(To recap, from part one) Bigger things were looming on the horizon, although the route toward them was going to be circuitous. “I was playing a club called the Tomcat in Torrance in about 1968. Guys used to come in to make special appearances and the house band would back them up. There would be […]
Californ-Noir is the new album by Brandon Cesmat, a dozen songs that best fit in the jazzy pop category, and a project that is more than immediately meets the eye and ear. Cesmat writes the songs (sharing credit on one), and provides all vocals, plus piano, guitar, and trombone, and the music here has a […]
Recently, the San Diego Music Awards Best Blues Album nominees included Sleeper by Chickenbone Slim. His third release (and third SDMA nomination), it follows up 2017’s Big Beat. Larry Teves is Chickenbone and the new disc collects ten of his originals, which touch many of the bases in the blues combo genre, while stepping out […]
A Whisper in the Wind is the full-length debut by Savannah Philyaw, an ambitious ten-track collection of original pop songs. Philyaw wrote or cowrote all of the tracks, while enlisting some help on some compositions from talented local musicians; the studio crew includes producer/multiple instrumentalist Joel Piper, Jeff Berkley, Tolan Shaw, Rick Nash, Josh Hermseier, […]
Randy Hanson and Mark Miller are the two founders and principal songwriters and singers for Mohavisoul, the local bluegrass quintet. Hailing from Ocean Beach, the band was put together in 2012 with Hanson on mandolin and vocals, Miller on guitar, Orion Boucher on bass, Jason Weiss on banjo, and Dan Sankey on fiddle. All five […]
I’m very sad by the passing of John Prine, a wordsmith who managed the hardest of all lyricist obligations: to be plain-spoken, colloquial, and unafraid. His best songs have an authentic, unaffected quality, that of someone talking about some odd thing that happened to them, recent or in the past, setting a scene, establishing an […]
Greetings, Troubadour readers, friends, and supporters. With everything shut down for the time being, there is no print issue for the month of April—there aren’t any locations to deliver to, for one thing! And imagine an empty calendar page! We’re going to continue with this online version. We’ll bring you new articles and columns and […]
San Diego, April 12: Born of necessity and the COVID crisis, this column is devoted to staying connected to music and the arts while confined in our own homes. The world situation of spring 2020 has made it impossible to attend live music shows, practice with band mates in person, and conduct face-to-face music lessons. […]
