If Blyth and his band hooked you in and you want to learn more about the local scene, then you’ve come to the right place. With so much talent in San Diego alone, it’ll be hard for me to cover all of it but I have faith it can be done - with your help. Please feel free to contact me with your ideas and suggestions, that way I know what I’m missing. Until then, you can be sure I’ll be staying true to my word and hitting the streets on weekends to check out whose band is playing where.

If you aren’t familiar with the area and have no idea where to start, then let me give you a few suggestions. The Turquoise Europa Cafe-Bar on Turquoise Street in PB features live jazz music almost every weekend evening and often invites in live performances from local talents, such as Allegra -  a local artist who sings and plays acoustic guitar with two other back up musicians - known as The Allegra Collective, according to her official Myspace page. The Allegra Collective can also be found performing at Brick by Brick, Dream Street in Ocean Beach and Dublin Square Irish Pub downtown. Some other local bars that usually offer live entertainment include Hennessey’s Tavern on Mission Boulevard  and Longboard’s Grill on Garnet Street in PB.

Now get out there and enjoy some live music!

In fact, the native Hawaiian has lived in four states and a variety of vehicles - including an eight-month stint in a 1962 Bluebird school bus and a few months in an old truck he drove from one end of California to the other and half way across the country.

He attributes some of his laid-back, care-free attitude to growing up on the islands – Kauai, to be exact – where “everything moves a little slower,” and also gives credit to his “new-age, hippy parents,” he said. Wherever learned, it’s that same attitude which has inspired him to try his hand at just about everything, from working as a white water rafting guide in Montana during college to helping remodel actor Ben Stiller’s multi-million dollar Hawaii home. With the backdrop constantly changing for Blyth, his guitar has been the one item that has remained with him through thick and thin. And his passion for music certainly shows when he steps on stage.

“Live performance is addictive, especially when you have an audience,” Blyth said from an outdoor table at Café 976 on Cass Street in Pacific Beach – one of his former places of employment. “You kind of feed off that energy. It’s an addictive kind of thing – I knew that early on. It’s the reaction of the people responding to something you do on stage.”

The 27-year-old singer/songwriter remembers the first time he felt that way, back when he was only 7 years old and his father and older brother took him to a Tom Petty concert at Shoreline in San Francisco.

“The bigness of it all – it was loud and there were bright lights and everyone was cheering,” Blyth recalls, classifying the experience as his initial inspiration to become a musician. It would be another six years before Blyth even picked up a guitar at his new home in Idaho, where his next door neighbors and school mates would hold barbecues and jam sessions and he would eventually learn to play alongside them.

The aspiring musician would spend the next ten years honing skills learned during those teenage gatherings by playing at a myriad of events, from small parties to campfire get-togethers. Finally forming a band during his years at the University of Montana, Blyth had several professional shows lined up in Denver and Minneapolis, before the band dissolved due to several member injuries.

Anchoring down in San Diego, a city he has called home since Fall 2005, Blyth began playing a collection of covers and original songs at local venues, including 710 Beach Club, Hennessey’s Pub, Humphrey’s and Longboard’s Grill. Although he was successful with his acoustic numbers and had help at most performances from friends Andy Mauser on mandolin and Jesse Schmittendorf on the rhythm guitar, Blyth was in search of a full band for several reasons.
“Having a rhythm section allows us to play larger venues and draw more people and keep them dancing,” Blyth said. “But the overall musical feel is still the same.”

Now, with a full five-piece ensemble in tact, Aaron Blyth and the Men of Leisure play shows regularly in Pacific Beach. In the meantime, to make ends meet and to stay busy, Blyth works a number of odd jobs, including waiting tables at Isabel’s Cantina on Felspar Street. In the midst of writing songs, playing gigs, surfing and serving food, Blyth has also managed to churn out two albums – one solo demo produced in an Ohio recording studio and a live album with the Men of Leisure at Hennessey’s Tavern.

As the band gains more momentum and receives increased exposure, it’s also no surprise that Blyth has stepped up to become not only the lead singer, but also the band’s booking agent and PR director. Certainly a jack of all trades, Blyth would have it no other way, but does recognize the need for the band to take some major steps this year in order to grow, he said.

