Emma Smalley stepped up to the microphone at Hotel Ziggy for a WFNM showcase with her acoustic guitar. It was her second time in Los Angeles. She's a native to South Carolina, currently living in Nashville. Is this one of the last times people in Los Angeles will be able to catch her in such an intimate setting?
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| Emma Smalley at Hotel Ziggy |
Trucker country stole the show at the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. Dylan Andrews was playing his third WFNM showcase night. If I understood correctly, this was the first of those three sets where the majority of the songs were his own. No matter if I heard correctly or not, I was caught up in his country charm from the start. He's putting together a catalog of songs that are just waiting to get released in a debut EP or album.
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| Dylan Andrews at Hotel Ziggy |
Walter the Producer (moniker for Reid Hosp) opened up a recent night at Zebulon. With vocals that hinted of Bob Dylan, he took command of the venue. Or maybe not. While up on stage suggesting that people should feel free to dance during his set (though he admitted that he himself did not dance when he went out), he heard some people off on the step seats talking, "Who's talking? What the hell. I thought I commanded request."
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| Walter the Producer at Zebulon |
October kicks off three months of holiday celebrations. And for those in the know, Explorsion (aka Daiana Feuer) and Stepping Stone Presents (aka Liz Garo) put on their annual Murder Ballads & Dark Songs event. Last year, the event occurred at 2220 Arts. This year, they shifted locations to Zebulon.
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| Sugarmill Slim at Zebulon |
To bring along the Halloween spirit, there were bowls of candy throughout the venue. Did I have some candy? Of course, I did. The Halloween theme did not stop there. As one entered, spooky sounds could be heard. The stage was decorated with skeletons, a severed arm, eye ball floor lights, and synthetic spider webs. Those spider webs did do their job as I saw them clinging to people throughout the night.
What were some of the highlights of a night that included 16 acts?
The scene-stealer belongs to Sugarmill Slim (Anders LaSource). "Have you seen my daughter?" LaSource said, rushing around the venue before getting back up on stage to sing PJ Harvey's "Down By The Water." It ended with fake blood being splattered across a white dress and a death scene. Add to it all: Easy Love on drums -- do I have to go back to Summer Twins days when I last saw her behind the drum kit? Maybe. "I bet you never saw that episode of SpongeBob SquarePants."
Main squeezes, Borrowed Lips and Swimming Bell, sang tales from two perspectives. It was Borrowed Lips first performance ever. Swimming Bell (Katie Schottland) mentioned that "Murder Ballads were the very first form of storytelling. That's how news got around. People would write songs and tell the story of the news."
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| Borrowed Lips and Swimming Bell at Zebulon |
Ravens Moreland took Bob Dylan's folk tune "Ballad of Hollis Brown" and turned it into a "nocturnal industrial death rock" cover. Does one dare say that Ravens Moreland's version is superior to Bob Dylan's. It can't be. It must have been the Halloween ghosts having too much influence.
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| Ravens Moreland at Zebulon |
Los Angeles punk royalty, Alice Bag, performed a song before a peak audience crowd. Backing her up were the Bloody Death Skull band members. You could tell it was a moment to remember for them. Alice Bag's right hand was telling the story. "I love Alice Bag, that's all I've got to say," was Taleen Kali's reaction.
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| Alice Bag at Zebulon |
Four favorites went back-to-back starting with Taleen Kali. I've seen her a number of times throughout the years. There was a moment where I was just stunned by her vocals. I was thinking, I don't believe I've ever heard her hit those high notes before. Anyways, the band has a Kickstarter going to raise funds for their sophomore album (link can be found on their Instagram page).
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| Taleen Kali at Zebulon |
Covers of the Williams country family were a favorite for Harry Katz and the Pistachios and Emily Rose. Harry Katz sang "Endless Sleep" by Hank Williams Jr. while Emily Rose sang "The Angel of Death" by Hank Williams.
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| Harry Katz and the Pistachios at Zebulon |
Between Harry Katz and Emily Rose was Bart Davenport with Emily Rose doing backing vocals.
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| Emily Rose and Bart Devonport at Zebulon |
I had seen over half of the 16 acts before, many multiple times. So who was new to me (in a way) and will need to catch in the future? Crowjane. She's a member of Egrets On Ergot (I don't know how active they are at the moment). Oh mercy, it was a blast from the past. That band made my list of favorite new finds of 2018.
