Hi Gang!

For those of us musicians that don't have time to be in a band anymore (like me) but who still like to get the playing out of their system every now and then, jam sessions are the way to go.

I'd like to make sure that as many regular jam sessions as possible are listed on SoCalRocks.com so players know where to go to get their stage fixes. If you know of any regular jam sessions that are not already listed here on SoCalRocks.com, please drop a note to me (Mr. Loren Scott, your lonely SoCalRocks.com webmaster) at info@socalrocks.com and I'll be sure to get it added to the schedule with about three months or so of advanced events.

Rock on!

--Loren--

In an effort to prevent further instances of "get-rich-quick" schemes being posted on the SoCalRocks.com classified sections, I have had to make the unfortunate decision to now require that all classifieds are moderated for approval (by me) prior to being released to the public on the site.

So, as before , you still need to click the verification link in the e-mail that will be sent to you (to ensure that your e-mail address is valid), and once that is done as well as my eyeballing it as well, then it will be live on the site.

I am a busy guy and hate to have to do that, but I hate having spam ads all over SoCalRocks.com even more. If the ad has nothing remotely to do with live music fans, bands, venues, or musicians, chances are it will not be approved.

--Loren--

I have recently updated the software for the SoCalRocks.com Forums. So, if you notice any bugs with the new update, please send a message to Loren Scott at info@socalrocks.com ASAP.

Attention all artists listed on SoCalRocks.com... Please take a moment to ensure that the e-mail address associated with your account on SoCalRocks.com is 100% accurate and that you are set up to receive e-mails from the SoCalRocks.com domain -- check your "safe list" on any Spam filters.

The site will be undergoing some enhancements in the next couple weeks and some of these new features will require e-mail validation from the artists to enable them. So, unless you specifically do not want to get as much out of the site as you can, log in now and make sure that your e-mail is correct (no typos and no web site addresses instead of real e-mail addresses).

Rock on!

Happy New Year! If you're reading this, you survived the New Year's Eve festivities with your life and your eyesight intact. Good for you!

I'd like to encourage everyone to take a moment to help spread the word about SoCalRocks.com by making it your own personal New Year's resolution to tell at least 10 other live music fans or performing musicians about SoCalRocks.com. It doesn't cost you anything, and it doesn't cost them anything. And, you'll help connect live music fans to the musicians who love to perform live for them! A win-win all the way around!

I'd like to also take a moment to thank those of you who clicked on the Tip Jar on the upper-right of the site and tossed a little donation my way to help keep the site up and running. I appreciate your support very much. And, for those of you who did not toss a few pennies my way last year, don't be surprised if I instead earn some coin by selling rotten tomatoes outside the door of one of your upcoming gigs! Just kidding. The tomatoes won't be rotten. That's just mean. They'll be fresh! :)

But seriously... I do plan to try and personally get out and see as many of the bands listed on SoCalRocks.com as possible this year, as I plan to start posting reviews and band interviews on the site this year! So... if some dude comes up to you at a gig and says, "Hi, I'm Loren Scott from SoCalRocks.com!", that'd be me.

Rock on, and Happy New Year!

The 19th Annual Los Angeles Music Awards takes place tomorrow night, November 12, at The Avalon Theater in Hollywood.

Past LAMA recipients include the Black Eyed Peas; this year's recipients include Earl R. Johnson Jr. ("Jazz Artist of the Year") and Natasha James ("Country Album of the Year"). Info: http://www.myspace.com/lamusicawards.

I have no better news to offer, so... tomorrow (September 29th) is your humble SoCalRocks.com webmaster's 46 birthday! And, I don't feel a day over 45! Whoo-hoo! :)

Since recent sales have been almost nonexistent in the SoCalRocks.com Store, I will be shutting it down within the next few weeks -- the store, not SoCalRocks.com itself! The cost of the store is only $6.95 a month to me, but if I am losing money from it, I might as well close it. So, if you want any shirts, stickers, mugs, and so on, NOW is the time to grab them. Click HERE to see what's in the store.

Hi All!

Since I don't have any better SoCalRocks.com news, I'd like to play proud papa for a moment with my fellow musicians and music fans.

This is a link to a YouTube video of my 14 year-old drummer son playing to a medley he put together of his favorite drum riffs from two of his most influential drummers -- Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater and Neil Peart of Rush. Have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IafwbnufUec

Erika Sorocco recently interviewed me (Loren Scott, your webmaster) about SoCalRocks. com for her column in The Californian & North County Times newspapers. You can read the whole article in today's edition (03/05/2009) of those papers in the Preview section, or read it online HERE.

This is an invitation to play the highly anticipated SoCal Rocks 2009 Music Festival. The dates of the event are Saturday February 28th, Saturday March 7th, and Saturday March 14th. You'll pick one of those three dates to play. For all general event info go to http://myspace.com/socalrock.

The event is hosted at Sachi's in Long Beach and in the ballrooms above it in the Seaport Marina Village Hotel. There will be five stages separated by genre and three club rooms with DJs spinning.

Hours from 12pm – 2am. The event will have over 4,000 attendees. All ages are welcome, food and sponsor vendors, and full bars for those of age.

Contact Nick @ AHL Productions ASAP and he'll give you all the detailed booking info. They opened up one more stage and only have two slots open for March 7th, and one on March 14th. Nick's Number is (714) 600-4767.

DO NOT contact Loren @ SoCalRocks.com for info. I'm just the messenger. Nick is the man with the info.

SoCalRocks.com is now on MySpace at http://MySpace.com/SoCalRocks.

Quickly become a SoCalRocks.com MySpace friend by clicking HERE.

Invitation to play SoCal Rocks 2009 Music Festival in Long Beach, CA

This is an invitation for all SoCalrocks bands to perform in the highly anticipated SoCal Rocks 2009 Music Festival. It covers a span of 3 Saturdays in a row, February 28th, March 7th, and Saturday March 14th. Pick 1 of those 3 dates to play. For all general event info go to myspace.com/socalrock.

The event is hosted at Sachi's in Long Beach and in the ballrooms above in the Seaport Marina Village Hotel. There will be 5 stages separated by genre and 3 club rooms with DJ's spinning. Hours from 12pm – 2am. The event will have over 4,000 attendees. All ages are welcome, food and sponsor vendors, and full bars for those of age.

Once your band plays one of the first three events, then they will be eligible to play our national event May 2nd in front of 15,000 fans alongside 5 major National Headliners as well. Contact the AHL Productions staff ASAP and they'll give you all the booking info. (714) 600-4767.

Happy Holidays from Loren Scott and SoCalRocks.com!
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I (your humble webmaster, Loren Scott) have big plans for SoCalRocks.com in 2009. The economy is hurting everyone. So, to help you attract more fans to your gigs, which should help you book more (or better paying) gigs, I'm finally putting some time into adding some new features to SoCalRocks.com that will help you promote your band better here on the site. Some of the new features will only be available to those who upgrade from a free account to a new Premier Artist account, and the Premier Accounts will still be pretty cheap (probably about $10/month, or just a couple bucks per band member each month). Stay tuned for more details on these features in the coming days/weeks.

Also, the Featured Artist spot (top left of the main page) is now set up to randomly display a different artist each time the page is refreshed. Of course, the site only selects artists that have an image on their profile page. In the past, you'd get your image on your page by sending a small donation to the site through PayPal. Moving forward, images on profile pages will be a feature only available to Premier Artist accounts. Those who already have images up will be grandfathered in and get a three month FREE upgrade to an Artist Account (as my thanks for your past support).

