San Luis Obispo Music Scene

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...

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 ...