52 San Diego Reader February 9, 2017
Wussification of music. Clint Sobolik’s latest project takes on the nickname he picked up in his last band, the Whiskey Avengers. “I squint a lot and I’m a man
of few words, so I guess I just gravitated to it,” Sobolik says about his “Clint Westwood”
“Tom Waits came from playing shit-hole bars surrounded by the underbelly of society. Those people are my friends and peers.” Keeping it real has always
been the first priority for the singer/songwriter. But the pursuit of “real” hasn’t always
the inside track
We had three albums and suc- cess all over the state. But we weren’t traditional ska enough for the hardcore ska scene and we weren’t reggae-friendly enough for the California reggae scene. The Whiskey Avengers aren’t done, but we only play a couple times a year.” His new project, the Clint
Westwood Band, has banjos, but don’t compare them to the Lumineers. “Folk has become main-
handle. “Clint was married to my godsister for over a decade. I met Scott [Eastwood, Clint’s son] at Pebble Beach, like, 14 years ago hanging out at the pool. He was under 18. He was trying to get me to buy him
worked out for him. Consider the Whiskey Avengers, which threw ska, punk, and folk together in a rollicking stew. “We played what we wanted
to play. It was described as ‘booze-soaked ska.’ It was a
stream and bland. The wus- sification of music is across the board. There are few who want to speak the truth about the insanity we live in. The world has enough love songs.” The Clint Westwood
Band sounds nothing like the Ramones. “At this point, punk rock is a mentality. It’s an atti- tude and a way of life, not just a style of music.” His album Cult Country
is available for download on Bandcamp and on most streaming sites. It addresses class war, existential doom, and debauchery. “I’m trying to stay
positive and also not put up with bullshit.” Yet Sobolik can see a
The Clint Westwood Band shares one thing in common with the right-wing movie cowboy: “the struggle of the rugged individual.”
and his lady friends alcohol. I politely declined. I didn’t want to piss off Josey Wales.” Sobolik has no problem
also being compared to Tom Waits due to his raspy vocals.
THE RANGE • WARSAW THURSDAY • FEB. 9
WEDNESDAY • FEB. 8 AUSTRA
THE LEMON TWIGS SAVOY MOTEL
FRIDAY • FEB. 10 LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS
DELTA BOMBERS SATURDAY • FEB. 11
THE CREEPY CREEPS SCHIZOPHONICS THE WIDOWS
ALVINO AND THE DWELLS
SUNDAY • FEB. 12 THE GRISWOLDS DREAMERS • ARMORS
MONDAY • FEB. 13 ROGER AND SARA’S WEDDING ANNIVERSARY OH, SPIRIT!
LISTENING TO ROCKS VERONICA MAY AND THE TO DO LIST
casbahmusic.com THE BRAINS 888-512-7469 •
casbahmusic.com
COCKTAILS • LIVE MUSIC • 21 w/ID 2501 KETTNER BLVD.
BIG JESUS • HOURS
TUESDAY • FEB. 14 MILEMARKER
OCEANSIDE SOUND SYSTEM
WEDNESDAY • FEB. 15 MUSTARD PLUG PHENOMANAUTS
THURSDAY • FEB. 16 CHAD VALLEY COMPUTER MAGIC
FRIDAY • FEB. 17 STEVE’N’SEAGULLS
ZIG ZAGS • THE DABBERS
SATURDAY • FEB. 18 THE COATHANGERS
PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG MONDAY • FEB. 20
SUNDAY • FEB. 19 ORGAN FREEMAN
LEÓN • JACOB BANKS
curse and a blessing. You get your loyal diehard fans, but ultimately if you don’t ride a wave or fit into a genre, you’re not necessarily marketable. We hit it hard for over ten years.
likeness between his plight and that of the right-wing movie cowboy who inspired his nickname. “He represents the struggle
of the rugged individual,” he says about Mr. Eastwood. “But I don’t know if rugged individualism is even pos- sible anymore.”
PRUITT IGOE • DANI BELL AND THE TARANTIST
TUESDAY • FEB. 21 ADIA VICTORIA
THURSDAY • FEB. 23 KUT U UP
SATURDAY • FEB. 25 MOON DUO
SUNDAY • FEB. 26 KARL STRAUSS • DOSD
91X PRESENT LOUDSPEAKER LIVE ELEKTRIC VOODOO CREATURE CANYON JASON HANNA AND THE BULLFIGHTERS
DJ ARTISTIC’S HIP HOP BATTLE BOT AND DRE DAY
TUESDAY • FEB. 28
THURSDAY • MAR. 2 MONDO COZMO
FRIDAY • MAR. 3 REDWOODS REVUE
SATURDAY • MAR. 4 LAURA STEVENSON
SUNDAY • MAR. 5 SHINER
facebook.com/CasbahMusic instagram.com/casbahsandiego
The Clint Westwood Band
appears Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Tipsy Crow.
— Ken Leighton
Seeds of humanity. “The phrase ‘alternative facts’ immediately hit me as being very Orwellian,” says Mat- thew Stewart, who used the phrase coined by presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway as both title and topic of a new tune currently popping up on the web. “It cuts right to the idea that if facts don’t support your position, you can just make up new ones, and then double down until it becomes the truth to a large segment of the populace.” “Alternative Facts” was
written, recorded, and posted all on the same day, January 22, immediately scoring several hundred plays. “I recorded it at my home studio. The chord progression was something I’d recorded months earlier. It started out as an ambient guitar piece.” Stewart’s music blends
electronics, synths, piano, and rock guitar to create a lush, futuristic sound. His prog-rock tendencies take the forefront on instrumental albums like his 2016 release A World Bathed in Sunlight, a sci-fi concept album he describes as concerning “the destruction of Earth, the escape of a few seeds of humanity, and the discovery of a new world.” The La Mesa–based musi-
cian sees a resurgence, even an explosion, of politically
aware protest music. “I think if there’s any time to register your dissent in any form, musical or otherwise, it’s now, when we seem to be on the precipice of
on those guys. One of the few other bands around now that I can think of with a lead singer/drummer is a Pittsburgh metal band called Code Blue,”
Progressive artist Matthew Stewart took presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway’s idea of “alternative facts” and put it to music.
a fascist takeover. Of course, it has struck me that this is not ‘safe,’ at a time when one’s every word on social media can be scrutinized by the folks they’re dissenting against.” He reports that “opposition” comments and messages about his song have been extremely vitriolic. “I try not to be hostile in my own comments to people but that isn’t always reciprocated.” Matthew Stewart appears
with the Scratch Acoustic Trio on February 17 at Old Venice
in Point Loma. — Jay Allen Sanford
Drummer’s revenge. There aren’t many bands with lead singers who drum. The list includes “Phil Collins, Don Henley, [the Band’s] Levon Helm, and the guy from the Romantics. I watched all the biographical documentaries
says Matt Caskitt about his trio Caskitt. As Caskitt sees it, his chance
to lead the band from behind the drums is justice for all the years he had to watch self- absorbed frontmen. “Call it drummer’s revenge.
I sat back there for years with no control. I wanted that recog- nition. Maybe I am that vain.” Caskitt, 33, moved out west
with a hardcore screamo band from Denver. He then hooked up with two different now- defunct local bands he would rather not name. “Since I started this band,
not one of my ex-members have come out to see one of my shows,” he says of Caskitt, which released its first vinyl LP, Old Fires New Frontiers, in September. “If they gave a shit and wanted to call me a friend, (continued on page 54)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