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Have a safe and happy New Year!

Although I forgot to send out the news of this on Tuesday, the SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist (since then) has been Last Chance. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Also, your SoCalRocks.com webmaster (Loren Scott) is hanging up his drumsticks with his own band, The Regulators, and this Friday will be his last show. So, if you have nothing better to do, come on out to the Temecula Wine and Beer Garden from 7:30pm to 11:30pm a say "rock on" to Loren.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Baytown Band. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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The SoCalRocks.com Store has just been updated with brand new shirt designs. If you're looking for the perfect gift for that special musician or live music fan in your life, this is the place to shop!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is MARK HUSTON AND THE WORKIN' MEN. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is 100 PROOF. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Hi Gang!

Just a short note to share some great news from your SoCalRocks.com webmaster. Two days ago, on Monday, September 29th I turned 45. To celebrate, as with the past two years, I went skydiving. But this time, instead of the tandem jump (where I'm strapped to the front of a jump instructor), I did the "Accelerated Free Fall" or AFF jump, where I get to wear my own chute and land on my own. Since I am typing this message now, you can tell that I lived. It was awesome! That is great news number one.

Great news number two is that I also proposed to my girlfriend, Rachel that night and she said "yes". So, we're planning for a December 4th, 2009 wedding now.

I just had to share the good news with all of my SoCalRocks.com friends.

Lastly, there is no Featured Artist right now, and nobody in the queue for Featured Artist, because nobody has sent in a new photo to be considered. So... chop, chop!

--Loren--

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is South Coast Jazz Project. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Bands Needed For New Years Eve Show in OC: Greetings So Cal Rocks Community!

We’re excited to announce the launch of NYE Jams. This is a different type of music submission contest, because it doesn’t require an entry fee; there’s more than just one winner and your fans can win for voting.

NYE Jams was setup to reward nine hard working, great sounding acts with the opportunity of a lifetime. The Grand Prize winner will receive over $19,000 in cash and prizes, which includes the recording of their album by California Sound Studios. Eight other runner ups will receive prizes too including the ability to perform in front of thousands of people on New Year’s Eve.

The event is presented by DFJams, California Sound Studios, and Ones We Love.

More details can be found on NYEJams.com.

Do NOT contact SoCalRocks.com about this.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Funk N The Trunk. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Regulators. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Fund Raiser CD For Kids With Cancer - Need Music!
Open call to bands of all genres!
StreetBlast.com is working with StompOutCancer.com to help them search for music for their upcoming CD "Stomp Out Cancer Volume 2: Hope." All proceeds from the sale of this CD goes to research for Ewing's Sarcoma, a type of cancer that attacks children and young adults.

This is an open call for music! We are looking for songs about overcoming obstacles, heros, victory, winning, and tribute. All genres are accepted, however, we would really like to keep this CD positive and upbeat!

The submission deadline is September 1st, 2008 @ midnight. If you are interested in submitting music for this project, please download the .PDF form via the link below, and mail in your CD with the select tracks you would like us to consider.

Information About The CD:

1. 500 copies will be produced, if all sale as planned we will raise $10,000.00 for the John Hopkins Sarcoma Research Center.

2. All submissions are donations.

3. Please click the link below to get our permission sheet, and mail your CD to the address on the form:

http://streetblast.com/legal/musicrelease.pdf

If you have any questions regarding this project, please visit: www.stompoutcancer.com, or please call Jake A. Wheat directly at: 502-366-8006.

DO NOT, again DO NOT contact me (Loren @ SoCalRocks.com) about this. I know nothing and am just passing along the info that I have to help a good cause. In fact, anyone who STILL contacts me to ask for details will not be replied to and should be immediately excluded from the project do to your inability to follow simple directions. Just my opinion. :)

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is JohnnyMarkandtheRicks. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Advertise on SoCalRocks.com!: Click HERE to find out more about banner advertising opportunities on SoCalRocks.com!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is RESEEDED. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Cloud 9. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Advertise On SoCalRocks.com!: Do you have a product or service that caters to live music fans or musicians? Are you a live music venue that would like to catch the eyes of more SoCalRocks.com visitors? If so, click HERE for information on premium banner advertising space on SoCalRocks.com. Prices listed are currently 50% off the usual rate! So, lock in your rate now and keep it for the life of your ad!
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is OCD. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Ricky B & The Stingers. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Savage Diva Herself. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Your SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, is playing drums with his own band, The Regulators, this evening (June 28th) from 7pm to 11pm at the Temecula Wine and Beer Garden. If you're in the area with nothing better to do, please swing on by. End of shameless plug.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Savage City. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Advertise on SoCalRocks.com!: While classified ads on SoCalRocks.com are 100% free, banner ad space on SoCalRocks.com is valuable marketing real estate that receives up to 60,000 unique views per month by live music fans and performing musicians. SPECIAL OFFER! All banner ad orders placed during the month of June are HALF OFF the published rate. This applies to new banner ads as well as for renewals of existing banner ads. If you have a product, service, or venue that you would like to promote on SoCalRocks.com, visit http://SoCalRocks.com/advertise for complete details.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Brick Alley. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Those Guys. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Hypnotics. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Due to a technical error, a band that had just recently been the Featured Artist was inadvertently re-added to the queue before their time. The correct SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is FastForward. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Working Poets. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Advertise on SoCalRocks.com!:While classified ads on SoCalRocks.com are 100% free, banner ad space on SoCalRocks.com is valuable marketing real estate that receives up to 60,000 unique views per month by live music fans and performing musicians. If you have a product, service, or venue that you would like to promote on SoCalRocks.com, visit http://SoCalRocks.com/advertise for complete details.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is JUMPER. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Telegraph Canyon. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Every now and then I get an e-mail from a band listed on SoCalRocks.com in reference to not getting any bookings through SoCalRocks.com. Since I have just recently gotten a few e-mails like this, I'll take a moment to educate everyone on what the purpose of SoCalRocks.com is, and also what it is not.

SoCalRocks,com’s primary focus is not to get bookings for bands. There are many other sites that do that (for a fee), such as www.gigmasters.com. SoCalRocks.com’s primary focus is to let fans of live music know where to go to see good local bands play. This helps the fans, which in turn helps the bands by bringing more thirsty people to your gigs, which in turn helps the venues by allowing them to sell drinks to quench the thirsts of those same people. That, in turn, helps the bands again by making the venue happy with your turnout and making it more likely that they will hire you AGAIN. But, getting hired in the first place is up to you. Rock on!

