Alrighty then

Posted on by Amanda

First, I would like to apologize for the delay in my post to you folks today. I have this sometimes evil mistress called school who likes to get in my way. But that aside, let’s talk about tonight!

Tonight is Tim Graves, Patrick Norton and Golden Red at Tin Can Alehouseand is a whopping $3. If you don’t go for the music, just go get a drink.

I am so bummed that I will be missing out on this show! Tim Graves is a friend of mine with a beautiful voice and knows how to write his music. He is currently a member of The Silent Comedy (who you will get an introduction to soon enough) and isn’t just the cookie cutter singer/song writer/guitarist. He also plays harmonica and has a very nice folky quality to his tunes with some smart lyrics. I haven’t had the chance to seem him play by himself but I have heard nothing but good things.

Patrick Norton is another friend and while I haven’t had the chance to see him play live either, I know he puts on a great show just from reviews I’ve heard (and the music I’ve listened to). If you want to check out a sampling of Mr. Norton you can go here. Should that fail, go check out his Facebook.

Oh and if there was any confusion I just wanted to clear something up. This blog is a joint venture between Kristen (who posted her introduction earlier) and myself. She is the LA to my SD. If you want to know where to go for a show in LA be sure to look for the #Sunday Email tag or #LA Shows tag. Conversely, if you want something in SD just look for the #SD Shows tag.

As always, if anyone has any other shows/bands they know about and would like us to post about feel free to leave us a comment or email us @ localmusicnation@gmail.com

Until tomorrow (and Nico Vega!)

~Amanda

Greetings from Los Angeles!

Posted on by Amanda

So, just about everyone I talk to thinks that I need to start a blog. I’m too busy to maintain a blog. I’m a graduate student working on getting my PhD in the sciences (AKA my lab is my life) and I spend most of my free evenings gallivanting around Los Angeles at various clubs, bars, concert halls…wherever the music happens to be. 

But when my good friend and fellow music lover, Amanda, said she’d help me run it…how could I refuse?

I guess I enjoy live music slightly more than the average person…some might call me addicted. But honestly, I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that this isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do. What I most enjoy is discovering amazing local bands and doing whatever I can to help get their music out there (hence the reason everyone tells me I need to start a blog).

For the past year or so I’ve been sending out a weekly email to my friends informing them of all the shows I would like to go to in a given week. I was tired of getting rejected every time I asked people if they wanted to go to a show with me and this open invitation method seemed to be the perfect solution. The email has morphed somewhat overtime as have the list of people who receive it. Several don’t even live in the LA area and use this email to either keep tabs on me or on the local scene…or they just want to discover new music.

So I guess putting my email into the blogasphere for any to access is the next logical step. As for my personal mission statement, I’m not sure where this will go or who (if anyone) is going to read it, but I will continue to do what I love to do…go to shows, discover new bands, tell everyone I know about said bands…and if you happen to become a part of my circle of influence, welcome new friend, it’s nice to have you here!

~ Kristen

Metrofique

Posted on by Amanda

I don’t really think it’s fair for me to tell you to go see a band play without giving you a little background about them if possible so here is a little bit about Metrofique…

Metrofique is a side project of the singer/bassist from Get Back Loretta (which is another fabulous band). The official blurb from their website says,

“Metrofique is the new collaboration of two of San Diego’s most creative and original songwriters, Steven Bradford and Gabe Lehner. With both songwriters heavily influenced by The Beatles, Metrofique has many Beatles-esque moments in their music, but put in the context of more modern indie rock the likes of The Shins, Coldplay, and Death Cab For Cutie. The eleven songs on the duo’s debut album, Swing For Fences, are not only sure to be on a constant loop in your head after hearing them, but they will make you feel good…really good. Metrofique offers a much needed blend of the simplicity and folkiness of the acoustic “coffee shop” sound with the production and arrangement of bands like Radiohead and The Beatles, providing a fresh yet familiar sound with mass appeal. Their debut album, Swing For Fences, is completely a DIY effort recorded by the duo at Gabe’s home studio, making Metrofique as indie as they come. And it looks like they will be here to stay.”

You can find them on Facebook or on Myspace. I also strongly suggest you buy their cd which is $5 and full length and can be found on their website or on iTunes. Get it now and go see them tonight at The Casbah. It’s $5 and it beats being home on a Monday.