As for long-term goals, the musician has a few in mind, such as trying to play at more and more venues outside of San Diego. The last weekend in January, Blyth and band played a show at Mammoth Mountain and were asked to return in the near future, so the group is already well on it’s way, he said.
“My goal is never to make millions in the music industry,” Blyth said, “but if that allows me to tour and generate a larger fan base then it obviously doesn’t hurt. My utmost goal is to be able to work only by playing music. I want to become a touring artist - want to get out there and play music for everybody, the whole world.”

At the rate he’s going, that just might happen.

Until then, enjoy the music of Aaron Blyth and the Men of Leisure as they play for audiences starting at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at Longboard’s Grill, 1466 Garnet Street, 92109, and again at 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22 at Hennesey’s Tavern, 4650 Mission Blvd. For more information, visit the official Men of Leisure site or check out Blyth’s Myspace.

Formed in 1998 in Los Angeles, this band’s witty stage banter between Lewis and guitarist Blake Sennett has helped propel the group’s third studio album, “Under the Blacklight” (2007), to the top of the charts – with catchy singles like “Silver Lining,” the band has been making waves and Rilo Kiley tickets have been selling out for concert venues throughout the country.

Rilo Kiley burst onto the music scene in 2001 with their debut album “Take Offs and Landings,” produced by Seattle’s Barsuk label. Their second effort, “The Execution of All Things,” was also received well, getting met with adoration from critics and audiences alike. In 2005, the quartet produced a third album, “More Adventurous” and in 2006 Lewis released a solo album “Rabbit Fur Coat,” which featured her with the musically inclined Watson twins. Rilo Kiley, although put on the back burner during touring that year, was once again reunited in 2007, with the release of their most recent work, which features the hit “Moneymaker” which has received major radio play.

Hailing from Los Angeles, and with Lewis and Sennett growing up as childhood L.A. actors, Rilo Kiley has been working their way up in the music industry and have even been labeled by some music critics as “the new Fleetwood Mac.” In an interview with Popmatters.com, the group talked about how they morphed from a pop-inspired band to a more soulful and rock-anthem type group.

“I grew up listening to hip hop,” Lewis said. “I went through a five-year phase growing up where I dressed like an a–hole and rapped occasionally, wore backwards baseball caps. I feel inspired by that type of writing. I think Bob Dylan has some great raps as well, it’s really intricate.”

Can’t get enough of Rilo Kiley and Jenny Lewis? Check out more at the band’s official site or check them out at Myspace.

Coming from a background of stardom, with her actor father Keith Allen and her film producer mother Alison Owen, Lily says she has had enough of trying to explain who she really is to others – but admits she is having a blast blogging on her Myspace page about everything from a bee sting on her foot to the nuisances of her and her younger brother’s relationship.

“Sometimes I get a bit worried, as I get things from girl fans who are going through a hard time and want me to pull them through it, and I feel a responsibility to them in a weird way as they’re relying on me to help them out,” Allen said about her Myspace page in a story published by Music.com. “But I’m not a therapist! But I keep in contact with them and try and make sure they’re alright.”

Allen’s debut album, “Alright, Still” was released in 2006 under Regal Records and has sold 34,000 copies and was positioned at number 20 on the Billboard album charts. Her sassy demeanor and ability to express herself at all costs is what has caught most media attention.

“”I’m allowed to have views on things, aren’t I? Isn’t that the point of living?” Allen said about responding to those who criticize her work publicly. Growing up with her mother, Allen saw many stars come and go from her parent’s office while she worked as a film producer. She says that it is combination between her strong personality and being around many famous people that has given her an even keel and feet-on-the-ground approach to life.

“The woman that worked in my mum’s office used to look after her. My mum was going out to dinner with her and the other woman, and I went to The Ivy to pick up a tenner off my mum. I walked in and Victoria Beckham was there. That’s why I’ve never been star struck.”

Learn more about Lily at her official Web site or her on her Myspace page.