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| Crowjane at Zebulon |
The night ended at "10 o'clock on the dot."
Sylvia Fae (aka Sylvia Fae Massey) set at Harvard & Stone (a Swyndle showcase night) was a stylish goth performance. She mentioned with a deserved sense of pride that she "produced all the tracks [of the set] in her bedroom." She is a multimedia artist. In 2024, she released a book titled I Could Be a Maggot's Feast which is a collection of "poetry, photography, and drawings from 2017-2023." The inspiration behind the book is the fact that she moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles in 2022. Not only was it a coastal move, but it was also her first time living outside of Carolina.
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| Sylvia Foe at Harvard & Stone |
Tele (moniker for Sophie Telegadis) brought her vibrant personality to Zebulon. Before starting her set, she jumped excitedly on stage, she was almost giggly. Yet, when the music started she went for a cool nonchalant attitude that worked perfectly for her desert-psychedelic rock. One could see influences of Jesse Jo Stark in both her music and performance style.
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| Tele at Zebulon |
Someday's passion came through during their set at Zebulon. The vocals screamed emotion and their music rocked the night. One could tell that the crowd was getting into their sound -- and not just their cover songs. For their soon to be released tune "Falling," the crowd could be heard yelling their approval as the band stretched those guitar strings to the limit. I conducted an interview with the band, which you can read pass the jump.
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| Someday at Zebulon |
I try to head out into the DIY Los Angeles music scene a specific number of times a week. On this particular week, I had a couple larger venue events (Bellwether / The Belasco) so there were only so many nights left on the calendar to head out to my various favorite venues (I just can't go to these larger venues, I have to also spend a night writing up articles). For my first DIY night of the week, I took off to Zebulon. Then I was like, I'm going to squeeze in one more night. Yep, that would equate to going out four times in a week.
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| Eva Rose at El Cid |
A couple weeks back, I got to shoot Pond at The Bellwether for US Rocker Music. It was my third time shooting the band. You can read my article here.
I figure I'll discuss one of the photos that I took during their set. I don't get to shoot at The Bellwether that often. In fact, this was my first time shooting the venue in 2026. The last time I shot the venue was when I shot the The Dandy Warhols back in Oct 2025. That night was actually a reason why I got this photo of lead singer Nicholas Allbrook. As I was roaming around the venue (after getting to spend the first three songs in the photo pit), it suddenly dawned on me that I had gotten some good photos of The Dandy Warhols from the right side of the stage. There is an ADA area where people can sit and enjoy the concert. It was just outside that area that I had gotten those photos. So off I went to that side of the stage.
SEÑOR JAGUAR opened up the night for a Swyndle showcase at Harvard & Stone. They're a Pomona based band that was coming to Hollywood. They spent time trying to get a sense of the crowd's reaction to their music. "Thumbs up or thumbs down?" "Anyone tired of us?" "We can just go back to work." Their onstage spunk won over the crowd, which demanded an encore. While the band packed it up, lead singer Javier Chairez-Vega entertained the crowd with a solo tune.
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| SEÑOR JAGUAR at Harvard & Stone |
It was an east side meets west side situation when Linus Hablot (aka Linus Hablot Lester-Hodges) took to the WFNM showcase night at the Sunset Strip's Hotel Ziggy. Just a couple weeks earlier, he played Echo Park Rising at Stories Books and Cafe. I do believe I overheard a conversation where he said he lives on the east side. At the end of the set, he mentioned that he is playing at The Fable on Oct 20th, which may very well be a Ryan Pollie showcase night.
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| Linus Hablot at Hotel Ziggy |
Scotland based singer-songwriter JP O'Grady recently dropped by The Airliner Bar. He was part of the School Night showcase (a collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW). I will say he has a song out there called "Half Way Home" that has rather detailed lyrics about Los Angeles county so perhaps he hangs out across the pond extensively. Either way, he spent part of September playing venues in Los Angeles: Hotel Ziggy, Healing Force of the Universe, and The Airliner Bar. It was in fact his Hotel Ziggy set that had me checking out his set at The Airliner Bar. How so? The Hotel Ziggy set was a WFNM showcase night. I wasn't able to go to that night, but WFNM's Grant Owens suggested that I check out the School Night set.
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| JP O'Grady at The Airliner Bar |
Lyla George took a flight out from New Orleans to Los Angeles and ended up at The Airliner Bar. This was a School Night showcase event (collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW). Interestingly enough, the previous time I attended a School Night event, New Orleans based singer Olivia Barnes was on the bill. I've got to give it up to the New Orleans music scene.
