by
Mike Huguenor on June 9, 2021
It’s been more than 50 years since we first heard the mean, mean stride of Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart, and Geddy Lee, and Rush’s influence on rock in that time has been incalculable. In a livestream from Art Boutiki, R50, “The Premiere Rush Tribute Band,” pay homage to that heavy half-century, promising…
Continue reading »
by
Mike Huguenor on June 4, 2021
Jazz vocalist Rebekah Victoria is done listening to her analyst. “He said I was the type that was most inclined, outside of his sight, to be out of my mind,” she sings on “Twisted,” the tongue-in-cheek cocktail-number from last year’s Songs of the Decades. Within about ten seconds she’s already moved on,…
Continue reading »
by
Mike Huguenor on June 2, 2021
Ian Santillano may be from Hayward, but the spunky young guitarist and self-described “Greasy Mayer” spends a lot of time gigging in San Jose. This Friday’s free livestream will be filmed on stage at Art Boutiki, an appropriately funky location for Santillano’s deep grooves, soulful melodies, and sweat-drenched fretboard freakouts. The guitarist…
Continue reading »
by
Mike Huguenor on March 4, 2020
“Believe,” the last single by San Jose singer-songwriter Socorra, was a nugget of pure melancholy pop in the spirit of “Dreams,” by the Cranberries. But on Muddy Water, her new EP, the powerful vocalist trades in the alt-rock chord progressions for a bluesy riff pulled straight out of the Mississippi Delta. Has…
Continue reading »
by
Anne Gelhaus on February 12, 2020
While next month is the fifth anniversary of Drink & Draw at Art Boutiki, this week marks two years since Carlos Velazquez and Alca Ulsan began co-hosting the monthly, all-ages event. To celebrate that milestone—and their engagement—the couple invited Sonido Clash–cofounder Fernando Julian Perez (a.k.a. DJ Tlacoyo), Chulita Vinyl Club–founder Claudia Saenz…
Continue reading »
by
Matei Predescu on January 8, 2020
Hailing from San Jose, Stickup Kid draws inspiration from other energetic Bay Area pop-punk crews like Green Day. It’s no surprise, then, that they were signed to Oakland’s Adeline Records, founded by the Billie Joe Armstrong, before the record label folded in 2017. Stickup Kid has been gigging since the 2009 release…
Continue reading »
by
Mike Huguenor on December 18, 2019
Some people come to the Bay Area for a job. Others come for love. Falyn Walsh had a different reason. “I was really into East Bay punk,” she says. “I came to start a band.”
Continue reading »
by
Matei Predescu on August 28, 2019
For Kendall Sallay and Dirk Milotz, the two core members of Portland-based experimental dream-pop group Starover Blue, home will always be San Jose.
Continue reading »
by
Erika Rasmussen on August 14, 2019
This pair of Los Angeles-based bands takes two distinctly different approaches to video game music. Super MadNES goes hard, crafting shred-tastic heavy metal renditions of classic console and arcade scores. Deploying twin finger-tapping runs and twinkling synths, they rip through netherworldly scales at a blistering pace as they take on tunes from…
Continue reading »
by
Matei Predescu on July 17, 2019
At 23, indie R&B singer-songwriter Ian Santillano is shining with artistic potential. Santillano hails from Hayward but is quickly gaining traction within San Jose’s DIY music scene. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Santillano’s lush guitar harmonies and bouncy bass lines complement his understated vocals with a waviness reminiscent of contemporary R&B acts like Daniel…
Continue reading »