In case you did not already notice, SoCalRocks.com added a new feature to the Artist and Venue profile pages at midnight on May 1st. A 'page views' count has been added that displays the number of page views since the counter was activated (on May 1st, or later for artists or venues added since then). The view counters are somewhat intelligent in that you cannot just keep refreshing the page to increment them. Rather, you have to actually leave that page and exit the site or at least view another artist/venue page to reset it before it will add another count. Artists and venues can now see how busy their own page is by watching their counter go up.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is THRILL MACHINE. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

For all of my fellow musicians and singers out there, you HAVE to see this video of this little Korean kid still in diapers singing Hey Jude. He looks barely old enough to talk, and he is really good. Click HERE to view it.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Wildcard. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is CRASH DANCE. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is NOTHING MATTERS BAND. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is BURTON LORD. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is 502. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

SoCalRocks.com Is In The News! Your SoCalRocks.com creator and webmaster, Loren Scott, was recently interviewed by Ashley Cook from the Temecula Valley News and the issue just hit the newsstands today! You can also read all about it online HERE.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Working Poets. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

ADVERTISE ON SoCalRocks.com! Besides the FREE classified section on SoCalRocks.com, venues and others who want to promote their business should know that banner ad space is also available for reasonable a fee. My good friend and guitarist for Daisycutter Roxx, Jimmy Stanford, is SoCalRocks.com's first (and only) official sales rep and will be making the rounds to some of the venues within the Inland Empire to provide information and to take orders on behalf of the site. He can be reached at 951-247-3799 or via e-mail at jimmy@socalrocks.com. You may also view detailed information on banner advertising opportunities on SoCalRocks.com HERE.
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SPEAK YOUR MIND! In case you did not know, SoCalRocks.com has a public forum where fans can rave about bands that were hot and rant about bands that were not, and where bands can exchange info on what venues were great and which venues were a nightmare. Speak your mind HERE!
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Regulators. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The "It's A Grind" coffee house near Guitar Center in Murrieta is holding a fund raiser event on Saturday, March 29th from 9am-1pm to benefit Murrieta firefighter Matt Moore who is in a coma and fighting for his life after being infected by a deadly amoeba, Balamuthia mandrillaris. Bands interested in volunteering to perform at the benefit must contact Dot at 951-306-2986 or via e-mail at dot14@ca.rr.com.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is BONTEMPOBAND. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is CITY LIMITS. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

PROMOTE YOUR GIGS! Temecula Valley News is a local weekly paper with a circulation of about 17,500. The paper features one page called "The Valley Scene" in the Entertainment section which is a free listing of music entertainment within the Southwestern Riverside County. Any bands performing within the general Temecula Valley area (all the way out to Hemet and down to Fallbrook) can get your shows listed by sending your dates, times, venues, cover charge or not, and any other critical details to Ashley Cook (Editorial Assistant at Temecula Valley News) at acook@myvalleynews.com, and she will list you in the paper. That's it! There is limited space for these listings. So, it is on a first come-first served, space-available basis. All SoCalRocks.com artists should take advantage of this additional resource for FREE promotions!
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is BOBBY G and the BEAT. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Blue Reed. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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SPEAK YOUR MIND! In case you did not know, SoCalRocks.com has a public forum where fans can rave about bands that were hot and rant about bands that were not, and where bands can exchange info on what venues were great and which venues were a nightmare. Speak your mind HERE!

On January 31st, I attended the Inland Empire Music Awards in Riverside as the official photographer for the band Souljourners. Besides Souljourners, I could not resist getting some shots of Big Papa and the TCB, Waiting For Decay, and 15 North during their performances as well. You can view the images from the event HERE.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is UNIDOS. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Rhythm Kings. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Little George and the DUI's. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Goth Lolita Orchestra. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Besides running SoCalRocks.com and being a musician and live music fan myself, my "day job" is as a full-time professional photographer. I shoot weddings, family portraits, actor/model head shots, musician/band promo shots, live bands on stage, glamour/boudoir, and maternity portraits. So... if you (or someone you know) is in need of a photographer, please swing by www.LorenScottPhotography.com to see some of my work and let me know what I can do for you. Cheers!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Day Trip'n. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Ron Shannon of the band, Epstein's Mother, has created a cool web site, www.musictrekker.com, that contains really cool trivia information about various musicians and bands. It's really pretty interesting stuff. Check it out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the Southern California live music fans and bands from your SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott. May it be a happy, safe, and rocking' year for everyone.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is MELTDOWN. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Mad For Mary. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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GIFTS FOR MUSICIANS & FANS: Looking for a last-minute affordable gift for your favorite rocker or fan. It is not too late to pick up a t-shirt, coffee mug, baseball cap, or other musician-wear from the SoCalRocks.com Store. Click HERE to start e-window shopping!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Impulse Band. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Donna Austin. Check her out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Myx. Check 'em out!

For more info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Johnny on the Spot. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

For those who tried to access SoCalRocks.com somewhere during the past 24 hours and received an error message, the site is now back up. I'm not exactly sure what caused the problem itself, but I just changed part of the code for the site to work around the error while I investigate the cause further. So, in the meantime, the site is fully functional now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is FLIGHT LINE. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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If you have been on SoCalRocks for awhile, you know that I rarely offer personal plugs for bands or products. However, on those rare cases when I do, it is because the band or the product have seriously blown me away. This is one of those rare cases.

If you are a guitarist who loves the blues and are either looking to learn the moves of your favorite blues legend, or if you have been playing the blues for too long and just find yourself in a rut and need a quick surge of new techniques to breathe new life into your fingers, then this is for you.

Griff Hamlin has been a professional guitarist and educator for over 20 years. He has created an awesome package called "Playing Through The Blues". At only 37 bucks, even the poorest musician can afford to jump start their blues licks today.

Griff is a personal friend of mine, having played guitar in my own band, "Freddie Welfare and the Food Stamps", a few years back. So, I can personally attest to the talents of this man, and the incredible value of this program.

I won't take up any more of this space with the details. You can read more about it HERE.
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Lastly, my own 44th birthday is this Saturday the 29th. Whoo-Hoo!!! I think I might jump out of a perfectly good airplane like I did last year. Or, I might drop in on a few of my favorite local bands to listen to some good music and maybe jam on a few tunes. Thank you to all of my friends who have already sent some early birthday wishes and donations my way. You rock!!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Nightshift. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Rhythm Kings. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is RecklessDriver. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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RUSH FANS: Being an early 40's guy myself, one of my early influences as a drummer was Niel Peart from Rush. Well, I am proud to see that my 12 year-old son, Brandon, has followed in my footsteps and mastered the drums at an earlier age than I ever did. Click HERE to watch a video of him playing drums to Rush's YYZ on YouTube.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Wildcard. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Little George and the DUI's. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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If your band already has a web site that lists your upcoming show dates, and you also list your upcoming show dates here on SoCalRocks.com (as you should), it may seem somewhat of a pain in the rear to have to constantly remember to update your show dates on both sites. Well, now you can access your upcoming show dates from the SoCalRocks.com database, and display them directly within a page on your existing band web site!

One of the coolest things about this system is that once a show date listed on SoCalRocks.com has passed, it is automatically purged and removed from the schedule. So, you no longer have to worry about removing the old obsolete dates from the calendar! [MORE]

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Planet Groove. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Jungle Juice . Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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ATTN Electricians: As you may or may not already know, your SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, is a full-time photographer in his "day job". He is currently in need of some electrical wiring for track lighting as well as some speaker wire run for a surround-sound system in his Murrieta home. If you (or someone you know) is interested in trading some electrical work for some photography work (portraits, live or posed band promo shots, etc), contact Loren on his cell phone at 714-401-8849.
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Also, BEWARE of scammers answering your classified ads with poor grammer and promising to send you a money order for your goods. Nine times out of ten, it is an old scam where they will send you a counterfeit money order for MORE than the agreed-upon amount and ask you to send the balance to some associate of theirs. Their hope is that by the time your bank notifies you that the check was a fake, you have already sent the goods to them as well as some of your hard-earned cash to their partner in crime.  BE CAREFUL!
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Lastly, SoCalRocks.com went over the 1,000,000th visitor a few weeks back and I was too busy to make an announcement then. So... raise a glass of your favorite drink and share a toast with me now! I thank you all for your ongoing support of this humble little site that I started just over four years ago. Cheers!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Neil Deal. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Michael Chain. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Your SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, has been very busy lately with my "day job" as a photographer. Besides shooting weddings most Saturdays, I have been doing a lot of photo shoots for bands lately, both on stage and in the studio. Click the links here to see some recent shots of Train of Thought, Those Guys, Marc Seal, Souljourners, and Mike Couts from Souljourners and Phil Collen from Def Leppard in the studio working on the new Souljourner's CD, and Eclipse. I've also recently done live event shots for California Jammin' and Daisycutter Roxx.