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| Lyla George at The Airliner Bar |
A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Oct 4th: Natalie Claro at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.I've been hooked on TCM for years now. I just always remember being a fan of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, James (Jimmy) Steward, John Wayne, and many many more. Around a decade ago, I used to do some reviews of movies I saw on TCM. I figured I'd start it up again. If you're interested, click on through.
ALYSSAD (moniker for Alyssa de Boisblanc) took Hotel Ziggy (a WFNM showcase night) by storm. Per her bio, ALYSSAD is Boisblanc's alter-ego. She is "blending genres to create her unique musical style to showcase haunting vocals" and "grunge aesthetic." I knew I was going to be into her set from the start. Her first song was Jesse Jo Stark's "Fire of Love." I've been a long time fan of Jesse Jo Stark and you can read an article I wrote up for Buzzbands back in 2022. I was thinking, "Yes, more please."
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| ALYSSAD at Hotel Ziggy |
It was a flashback night at The Fable (an In Sonic Dreams showcase). JOE LIES was playing their first set in 20 years (you can read that write-up here) and opening up the night was Auditorium (moniker for Spencer Berger).
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| Auditorium at The Fable |
I happened to mention back in an April post (a Pisces' Song Spotlight) that In Sonic Dreams was bringing back bands from yesteryear once a month at The Fable. That was not a negative statement, because I have a long history in the music scene and love catching bands that are reuniting after being on hiatus. Jump ahead to September and In Sonic Dreams had another blast from the past. JOE LIES (I will admit I don't think I ever saw this band perform live -- nor an offshoot of the band called Adeline and the Philistines -- though a band member or two did look familiar.)
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| JOE LIES at The Fable |
Shacar (moniker for Andre Smith) mentions Sade in his song "Phone Off." His silky hip hop vocals are at a lower register than Sade Adu, but Bar Lubitsch set had the same chill approach. The WFNM showcase crowd gave him shout outs throughout. The audience response was unfazed by the fact that he strolled up onto the Bar Lubitsch stage wearing a New York Yankees vest.
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| Shacar at Bar Lubitsch |
Towards the end of the WFNM showcase set, Petie (moniker for Lily Dowling) mentioned that this was her first set in three years. Let's hope that one does not need to wait another 3 years to catch another Petie set, because she had Bar Lubitsch popping during her set. She's a Berklee College of Music graduate, but she mentioned that she didn't learn anything as she didn't pay attention in her classes. I don't know about that or she learned through osmosis.
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| Petie at Bar Lubitsch |
Earlier this month, Arizona teen rocker Piper Connolly stole the show at Hotel Ziggy (WFNM showcase night). I didn't do much research on the performers prior to heading out. My primary reason was to catch a specific singer who ended up cancelling (I didn't know this until getting to the venue). One will never know when one will be pleasantly surprised when catching indie artists.
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| Piper Connolly at Hotel Ziggy |
Does Yegor Borisenko love or hate yogurt? And if he loves yogurt, what brand? His Instagram handle is: www.instagram.com/yogurtsucks. I feel there is some room for interpretation there. That is besides the point. The band Yogurt that he fronts was joining forces with promoters Rocknite to celebrate a record release party for Ipso Facto at the Airliner Bar. Per the band's Spotify short bio, the music can be described as "post-surf prog-pop dark-rock, from LA."
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| Yogurt at The Airliner Bar |
I've come across the eclectic band Annie Jets (fronted by BreeAnn Getman) three times over the last 2 years and each of those sets were hosted by Rocknite. I happened to write a Song Spotlight of their song "Avalanche" when I first came across the band at The Goldfish. The venue had just relaunched itself with a rather, say it again, eclectic feel and it was my first time at the venue after the relaunch. Unfortunately, the venue decided to move in a different direction and no longer hosts live music (at least on a regular basis). In an appropriate name match, my third time catching the band was at the Airliner Bar.
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| Annie Jets at The Airliner Bar |
Experimental synth performers DPSD (Danny Perez) and Soft as Snow closed out their short West Coast tour at Zebulon on Labor Day. DPSD is a Los Angeles based performer while Soft as Snow is a Berlin-based, Norwegian duo (Oda Starheim and Øystein Monsen). To start off his set, Perez described his sound as, "F*cking weird sh*t."
