DECEMBER CALENDAR

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