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Blast and Brew Open Mic - Jesse Strickman and Company

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  Three foot pedals, one harmonica, one guitar - one Jesse Loren Strickman. He played his first all original lineup since moving to the central coast at the open mic at Blast and Brew in Atascadero on March 12th from 6-8:30pm. “We certainly had a good lineup. I thought the quality of the music was good. I think Jesse is wonderful. This was the first time I’ve featured him where he’s done a whole 40 minute set,” open mic organizer Steve Key said. In total, nine artists played original songs - some travelling from as far away as Norway - and all brought a unique energy to the mic. But all were bound by their love of music and songwriting. “I’ve always wanted to be a full-time performer and songwriter,” Strickman said. “I’ve had years in the past where I sustained that, but the pandemic put an end to that. But I’m back and this year I have 77 shows booked.”
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Addison LeClaire Booking

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Addison runs her own booking agency in San Luis Obispo Addison LeClaire Booking: The heart of SLO music What initially made you want to get into the music scene?  I got into the music scene in Cal Poly, through some old friends of mine, probably years ago now. And used to go to their shows just for fun, and I loved seeing the mosh pits. I love meeting people, and I really love the community building aspect of the music scene. What made you realize you want to work in music?  So yeah, I've just got into it through my friends. I would do a lot of one on one photo shoots with my friends. And so I had a lot of photography experience with my own photography business, and that is a really big part of the music scene, is making fliers, getting the word out there. What have you learned in your classes that you have implemented in your work?  Additionally, journalism is really important and focused on community building and communicating just in general. And the music scene defin...
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Bent on a Good Time

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The deep, resonating thum, thum of a bass being tuned resonates throughout the empty hall of the Aviary in downtown San Luis Obispo. In an hour, it will be filled with hundreds of screaming Cal Poly students. Bent - who travelled all the way from Santa Barbara - is set to be the opening show and the first of five bands playing that night. “The band originally was just me and Tony. I met Tony years ago when I started going to shows when he was in a different band,” said lead singer Luis Vargo. Their bassist for the night Isaias Macedo fills in for their band member Keegan Murray - who was out for his birthday - yet it sounds like they’ve played together for years. Their drummer Kaleb Martin and guitarist Tony Garcia really get into the lively punk rock scene on Saturday night of the 8th, which started at 8. They left in a hurry because of the long drive back, but absolutely killed it. Vargo even joined in the mosh pit during his own song and, with a grin, apologized for anyone he might...
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The Dusty Souls - Infectious Inspiration

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The Dusty Souls - Infectious Inspiration It was like any other weekend party at Cal Poly - full of music and laughter - and a group of strangers who were about to change one another’s lives forever. With the queue switching to “Since I’ve Been Loving You” by Led Zeppeli n, the Dusty Souls were born. Otis McLoughlin noticed a keyboard in the corner of the room and, after asking around who the other musicians were, he met drummer Soul Berna and guitarist/singer Dusty Spelman. “I hopped on and we played that song,” McLoughlin said. “They hadn’t had any shows before I got there, so I feel like in a sense that was the start of the band.” The trio would later come to find saxophonist Kaden Anderson and bassist Jude Callahan. While all five talented musicians bleed talent and breath inspiration from a wide range of artists across multiple generations, they have come together for over a year and performed at many local venues in San Luis Obispo like SloDoCo and The Siren. They play a mix of ...
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EDM is SLO’s Recent Music Trend - and Here to Stay

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A smoky haze outlined performers on stage - spilling out their souls through the sound of music. Ten thousand music fans poured through the gates of Dairy Creek Golf Course in San Luis Obispo in May of 2024 with over 50 live acts.  The tradition began with a dozen or so Cal Poly students in 2014 atop Cuesta Ridge from an illegally held concert, and grew exponentially and went on to become the Shabang Music Festival which celebrated its 10th anniversary. Over a two-day period, over a dozen EDM artists - local and nonlocal - showcased the recent trend in music which has taken the industry by storm.     Photo by Wendy Wei - Pexels The differentiation between a fad and trend is the duration in which a genre maintains popularity; EDM (electronic dance music) has long since passed that threshold.  EDM became popular in Europe in the 1980s before making its way to America, bringing immensely popular styles of music - particularly to younger audiences - including house m...
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