So, if your band is in need of some professional photography, or if you or someone you know needs an experienced wedding photographer, jump on over to my photography site at www.LorenScottPhotography.com. Rock on!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Smooth Touch. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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LOREN'S TIP JAR!
Every band loves it when a live music fan drops a little show of love in their tip jar. Has SoCalRocks.com helped promote your band? If so, then please toss a little love to your SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, by dropping a little contribution into my own TIP JAR to help support my time and expenses working on SoCalRocks.com. Remember... there is no staff of many here. It's just me. So, your humble contributions go a LONG way here. Thank you for support!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Room 179. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Okay, so I don't do this very often, but I am going to take this moment to do my own shameless plug. Actually, it is a plug for my 12 year-old son, Brandon. He's been banging on my drums since he was about 4 and got just serious on them over the past few years. So, to support his efforts, I made a video of him playing "YYZ" from Rush for him to add to his MySpace page. It is posted on YouTube and you can view it and leave comments on it here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MEMo2pQCp3A. He reads all of the comments left there. So, please have a look and leave him a note of encouragement. Daddy is proud! Thanks!

Happy New Year from your lone SoCalRocks.com staff member, Loren Scott.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Boneyard Dogs. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Besides operating SoCalRocks.com in my spare time, my full-time day job is as a photographer. You can check out my work at www.LorenScottPhotography.com. I mainly shoot weddings these days. However, I also shoot promo and live shots for bands as well, and have done so recently for Eclipse, Daisycutter, and California Jammin'. So, if your band is in need of some new promo shots, or if you or someone you know is getting married soon and in need of a photographer, take a look at my site. Thank you!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Eclipse. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Lake House Party of the Year! New Year's Eve Celebration 2007. The house will be rockin' with Reseeded. Classic/Current Rock 'n' Roll. Fabulous Caribbean buffet. Champagne at midnight. Special door prizes. 8pm to closing. Get your tickets now. Call today: 951-246-9900. $25 Pre-sales. $35 at the door. Dance and party all night at Lake House in Canyon Lake!
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Last but not least, in this time of holiday giving, please don't forget to toss a coin or three to your lonely SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott -- the creator and still the one and only staff member here. I only blantantly beg for donations once a year, and this is it, folks! It takes money and time to keep SoCalRocks.com site alive -- both of which I am unfortunately in very short supply of lately. To help me to help you get more live music fans to your shows, and to help me to help you combat the growing invasion of DJ's and Karaoke Nights, click HERE to offer your support today, and keep SoCalRocks.com alive.
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Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Wildcard. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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The Top 20 Most Active Artists section of the site has been replaced by the Top 20 Most Active Venues. This is to address the issue I was having with some bands padding their numbers with bogus gigs. I'd like to also take this moment to point out that the band PILOT was NOT the problem. My public apology to them for mistakenly implying so.
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If you have not yet tried out the Venue Finder™ or Band Finder™ features of SoCalRocks.com, have a look. If you are looking for live music in your area or looking to book a band on a specific night, these features will make you happy.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is TrunkMonkey. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

It has come to my attention that some artists on SoCalRocks.com are not listing a specific venue for the event and instead using either a "Call For More Info" or "Private Party" venue listing. Since the purpose of SoCalRocks.com is to let the music fans directly see where and when a band is playing, this type of listing does not work. For example, the Venue Finder feature on the site relies on bands listing their accurate venue info so that the system can let a fan know what band is playing at a venue near them.

Therefore, I ask that you please either alter those listings to show the venue that you will be performing, or remove them. If the venue is not already listed on SoCalRocks.com, the system allows you to add any new venues that you will be playing at.

Any event that is for a real Private Party, may be listed under that heading. However, any obvious "fluffing" of schedules with mass qualities of false "Private Party" listings does the fans no good, and those events will be promptly removed from the system. Same for any "Contact Band For Info" listings -- any of those remaining after about a week from this notice will be removed from the system. So, update them now (if they are valid) while you have a chance. Thank you for your cooperation.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Jumper. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Since SO many of you on SoCalRocks.com (67 so far!) sent me birthday wishes and/or birthday donations through site, it was easiest just to drop a note here to everyone thanking them for their ongoing support of my work on the site. I'd also like to thank you all for making great live music!

To celebrate my big 43, I will be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane in Lake Elsinore tomorrow (Saturday) at about 2pm. So... for those in the area with nothing better to do, come on by Skydive Elsinore (http://www.skydiveelsinore.com/directions.html) and see if I splashing into the lake or land safely on the ground to play music another day!

Thanks again everyone. You ROCK!

--Loren--

I am 43 year-old today! Happy Birthday to me! That's all the news for today. --Loren--

Sorry for the massive gap in news updates. But, quite frankly, this site is doing quite well without me even touching it. The live music community is alive and well. As I write this, this site has just topped 700,000 visitors and consistently receives over 50,000 visits per month! There are 305 active artists (by "active", I mean that they have had a live event listed here within the past 90 days), 432 active venues (again meaning at least one event listed within the past 90 days), and over 1200 upcoming events currently listed. Rock on!


Speaking of upcoming events... PLEASE be real and, say for example that you are the house band someplace and are basically booked to play there every week until you die or piss off the manager, PLEASE do not list every week's gig for the next frickin' year on the site. Let's try to keep those type of regular bookings to no more than the next 90 days, PLEASE. Otherwise, it just looks silly. Thank you for your support!

To support even MORE live music fans and bands in the Southern California area, SoCalRocks.com is now open to bands and venues in FOUR additional SoCal counties -- Imperial, Kern, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura. Welcome aboard!
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I had previously asked for people to let me know about regular JAM SESSIONS. One of them happens each week at Perq's in Huntington Beach every Thursday night from 8:30pm to midnight. Bring yourself... Bring your band! All styles of music are welcome. Drums, amps, mics & PA equipment are all provided. Just bring your own guitars and/or sticks! For more info on the Perq's Jam Night call Louis @ 714-505-0044, and tell him you saw it on SoCalRocks.com!
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Hit Men. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

I have been so busy lately that I seem to have let all of the Open Mic / Jam Session listings lapse. So... if you know of any regularly scheduled jam sesions that are open to the public, just drop an e-mail to me (Loren Scott) at info@socalrocks.com with all of the info and I will be sure to get the dates posted.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Neat. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Hi Gang!

An advertiser on SoCalRocks.com has just been preyed upon by one of the most popular Internet scams going on right now. Fortunately, he did not fall for the scam. But, as a service of SoCalRocks.com, I am alerting all of you about this scam as well so you can be alert for it.