Although simple, those lyrics are what ultimately propelled Feist into the limelight and now the 30-something has been nominated for four Grammy Awards this year, including best new female artist and best female pop vocals for the smash hit single “1234.” In addition, critics at major magazines have already showered Feist with massive praise for her 2007 album “The Reminder,” with TIME magazine naming it “album of the year” and Rolling Stone and Pitchfork magazine echoing those sentiments and placing it in their “Top 50 Albums of the year” lists.

Coming from a family of artists – her father an abstract-expressionist painter and her mother gifted in ceramics -Feist has made a name for herself in a different type of medium but has nonetheless been just as successful, getting her start in the music world at age 15 as part of the Canadian punk bank Placebo, emerging as a gifted solo artist more than five years late in 2000 and eventually selling out Feist tickets for concert venues across her country and the U.S.
Feist joined the group Broken Social Scene in between the production of her two solo albums- “Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down)” (1999) and “Let it Die” (2002) – and is known for her eclectic folk sound and her piercing and melodic voice that gives way to some of the most catchy hit songs. Her newest album, “The Reminder,” was released this year and has made its way to number 2 on the Candian music billboard and remains at number sixteen on the U.S. charts. Thirty-one-year-old Feist has continued making a name for herself through other collaborations with big time artists, such as Apostle of Hustle and Kings of Convenience, and won the Juno alternative album of the year award for her “Broken Social Scene” collaboration with the namesake group.

“My dad gave me a four-track for Christmas when I was fourteen,” Feist said in a 2005 interview with Index Magazine. “Then I swapped my twenty-hole cherry-red Doc Marten boots for a Fender Mustang bass at the local pawnshop —probably the best deal of my life! It had a slim fretboard that was perfect for my small hands. I taught myself how to play harmonies, and then I started experimenting, strumming the bass strings with an electric razor. My friends would come over, and we’d make up stories and write soundtracks for them.”

As she continues to gain popularity in the states, this Canadian musician has not lost track of what she has done in the past and reflected upon how her second solo album really helped jump start not only her career, but also her motivation to produce her lastest album, which has climbed to the top of charts and catapulted her into the mainstream music world.

I didn’t want ‘1234′ to be the first song because I thought the danger would be that it would stop there because it’s sort of spoon-feeding-style,” Feist said in a Dec. 2007 interview with Chart Attack. “It’s easy for them. That’s of the language they speak, label people. And I’m not necessarily talking about Arts & Crafts, I’m talking about the major labels and the rest of the world. I asked if we could start with something other than ‘1234′ so they would have motivation to end up there eventually.”

But it was ultimately that single which brought her major fame, especially when the catchy song was featured in an iPod Nano commercial last September, forcing millions of American viewers to sing along to the songstress’ infectious voice and poppy lyrics. The simplicity of the song is apparent but it still manages to draw listeners in with its seducingly quiet yet brassy mood - a statement that is true for her entire new album.

Still haven’t checked out Feist’s songs? Visit her official Web site or her Myspace page today.

Sure, Colbie Caillat was raised in sunny Southern California, with the beautiful beaches and gorgeous weather, but she doesn’t seem to take any of life’s small pleasures for granted, especially the fact that her hit single “Bubbly” from her debut album “Coco” has been No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the 13th consecutive week, according to a report published Jan. 17 on the official Billboard Web site.

“Coco,” which was released in 2007, has since made major waves with radio stations and produced several more singles, including “Feelings Show” and “Realize.” It has been “Bubbly,” however, that has garnered the 23-year-old singer/songwriter the most attention, gaining the title of the third longest-running No. 1 single by a solo female artist in the history of the chart, according to Billboard.com. If “Bubbly” continues its reign, it will surpass Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” (16 weeks) and Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” (14 weeks) - and the song has already outlasted Celine Dion’s 1996 smash hit “Because You Loved Me,” which spent 12 whopping weeks at No. 1 on the chart.

Of her recent success, which has spiralled out of control since her friend started posting her songs on her Myspace page about two years ago, Caillat appears to be taking it all in stride.

“I had always said ‘I’m gonna be a singer when I grow up’ but I never thought it would be real,” Caillat said in an interview with MP3.com.

Check out Caillat’s music at her official Web site or visit her Myspace page, where it all got started for her.