~Amanda

SD Shows

Posted on by Amanda

Hey Kids!

So I just realized that I had forgotten to give you all some great shows to see in San Diego. This is by no means a complete list. No, this is nothing like Kristen’s list at all but I found some things going on this week that are in my calendar I thought I would share with you.

Tonight: Metrofique at the Casbah. Its $5 and part of the Anti-Monday League shows that happen every Monday at the Casbah. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Tuesday: Tim Graves and Patrick Norton at Tin Can Alehouse. It’s $3 and should be an awesome night of folk. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Wednesday: Nico Vega at The Casbah! Show is $15 and starts at 9 p.m.

That’s all I got for now folks.

If you want some more ideas of what’s going on, be sure to check out CityBeat and the Reader. Enjoy 🙂

~Amanda

Local LA Shows For The Week

Posted on by Amanda

Nico Vega’s new music video for their song “Gravity” is FINALLY out! I was fortunate enough to be a part of it and so proud of how it turned out. We might as well call this Nico Vega week. Starts with a fantastic music video and ends on Friday with their show at the El Rey opening for The Soundtrack of Our Lives. And if you’re really crazy (like me), you might consider a midweek journey to San Diego to catch them at The Casbah…seriously…

I can’t get enough of this band and if you haven’t already, please check them out!

Gravity- Nico Vega

As for the rest of the week (and can we talk about Tues. and how unfair it is for everyone to be playing that evening):

Monday: Joey Ryan at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: Aiden Moore CD release at Molly Malone’s (10pm)

ALSO: Butch Walker CD release at The Hotel Café (10:30)…need a ticket for this one

ALSO: Until June at The Viper Room (8pm)

ALSO: Haim at The Echo (9pm)

ALSO: Tayler Locke and the Roughs at Cinespace (10pm)…found out this Rooney lad has started his own group…my sources tell me to check it out…

ALSO: Lelia Broussard at Room 5 (9pm)

Weds: Nico Vega at The Casbah in San Diego (9pm)

ALSO: The Rescues at The Troubadour (9:45)

ALSO: Beachwood Rocker’s Society at Crane’s

Thursday: Joey Ryan, Jim Bianco and Dan Wilson at The Hotel Café (8,9,10)

ALSO: Visqueen at Spaceland (10pm)

ALSO: my good friend Patrick is singing with Pancho and Sancho at The Troubadour (8pm)…there may or may not be a pirate costume…J

ALSO: Audra Mae at Bootleg (10pm)

Friday: Nico Vega at The El Rey (8pm)

ALSO: Truth & Salvage Co. at The Hotel Café (11:30)

ALSO: Still Waters Run Deep at Molly Malone’s (10pm)

Saturday: Lemon Sun at Bootleg (midnight)

ALSO: Kina Grannis at The Dakota Music Lounge (8pm)

ALSO: Mississippi Man at L’Keg Gallery (8pm)

Sunday:  nothing comes to me…sorry

 

 

To Keep in Mind:

March 4th: Mike Doughty at The Troubadour

March 9th and 10th: Manchester Orchestra at The Troubadour

March 11th: The Silent Comedy and Transfer at The Casbah

March 11th: Joey Ryan and Melissa Ferrick at The Hotel Café

March 27th: San Diego Indie Fest

March 27th/28th: Bamboozled Left featuring Something Corporate and AFI

April 9th: Lights and Owl City at Club Nokia

April 16th: George Stanford CD release at The Hotel Café

April 16th-19th: Coachella

June 10-13th: BONNAROO

Mp3s:

  • “Million Years”- Nico Vega
  • “Vaxxine” – Visqueen
  • “Free Life” – Dan Wilson…have I mentioned that this guy writes some of my very favorite lyrics?

~ Kristen

And now, an introduction…

Posted on by Amanda

Hi Friends in the Blogosphere!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amanda and this awesome little blog will be run by myself and my friend Kristen (who will introduce herself at a later time). We are in a word, local music junkies. Thats not to say we don’t like mainstream music because we do but our love is for local shows where we can get our music fix on the daily.

This blog will serve as a way for us to share with our friends local shows that are going on in the LA (and soon the SD) area which you might find us at if we aren’t stuck at home doing homework.

We hope you enjoy!