Typically, the way this scam works is that you are contacted via e-mail about some item or service you are selling. This contact usually comes from someone out of the country. They say that they are interested in buying the item or service you are selling and say that a money order will be sent to you from their "associates" within the U.S. If you agree, a short time later you do receive the money order. However, it is NOT for the correct amount, but is for MUCH more.

You contact the buyer and inform them of their "mistake", and they play dumb and say to just send them a check for the difference when you send them the merchandise. If you do, you have just been scammed. The money order they sent you is a counterfeit that will take your bank a week or two to process. And, when they do, those funds come right out of your own bank account. So, now you are out your money AND the stuff you were selling in the first place. Since these crooks are overseas, usually in Nigeria, the chances of bringing them to justice are almost zero.

So... be warned.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Poetic License. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

ALERT: Any bands that are (or were) booked to play at Sports Stop in Canyon Lake should read THIS POST by T. J. Gobel on the SoCalRocks.com Forum. [MORE].

I just heard the sad news that my friend and fellow drummer, Roger Ellis of the band Bluefish, passed away last night. For those who knew Roger or were fans of Bluefish, you can post a note to Roger's wife, Kathy, at the Roger and Kathy Ellis Message Board. He will be missed my many, and my condolences go out to his family, friends, and band mates.

A lot of artists on SoCalRocks.com have taken it upon themselves to add info@SoCalRocks.com to their mailing lists. However, at this point, so many have done this that now my inbox gets hit with no less than 20 message each day from different bands. So... since I can always look on the site to see who is playing where, unless it is really a message specifically for me, I humbly request that you do not send me the mass-mail messages. Thanks much.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is X Factor
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ADVERTISE ON SOCALROCKS.COM:
If your band, venue, or company would like to advertise on SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is Batista The Latin Rock Experience. Check 'em out! For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Recall that in my last news blast just over a month ago, the hit count on SoCalRocks.com was about to top 400,000. Well, as I write this, it has just topped 450,000 -- 50,000 hits in only 33 days! Wow! With only 267 artists currently listed on SoCalRocks.com, that means that a LOT of live music fans are hitting the site each day to find out where the bands are.

I would also like to thank those bands and fans who see the value in SoCalRocks.com and have supported this site with their generous donations. You too can help by just clicking that DONATE button.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The Blame.

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ADVERTISE ON SOCALROCKS.COM:
If your band, venue, or company would like to advertise on SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have been so busy with my photography work lately that I have just not had a chance to spend as much time on updates to the site as I used to. I am pretty much booked up with some type of photo shoot (wedding, engagement portrait session, maternity shots, fashion/glamour shoot) every weekend from now until July 15th. It's crazy. See www.LorenScott.net to see what I have been up to. Even this update will have to be brief.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist of the moment is Wildcard.
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As I type this, the hit counter on SoCalRocks.com is hovering just under 400,000 hits. But the time you read this, it may have surpassed it. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow musicians and live music fans who have helped spread the word about SoCalRocks.com to your friends. This site grows almost exclusively through word-of-mouth advertising. So, you have all done a great job of helping this online community of SoCal performing musicians thrive. Rock on!

GIG ALERT: HISPERIA: MARCH 2ND: Frontier Homes needs a musician or band (no more than 3-piece) to provide background music (perhaps acoustic guitar or soft jazzy stuff, no vocals) for their Hesperia office Open House to be held Thursday, March 2nd. Their office is right off I-15, about a 35 minute drive from Ontario in good traffic. The artist will need to perform from approximately 5:00-7:30pm, give or take a half hour. It's a corporate event -- tent, catered, etc. So you'd need to dress appropriately -- probably just black button up shirt and black slacks would be fine. Pay is negotiable. Interested artists should contact Rachel Peek at rpeek@frontierhomes.com with your audio samples and fee requirements.

Do NOT reply back to this e-mail with your bid. If you are unable to follow those simple instructions, you have automatically disqualified yourself from playing this gig.
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist of the moment is Reseeded. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.
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Lastly, congrats to my friends Tim Moyer ("Best Male Artist") and Souljourners ("Best High School Band") on their victories at the Inland Empire Music Awards on January 19th. Good job!

Okay... so due to my notebook PC being stolen a few weeks ago, I had a little bookkeeping error it seems and someone DID send me a photo that was in the queue for the next Featured Artist. So... without further adieux...
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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist is The O.C.D. Sorry for the brain fart, guys!
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Also... former drummer for Let’s Eat, and current drummer for Bluefish, Roger Ellis, has been hospitalized for just over two weeks now and is in an unconscious state after being initially diagnosed with bleeding on the brain. Those who have had the pleasure to know Roger can keep up with the latest news of his status as well as leave your well-wishes on the message board via the Bluefish web site at http://www.bluefishrocks.com. Get well soon, Roger!

Hi Gang,

It's that time of year again when I send out a personal plea to anyone that may be able to get me a pass to the NAMM show in Anaheim. If you can make it happen, please send me an e-mail. For some pix with my commentary from last year's NAMM show, click HERE.

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OPEN MIC / JAM SESSIONS
If you know of any open mic / jam sessions that are not already listed on SoCalRocks.com, please send me an e-mail with the details and I will add the info to the site. Considering that I now live in Orange County and am not in a full-time gig at the moment, I'd be especially interested in knowing of open mic nights in the Orange County area. I am getting itchy to play again!

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No new Featured Artist this time, since nobody sent me a new photo to use. Can you believe it? Neither can I.

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Lastly, I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year celebration. Happy New Year to all of my fellow musicians and live music fans! Rock on!

Loren

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah / Kwanzaa / Festivus / Rockus Maximus, etc... I know it's a bit late for gift ideas, but... I have been so busy with real issues that I forgot to fill your e-mail boxes with the usual marketing drivel about where you can spend your hard-earned cash this year. So, without further delay... you can tell that rocker or groupie you love that their gift will be a bit late this year and head on over to the SoCalRocks.com Store to pick up a nice shirt or other accessory with tons of catchy phrases that only a musician or groupie could appreciate.

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TheSoCalRocks.com Featured Artist of the moment is Eclipse. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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What was your most embarrassing moment onstage? Share your story and see what others have written on the SoCalRocks.com Forum.

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Lastly, remember that SoCalRocks.com is not operated by a large company, or even a small company. It was created by and continues to be operated by one guy -- Loren Scott. If you feel that SoCalRocks.com has been of value to you this year, please help support SoCalRocks.com with a donation via PayPal. Donate HERE.

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have been wicked busy lately -- day job, moving, dealing with divorce, doing photography jobs, and getting my notebook computer stolen off of my desk at work during normal business hours while I am in a meeting. Yep. Go figure. I think there are the makings of a song here. What rhymes with "I'm gonna kill that scum who stole my computer"? Hmmm...

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist of the moment is Reseeded. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What songs are you tired of playing live (or hearing cover bands play)? Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums and tell us the songs you love to hate.

REMOTE AUDIO RECORDING NEEDED IN TEMECULA
The Murrieta Valley High School choir is performing their Holiday Concert at St. Catherine's Church in Temecula on Thursday/Friday December 15/16. For the past couple years, I have been recording all of their performances on my AW16G digital recorder. However, my company's Christmas party date conflicts with the Christmas concert this year. So...