No, instead, Michaelson is focusing on her music and doing her thing in the indie world, but with appearances on such high profile TV programs and with the growing cult following she’s been receiving from having her music posted at various fan sites such as Myspace, Michaelson’s career - a term which she hates using - is steadily lifting off the ground.

“I think as a little kid, you want to emulate what your mom and dad do, so that started me off at a pretty early age, and also because they are involved in the arts, they are very supportive of me, and have always been supportive of me. So, growing up in that environment, it was pretty easy to end up where I am,” Michaelson said in a Dec. 2007 interview with Sentimentalist Magazine.

Michaelson’s mother is a well-known sculptor; her father is a composer. Her interest in music started at age five, when she began to learn to play piano and has catapulted into full gear since then. Now a 27-year-old singer/songwriter who has been labeled as an “up and coming star,”Michaelson said she has no major record deals in the hopper just yet. Her rise to fame came when her song “Keep Breathing” was used in the season finale of  the hit TV series “Grey’s Anatomy,” which caused iTunes to respond almost immediately to the number of Google hits the newly discovered artist and song were getting.

Michaelson, however, had really been around since 2005, when she released her first album “Slow the Rain.” The album received a small amount of attention and it wasn’t until she re-released her single “Girls and Boys” in Sept. 2007 that the young artist began to get the true recognition she deserved. Now it appears she is headed for nothing but success. Check out her music at her official Web site or visit her Myspace page.

Often compared to Billie Holiday, Macy Gray and Lauryn Hill, Winehouse grew up in northern London and was surrounded by jazz music starting at an early age. Listening to her parents records of Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra when she was a youth, Winehouse then turned to more rebellious music as a teenager, such as TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and other hip-hop acts. At age 16, the youth was expelled from London’s Sylvia Young Theatre School. Winehouse?s big break came when her close friend, schoolmate and pop singer Tyler James passed on her demo tape to Island records. Less than three years later, the label released her debut album, which was nominated for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two British awards.
“I never wanted any of this and that’s the truth,” Winehouse said about her recent success in a 2004 interview with The Independent on Sunday. “I would have been happy to sing in a covers band for the rest of my life. And I wouldn’t have gone on one of those [reality] shows in a million, billion years, because I think that musicality is not something other people should judge you on. Music’s a thing you have with yourself. Even though the people who go on those shows are shit, it’s really damaging to be told that you are.”

Winehouse has been steadily continuing to do her thing in the UK and the states, and although her North American tour was canceled, the musician said she is sticking to her guns with her music and style no matter what the media has to say about it, according to an article published in March 2007 by Interview Magazine. Here is a little insight into what was going on in her head while writing songs for her last two albums.

“What I listen to rubs off on the way I write, and I was just listening to a lot of stuff like that while I was writing ‘Back to Black,’” Winehouse said about the 1960s-style sound that comes across in her newest album. “But I wasn’t really trying hard to do anything like that. It was quite an intense year and a half. When I did my first record, I was smoking a lot of weed and went in with the whole hip-hop mentality of, like “F–k you! You don’t know me! I didn’t really love you anyway!’ And then between the first and the second records I fell in love, and I stopped smoking weed, and I started drinking more and that whole alcohol mentality is very depressive, right? Like, “I’ll f—ing die for you!’ So all the stuff I was listening to was kind of like that. I thought it was cool being all ‘do or die - all or nothing. I’ll rip my heart out and give it to you on a plate.’ Life is short, and If you don’t throw yourself out there, then what’s the point?”

Who wouldn’t want to learn more about this daredevil musician? Listen to some of her music and check out her tour dates at www.amywinehouse.co.uk or send let her know what you think by posting a message on her MySpace page.

The artist has been experiencing a love-affair with words since she began reading the fantasy fiction of C.S. Lewis, E.B. White, Lewis Carroll and Charles Dickens at the age of 5 - Now, becoming her own passionate author of music, Sudol has risen to the top of music billboards in the U.S. Sudol, a Los Angeles native, taught herself to play the piano as a young girl and immersed herself in music such as British bands, Aqualung, Radiohead, Coldplay and Keane, as well as the Icelandic music of Bjork and Sigur Ros. Now, with her beautiful, melodramatic voice, Sudol has captured the hearts of millions under her performing name, A Fine Frenzy, and her first hit single “Almost Lover” from the 2007 album “One Cell In the Sea.”