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| DPSD at Zebulon |
Experimental electronic music is not a genre that I seek out on a regular basis. To me, experimental electronic music is the equivalent of Arnold Schoenberg in classical music -- you catch it on occasion. My first encounter with experimental electronic music was when I was required to work up in San Francisco for a few months back in 2013. While up there, I decided to check out as many different venues as possible. It just so happened that three of those nights out were spent catching artists on their modular synthesizers.
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| Environmental Studios at Zebulon |
Note: This set occurred back in July. I put a hold on it until "Blood and Ink" got released.
Neta (the mononym for Neta Rozenblat) had his debut set at a WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. It was his debut show, but he has a fascinating music background. He is a member of as1one, which is the first Israeli-Palestinian boy band. Unlike the boy band pop sounds behind as1one, Neta performed a solo singer-songwriter set with his only companion being an acoustic guitar. I should say his only companion on stage was his guitar. Off stage, his friends cheered him on and two (one, I believe, being his girlfriend) took turns taking video of the full set.
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| Neta at Hotel Ziggy |
With a sassy attitude, Mila Northrup took to the Hotel Ziggy stage for a WFNM showcase night. "How are you feeling? Good. You guys better not be silent when I ask questions." Her bio mentions that she's been writing songs since eight and loves being retro, "she grew up a little obsessed with eras she wasn't born into -- rotary phones, CD players, music that felt worn-in already -- and that never really went away." Someone who enjoys that moment in time where analog turned into digital.
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| Mila Northrup at Hotel Ziggy |
The RAVEN's Gallery was one of the smaller stages at Echo Park Rising, but big things come in small packages. On Sunday, the venue's schedule was closing it out with two bands that I've covered on this blog site: Ali Angel and Belle and Chain. I stopped by earlier in the day and was treated to the sounds of Sonora Pines. Per their website, the band is a "desert psych trio blending hypnotic psychedelia dream pop, and desert rock with a distinctly melancholic edge."
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| Sonora Pines at Echo Park Rising |
I was shooting Echo Park Rising for the festival so Saturday was jumping around from one stage to the other as I was trying to give some love to as many of the stages as possible. So do I remember much of anything? I do and I don't. I captured 31 bands and singer-songwriters. Is that crazy? The day started off at 12 noon and didn't end until around 10 p.m. I would have pushed it harder, but The Semi Tropic was so packed that I couldn't get in to see Harry Katz and The Pistachios (even with a photo pass). I made the assumption there and then that I wasn't getting in to see The Mainliners at The Echo and so I went home. (Earlier in the evening, I saw a line curved out nearly to the bank, waiting to get into The Echo.)
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| Supershrew at Echo Park Rising |
I first crossed paths with Primer (moniker for Alyssa Midcalf) back in 2022. I was immediately captured by her synth driven music. In 2024, I covered her Round and Round EP release party for US Rocker Music. When the Sticky Rice schedule posted for Echo Park Rising, I was thrilled to find the band on the schedule. Since this is my final dedicated Echo Park Rising post that highlights a band playing the Sticky Rice stage, I should say: of course, the Sticky Rice stage was awesome throughout the festival considering that Make Out Music booked the stage. Sticky Rice knows how to select the perfect indie promoters who have their ears to the ground of the Los Angeles music scene. Last year, they had Rocknite book the weekend.
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| Primer at Echo Park Rising |
Adriana McCassim was one of the artists playing Echo Park Rising that I circled. Even though I was attempting to photograph as many bands / singers as possible on Saturday as I was one of the official festival photographers, there were a handful of bands / singers that I intended to see their full sets. So I got to Sticky Rice (Spirit Indoor stage) when she was setting up and stayed until the final notes. The reason I wanted to catch a full set was that way too much time had passed since I last saw a set and that was simply not acceptable.
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| Adriana McCassim at Echo Park Rising |
I had a random encounter with Josh Beavers as I was walking past the KG Bakery stage -- I was just starting off my Saturday at Echo Park Rising. First, he suggested that I catch Supershrew who was just about to start their set. He then said I should catch his band Family Cash at Bar Henry. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the band was playing the festival, because I had created a schedule of the festival and did not notice that the band was playing anywhere. He mentioned that a band had dropped out and they were taking the slot. I replied that I would do my best to get up to Bar Henry.
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| Family Cash at Echo Park Rising |