If you, or someone you know, is interested in doing a professional-quality audio recording of both nights of this performance, contact the choir director, Chad Zullinger, directly at 951-816-0080 or via e-mail at musicman73@earthlink.net. Do NOT contact me about it. Contact Chad directly.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Playground. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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Got a favorite SoCalRocks.com band or venue? Got one you hate? Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums and share your thoughts.

The SoCalRocks.com Forum was down for a couple days, but is back online now -- for anyone who missed it.

http://SoCalRocks.com/forum

Sorry for the inconvenience.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of The Kim Martin Band. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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Does Your Band Need A Web Site? Check out Double Star Media (www.doublestarmedia.com) for professional quality web site and graphic designs at affordable prices.

An update on my 42nd Birthday Lens Fund. Two additional donations came in since the last e-mailing with one from Pat from the band Eclipse for a whopping $150! Thanks, Pat. That brought the grand total to $220 -- not quite half what I needed for the $580 camera lens on my birthday wish list. But... better than nothing!

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And, to show my appreciation to Pat... The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Eclipse. (See how that works? <wink, wink, nudge, nudge>)

For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What SoCal Bands got slammed this week? Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

My 42nd Birthday Donation Fund toward my new $580 camera lens brought in a whopping $50 from three donors. Can you feel the love? :) It's still not too late to toss a birthday donation my way. Just click that DONATE link on the site and drop me a note that it was for the birthday fund AND to show your appreciation for my time, effort, and expense of runing SoCalRocks.com. Thanks!

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Lowlifes. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About? Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! Your humble SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, is turning a whopping 42 this Thursday (September 29th). I know what you're thinking -- "What might Loren want for his birthday?"

Glad you asked!

As an avid photographer as well, I've got my eyes on a new 15mm fisheye lens for my Canon EOS 20D camera. (Info on this lens can be found HERE.) This lens costs $580. If you've been wondering how to show your appreciation for all of the hard work I put into SoCalRocks.com, now is your chance.

Just click HERE to donate to Loren's Happy Birthday Fisheye Lens Fund.

Please leave a comment when you place the donation that this is for the Birthday Fund. I will be giving a special thanks to everyone who donates to the lens fund just as soon as I reach the magical $580 required to buy it.

Thank you for your support!

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Mike Baas. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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The following is a paid announcement from David Wilbert:

ALL MUSICIANS, PLEASE READ - MY DRUM SET ALONG WITH MY CAR WAS STOLEN BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 1:30 A.M. AND 8:45 A.M. ON FRIDAY THE 16TH (THURSDAY NIGHT). THERE WILL BE A REWARD FOR ANYONE WHO CAN GIVE INFORMATION AS TO ANYONE WHO IS ATTEMPTING TO SELL THIS SET...IT IS A PDP CX FUSION (PACIFIC) 5 PIECE SET. COLOR: WHITE ONYX. BASS DRUM HEAD IS BLACK W/A WHITE EAGLE ON THE FRONT. THE SNARE IS A CHAD SMITH SIGNATURE NICKEL PLATED. TOM SIZES ARE 12", 14" AND 16". 6" AND 8" LP (LATIN PERCUSSION) MINI TIMBALES. CYMBALS: ZILDJIAN: 16" MEDIUM CRASH, 18" MEDIUM THIN CRASH, 18" THIN CRASH, 22" RIDE, 13" NEW BEAT TOP/BOTTOM HIHATS, 13" K, 13" Z CUSTOM HIHATS. BLACK THRONE, ALL PDP STANDS. YOU WILL BE REWARDED WITH INFO LEADING TO THIS SET. KEEP THE CAR BUT REMEMBER THIS IS KARMA, IT'S LIKE STEALING A WHEELCHAIR FROM A HANDICAPPED PERSON. IF YOU SEE THIS SET FOR SALE OR SOMEONE PLAYING IT, PLEASE CONTACT DAVID WILBERT AT 909-292-6401 CELL ON ME ALL THE TIME. WWW.CALIFORNIAJAMMIN.US
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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About? Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

Sorry for the unusually long gap since the last SoCalRocks.com News update. I have been WAY busy with numerous projects, not only at my day job, but also with my musical and photographic endeavors. In fact, if you are interested to check out some of your humble SoCalRocks.com webmaster's photography work, feel free to swing on by www.LorenScott.net and have a look.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Slowburn.

For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Does Your Band Need A Web Site? Check out Double Star Media (www.doublestarmedia.com) for professional quality web site and graphic designs at affordable prices.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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Read What SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About! Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums now!

Okay, so SoCalRocks.com is all about LIVE music. However, occasionally a dance party comes along that is so BIG that even with a DJ (actually seven DJ's), I have to tell you about it...

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, August 24th) from 9:30pm to 2am, CLUB EXIT is having a MAJOR dance party for those 21 and over only. 4 dance floors; 4 fully-stocked bars; Go-Go Dancers; a huge hilltop terrace; a SICK city view; and YOU! Dress to impress. Valet parking available.

The address is at the Coco Palms, 1600 Fairplex Dr., Pomona Hills, 91768 [MAP]

More info and pre-sales tickets on sale NOW for only $10.00 each at groovetickets.com.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of The Matt Kenney Band.

Why add your band photo to SoCalRocks.com? Here is what Christine Gaines of last week's Featured Artist, The Heat, wrote to me: "I wanted to say thank you very much for putting our band photo on your site, it has really helped us out. Several people have seen us on your site & we're getting more job offers."

For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

Need A Web Site? SoCalRocks.com helps bands attract new fans. And, when the fans are craving more than the basic bio and event info that they can find here, what can you do? The answer is to make sure to include a link to your own band web site from your SoCalRocks.com artist page. That is where you can offer custom treats for your fans and potential booking agents, such as MP3 music links, photos from past gigs, mailing list, complete set lists, and so on.

If your band does not already have it's own professional web site, visit www.DoubleStarMedia.com NOW to find out how to promote your band to the fullest. With about the earnings from just a single gig, your band can have a professionally-designed custom web site online NOW.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of The Heat. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About? Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

Immediately following their concert at Pechanga this Friday, July 22nd, Kool & the Gang will be having a "Meet & Greet" from 10:30pm to 1am at the California Grill (27345 Jefferson Ave., Temecula). Admission is just $5, and is to benefit the Musicians Workshop Scholarship fund (www.musiciansworkshop.org). You must be 21 years or older to attend. Call Jon Laskin at (951) 678-2517 for more information.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Freddie Welfare and the Food Stamps. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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Got a great gig or groupie story to share? Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums to tell us all about it.

Hey everyone! The Sports Stop in Canyon Lake is starting up once a month "OPEN MIC" nights - hosted by their very own house band "Squeeze Play".

The "kickoff" is at 9 PM this Thursday July 14th. It's a great opportunity to network and jam with your friends in the industry - so come on by! If you have any questions you can call Megan @ 951-443-8446. See you there!

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Souljourners. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What's on the minds of SoCal Bands and Fans? Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

Hi Gang!

One of the benefits of running a website like SoCalRocks.com is that I can sometimes take the opportunity to share some personal info that may be of value to my fellow musicians. So... here I go. Anyone interested in buying a house with a music room already built in?

My house in Murrieta is a six year-old, 3017 sq/ft, 4br/3ba, 2-story home on a quiet cul-de-sac. The one-car side of the 3-car garage has been converted into an air-conditioned music room that I use not only for practice but for recording as well. So, this home may be of special interest to someone who has been thinking of building a music room of their own.