In an Aug. 2007 interview with Aced Magazine, Sudol talked about how she came to adopt the best aspects of her musically talented father and the bookworm-like habits of her mother, and how that influence respectively contributed to her debut album.

“[My parents] were wonderfully encouraging and let me find my own artistic legs,” Sudol said.”I chose music, but they stood behind me and made sure I had a safe place to grow and learn in. I was very lucky, and still am. I credit them with never trying to influence me, or mold me into mini-versions of them. They just let me be, and I managed to follow in their footsteps anyhow.”

Although the young woman has always been in love with words and expressing herself through her voice, it took some finagling and self-determination to get to the point in her career that she is at today, she said in the interview.

“My favorite thing in the world was writing songs, but I refused to learn how to play piano, or any other instrument, for that matter,” Sudol said. “It was very limiting creatively. At a certain point, I realized that rebelling against learning the piano was not a smart choice, and the only person suffering from it was me. So I learned. Now it’s one of my greatest joys, and I can’t bear to be separated from a piano for longer than a few days.”

Now that she has mastered both the art of playing piano and the art of making it big in the mainstream music business, Sudol is ready to take on the world. With her young talent, she surely has many years of success ahead of her and she said that her goals and dreams are limitless at this time. But with all that aside, she thinks she will probably just stick with music.

“Perhaps [I will become a novelist] one day. If I can come up with a good enough story, I might just,” Sudol said. “It would have to be quite something to hold my attention (and the reader’s), melody-free, for the amount of requisite pages. Otherwise I’d probably crumple it up and head to the piano.”

Intrigued? This beautiful-voiced pianist plans to continue her tour and she may be coming to a city near you. Check out her schedule at A Fine Frenzy’s official site.

The 31-year-old singer/songwriter has been receiving serious attention from the music world since 2000, when she released her debut single, “Taken For Granted”- a pairing of her native Australian drawl with the poignant strings of Prokofiev’s “Romeo & Juliet” and her debut album, “Healing is Difficult.” Now, the talented vocalist, who goes by Sia but was born Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, has been met with a cult fan following.

Born in Adelaide, Australia, Sia was raised on the “hippiest” street ever and her parents played in a rockabilly band called “The Soda Jerks” and her father briefly played in the band Men at Work (”A Land Down Under”), she said in an article published on Sing365.com. Her interest in music was piqued at age 17 when she joined the jazz-funk band Crisp. Since then Sia has released three full-length albums and collaborated with artists such as Zero 7 and Beck.

Her performance with Beck to the Grease song “You’re the One that I Want” was a major experience for the young singer.  Her most recent release,”Lady Croissant,” has contained the hit singles “Buttons” and “Breathe Me,” and contain many catchy songs such as Little Black Sandals. Rolling Stone reviewed the artist positively, classifying Sia as “An artist to watch” and Billboard Magazine writes: “While she hasn’t had a Hollywood ending just yet, Sia is starting to come pretty close.”

Sia’s “Lady Croissant” was recorded live at one of her shows during 2006 and is a direct reflection of the fun and energy that she conveys as a live entertainer, she said in an interview with ArtistDirect.com.

“The whole thing about seeing someone live is that it’s about being in the present,” Sia said. “Otherwise I’d stay at home and press play on the CD. It’s about hearing the songs newly interpreted, and about getting a glimpse into the character of the person. Isn’t it? It is for me. I don’t want to go see a band and just have them play what sounds like the CD, and not even talk to us, or include us in the experience.”

Recently, Sia was approached by American Eagle Outfitters to be the official face of their 2007 summer line and to provide $50,000 for her to make an exclusive music video for the company. The music video “Pictures” was the result - a song that she was not planning to include on her recently released album but still gained her much popularity.
What a perfect time to see this artist in concert. Check out the rest of her North American tour schedule on her official Web site, http://siamusic.net.