CD Reviews

San Diego-based guitar virtuoso Peter Sprague has been involved in a rich dialog with string players of a classical persuasion for many years now, and this conversation bears significant fruit on his latest release, Samba Andaluza, a trio featuring violinist Bridget Dolkas and cellist Lars Hoefs, both members of his expanded Peter Sprague String Consort. […]

Nitro Express is not only a brand of shotgun cartridges, but is a local roots band active from the 1990s to present. Their CD Country Style is something different, recorded in a day over 20 years ago with pre-digital equipment, never remixed, and rescued from oblivion this year by Jim “Nitro” Pulsifer. Unable to remix, […]

Whitney Shay has been tearing up the stages of San Diego for quite a few years now, the petite and elegant songstress applying her impressive pipes to a variety of musical styles in a multitude of collaborations. Show tunes, torch songs, ballads, classic rock ‘n’ roll, and soul, and blues are only some the styles […]

Jackslacks is Chris Georgio, and he has been around the San Diego roots scene for long enough to have been part of Hot Rod Lincoln, Dead Engines, and a founding member of the Forbidden Pigs. He became the namesake of his band early last decade and their CDs have included Rock & Roll Dinosaur, Lucky […]

The reclusive and creative magician/ composer Joe Garrison continues to toil away at his art, yet he has the distinctive advantage of bettering himself with every effort. Just when one thinks one has heard him at his best—well, along comes The Broken Jar, which to these ears comes awfully close to a masterpiece statement. This […]

David Beldock is an Americana singer/songwriter who has been appearing with musical partner Peggy Watson in a live trio and on the album Just Like You and Me. He also has co-written many songs with Watson and placed his compositions on her recordings, like her superb A Good Life. As a solo artist, he has […]

Longtime San Diego guitar stalwart Wayne Riker is a very fine musician, a fretster with enviable finesse, fire, and fluidity who’s had his skills showcased in many ways, in big band setups, country outfits, coffeehouse duos, straight blues bands, and more besides. Lately, he’s been pushing the guitar up front with the Wayne Riker Trio, […]

San Diego jazz guitar virtuoso Peter Sprague has always held a deep affinity for singers, in fact, his first self-released record with the band Dance of the Universe Orchestra was called You Make Me Want to Sing and it featured the remarkable Kevyn Lettau. In the intervening years, Sprague has been a beacon—drawing in the […]

A wonderfully exotic bit here, That’ll Never Be Me, by the trio Nathan and Jessie. Yes, a trio despite the problematic moniker, based in Temecula and composed of guitarist-vocalist Nathan Rivera, guitarist-vocalist Jessie Smith, and Trevor Mulvey on upright bass. Performing all original songs, Nathan and Jessie have their roots in a variety of old-timey […]