To read more info and see photos of the house, click HERE.

This house also has a nature-scaped back yard including a small pond and waterfall, plus a hot tub under the large covered patio. [MORE].

If you have any questions about this home, feel free to drop me (Loren Scott) a line at info@socalrocks.com.

Okay... that's the end of my sales pitch. Rock on!

My old friend, Jon Laskin, from the Musician's Workshop in Temecula, wanted me to help spread the word that they are currently looking for bands of all styles to perform in the many different summer concert series they produce.

Interested bands should submit promo packages to:

Musicians Workshop
27315 Jefferson Ave. J-231
Temecula, CA 92590.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Nasty Habits Band. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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The SoCalRocks.com Store has a variety of catchy shirts for guys and gals, thongs, hats, and even stuff for musician's kids and pets. CHECK IT OUT!.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What venues are the best and worst in SoCal for live music? Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Superna. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com!
Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About?
Visit the SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

This Saturday, June 11, my friends in the band Daisycutter are performing at a benefit for the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District's Motorcycle Riding Event and Caring 4 Kids -- a non-profit 501 C-3 tax exempt charity to help raise funds for kids and their families in the local Elsinore Valley and surrounding area. For some good music and a good cause, please stop on by.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of The Spots!. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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ATTN: Original Artists! I found this site called The Music Broker Network that pitches unsigned bands, artists & songwriters to record companies, music publishers and film/TV studios. Their rates are reasonable and they take care of everything involved in creating and shopping your band's demo CDs to record executives. For more info, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About? Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is of Fired. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About? Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

SoCalRocks.com's Featured Artist this week is of Cavin & Da Bones. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Support SoCalRocks.com! Your donations help to keep SoCalRocks.com online. Donate HERE.

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What are SoCal Bands and Fans Talking About? Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums to find out.

The home page of SoCalRocks.com was changed a bit today to make room for a bit of advertising space. What used to be the Picture of the Week is now called Featured Artist (of no particular time period), and this has moved to the upper-left corner of the site.

Also, due to feedback from some of the busier bands on the site, I have brought back some of the Most Active Artists list in the form of the 20 Most Active Artists.

However, to keep this list real, I ask that bands do NOT list jam session or open mic nights that they host as their own events, unless they do perform as a unit for more than 50% of the night. Instead, please e-mail with the info on the jam session or open mic night event and I will happily add it to the calendar under that heading including info that your band is hosting it. Fair?

Also, any bands that are caught padding their numbers by listing bogus events will be permanently filtered out of that Top 20 List. Sorry, but to keep it fair, it has to have some policing.

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The SoCalRocks.com Featured Artist this week is Strange Brew. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Join the SoCalRocks.com community. Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums.

SoCalRocks.com topped 150,000 hits today! That's over 50,000 hits in just over the past three months.

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More changes to the site based on feedback from the SoCalRocks.com Forum - The section of the home page that used to contain the Most Active Artists list has been replaced by a list of the 20 Newest Artist added to SoCalRocks.com. This was done mainly due to issues where some bands were double-booking some events and/or adding event listings where I have contacted the venue myself and found that they were not actually booked there at all. Bad band! Baaaad band!

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Another new feature that should discourage bands from adding extra bogus events to the site is the new Band Finder™, which allows venues in need of a band to search the SoCalRocks.com database for all artists that do NOT already have an event booked for a particular date. Way cool!

Similarly, for those live music fans who want to find live music venues closest to themselves, the new Venue Finder™ lets them quickly find the venues closest to their own Zip Code. Check it out!

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week (actually posted yesterday) is of The Tim Walsh Band. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Join the SoCalRocks.com community. Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since May 3, 2005:

 * The FurTraders
 * Bottoms Up!
 * lowlifes
 * Dave Chapman
 * 39 Reasons
 * Last AmAndA
 * Silver Side
 * Killer Shades
 * Sonic Park
 * Angie's MID-LIFE-CRISIS
 * PROPHECY

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of THRILL DELUXE. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Join the SoCalRocks.com community. Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums.

In an effort to be completely fair to all artists listed on SoCalRocks.com, and thanks to an excellent suggestion made on the SoCalRocks.com Forum, the Local Talent page now lists all artists in completely random order. Each time you refresh the page, the list will come up in a different order.

So, the days of adding *** or ~~~ or ((( and so on to the front of your band name to work your way to the top of the list are over! Just keep your band names the way they really are. If someone wants to find a particular band, it is still much faster to just use the Search feature at the top of the site anyway.

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I *finally* found and squashed a bug in the system that would not properly update the artist names under their events listings if the artist name itself was edited within the artist account page.

It's a good thing that is fixed, now that a bunch of bands will be updating their name to remove the extra *'s an ~'s and other wacky characters, huh? :)

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since April 25, 2005:

 * The Misguided
 * Untold
 * Half Past Zero
 * Blackout
 * the Undecided
 * Superna
 * Lush Behavior

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of CLYDE. For info on adding your photo to SoCalRocks.com, click HERE.

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Be a part of the SoCalRocks.com community! Visit the new SoCalRocks.com Forums.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since April 19, 2005:

 * Ale House
 * The Iron Maidens
 * Soundcake
 * Zan Ley
 * Masters Of Reality
 * Grampas Grass

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Sachi. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Don't forget to check out the new SoCalRocks.com Forums.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since April 11, 2005:

 * Dumm Skulz
 * Witnis
 * Serrated
 * The Spots!
 * Sonrize
 * Michael Mullins
 * CAVIN & Da Bones
 * Project Tru
 * OMEGA

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Denial. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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The MAP links for venue locations have been changed from using MapQuest to now use the new Google Maps system. It is WAY cool. Have a look.

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Don't forget to check out the new SoCalRocks.com Forums.

Due to overwhelming requests, as well as a very funny post on the old message board calling the site "gay", I have yanked the old forum and now added this fully-featured community forum for SoCalRocks.com fans and bands to use and abuse.

Feel free to post what you feel and be prepared to get responses from those who share or oppose your feelings. You can even rant, if you want, but... please do keep it light-hearted. I mean, come on, that is what music is all about -- having fun. Right?

Join the SoCalRocks.com Forums now at http://SoCalRocks.com/forum.

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The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since April 2, 2005:

 * Strange Brew
 * GWP
 * Hedbend
 * Earl Seratte & The Blues Kings
 * SOUL PURSUIT
 * Tokyo Static
 * eEnik
 * Nasty Habits band
 * Mechanical Sun
 * Wildcard
 * UNHERD
 * Heaven Bound Train
 * EVERY WAKING MOMENT

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of United Blues Band. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since March 24, 2005:

 * Upon Dead Skies
 * Hank Diamond
 * Honor The Fallen
 * The Cold Creek Crossing Band
 * My Demyze
 * CYA
 * JOHNNY STARR AND THE GALAXY
 * No End
 * pms
 * shortleash
 * jerra

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of MoGreen. My old buddies from MoGreen are getting back together for a one-off reunion gig at Ringers in Bonsall on April 22nd. They are really, really good. So, go check 'em out! By the way, they paid me to plug this gig for them here, but I threw in the "really, really good" part myself, because they really are really, really good. :) Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since March 11, 2005:

 * Killing Breed
 * phfit
 * SHORT-LEASH
 * Have Another Monkey
 * Cheap Chick
 * Holloway
 * United Blues Band
 * * Sustained I.A. *
 * Brad Wilson
 * ***AFROKNOTS***
 * Left Hand Thread
 * Sachi
 * Midnight Bombers
 * MoGreen

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Hit Men. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Do you have a link to SoCalRocks.com on your site? If so, let me know at info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Thank you to all of those who responded to my last news blast searching for a fill-in guitarist for my own band's April 8th gig at Bob's Pit Stop. Our search turned up a great match for our set lists in Griff Hamlin.

Rock On!

--Loren--

Your very own SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, is in need of a fill-in lead (and only) guitarist for his own band (Freddie Welfare and the Food Stamps) for their April 8th gig at Bob's Pit Stop in Menifee. Check the Freddie Welfare and the Food Stamps web site (www.FreddieWelfare.com) for the current set list.

If you know (or can know) a majority of that song list by April 8th, we need to talk. Vocals not required. E-mail me at me@LorenScott.net or call me at 951-852-5948.

Rock On!

--Loren--

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since February 25, 2005 :

 * The Jam Cats
 * Switchback
 * FUNKY BLUE M O N K E Y S
 * Three Hour Tour
 * Driven A.D.
 * Planet Groove
 * Green with N.V.
 * Chalie Blue
 * The Candies
 * Elseworth
 * UnderCoverGirls
 * Second Nature
 * Heidi and the Hurricane

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Road Fever. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

Additionally, if you click the DONATE button at the bottom of the site and toss a small donation my way, I will also add that photo (or any other that you prefer) to the top of your private artist page, as I have done for these other bands:

 * ECLIPSE
 * BLUEFISH
 * HIT MEN

NOTE: Those who donate to the site also get priority placement within the queue for "Picture of the Week".

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since February 11, 2005:

 * Michael Ruggieri
 * Psycotic Obsession
 * Sic Waiting
 * CHAKRA
 * LiquorBachs
 * My Demyze
 * Tasty Sinful Hair
 * Pretty in Stereo
 * The Band of Brothers
 * Oceans Apart
 * The Recycled Vinyl Band
 * The Kim Martin Band
 * Los Pistoleros
 * DSANTI
 * scott kessler
 * CHRIS KESSLER
 * Silk n' Soul
 * The Ravelers
 * ONOFFON

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of City Limits. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Want to help promote SoCalRocks.com? Just add a link to SoCalRocks.com from your own web site. Click HERE for more details.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since January 30th:

 * The Inner Limits
 * ImPeRFeKt
 * Made On Malice
 * CAPPYS GARAGE
 * Keenwild
 * Bud Jones Band
 * *** Cheap Yellow Mustard ***
 * Nynth Hour
 * The Goodboys
 * LEAK
 * Mark Dale
 * Steve R
 * Lunar Efx
 * Final 5
 * LAMONYK
 * CRASH DANCE

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Bottomline. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Bobby White from the band Odd Thomas dropped me a line today about being on the committee for the Orange Blossom Festival and needing local bands to play there. The festival is on May 21 and 22. They will need a demo, picture, bio and a set list (if a cover band). The deadline for submissions is March 1st. Send your info to:

OBFA
P.O. BOX 1603
Riverside, CA 92501-1603
Attn: Entertainment Director

The website for the festival is: http://www.obfa.org/OrangeBlossomFestival, or for more details, send e-mail directly to Bobby (and NOT to me) at oddthomas2004@hotmail.com.

I didn't have time to send out a notice on this until now, but two days ago, on February 6th, SoCalRocks.com exceeded total 100,000 hits to the site.

Whoo-Hoo!

To put this in perspective, if you read through the News Archive on the site, you will see that on January 23rd of 2004, I noted that the site had just recorded the 15,000th hit. That means the site has had over 85,000 hits this past year. But it gets better.

On September 27th, 2004, I noted in the SoCalRocks.com News that the site had just topped 50,000 hits. This means that the latest additional 50,000 hits have come since then -- slightly more than just four months!

Wow! Somebody told somebody who told somebody else and the snowball effect is fully in action now. We have reached a tipping point, my friends! This site is in a growth spurt.

This means that more and more fans are coming to this site each day to find out where the best live music can be found in Southern California!

I would just like to thank all of you who have helped spread the word. If you have a web site of your own, you can help this process move along even faster by including a link to SoCalRocks.com from your own site. Check out http://socalrocks.com/link.asp for complete details.

Also, if you would like to REALLY help out, you can click on the DONATE button at the bottom of the site and toss a few bucks my way to show your support. Very, very few people click that link. Please be one of those few.

Rock on!

Loren Scott, WebMaster

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since January 21st:

 * Deep Haze
 * Just Everyday Radio Killers
 * BackStreet
 * BLUES BUZZARDS
 * Karma DeLuxe
 * ELIAH
 * Californiajammin'
 * **24E**

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of BLACKOUT - Scorpions Tribute Act. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Well, I had a great time at the NAMM show in Anaheim last Saturday. I met a lot of my favorite musicians, including Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci from Dream Theater and Dan Estrin from Hoobastank. Check out the photos and my commentary HERE.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since January 12th:

 * Fallen Society
 * JamCats
 * THE LICKS
 * SERPENT UNDERGROUND
 * The Revered
 * Honkys
 * Christian Simmons
 * decker

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Frater. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Your humble SoCalRocks.com webmaster, Loren Scott, will be roaming the floor of the NAMM show in Anaheim all day tomorrow (Saturday). So, if you see a guy walking around in a SoCalRocks.com shirt, chances are, that'd be me. So, if you are there too, come on up and introduce yourself. Rock On!

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since January 4th:

 * The Matt Kenney Band
 * ALICE UNCHAINED
 * City Limits
 * THRILL DELUXE
 * Flirt

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of The Tomcats. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Due to ongoing issues with people adding rude comments to new venue listings, you must now log into your artist account prior to adding a new venue. Any new venues added from your artist account will now include your contact info, so that I know who added what venues. Also, when adding comments to a new venue entry, make sure that the comments pertain to the club (nice food, big dance floor, live music every weekend, etc) and NOT about your band (come see Joe Blow and the Schmoes here this Friday). Thank you for your cooperation.

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since December 28th:

 * Anna Marie
 * onepoundpenny
 * The Fallen Stars
 * Aw Shux
 * The Mourning After
 * 145th Street
 * CHICKEN FOR CHICO
 * Least Among Us
 * Losers of the Year
 * XeightysiX
 * Tragic Hearts

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Frater. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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NOTE TO ARTISTS: When adding new events and venues to the site, PLEASE make sure that you are not duplicating an existing event or venue. Lately there has been a rash of folks doing this and...I know who you are. So, please do not update the site while under the influence. Thanks.

Hi Gang!

Well, if you tried getting on to SoCalRocks.com during a few hours stretch last night, you may have seen that the site was down. Actually, for some reason that is still not completely clear to me, the access to the database that holds all of the SoCalRocks.com content was messed up. Not sure how, which still makes me nervous as I write this. But, the good news is that the site is up and running normally right now, with no loss of data. Everything is good.

So...while I am here, have a happy and safe New Year!

Loren Scott, WebMaster

The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since December 19th:

 * Those Guys
 * Politics of Trash
 * BIG "D" AND THE GOVERNMENT CHEESE

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of DEA Band. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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As we prepare to ring in the New Year, I'd just like to remind all of those bands in the new 951 area code that have not yet updated your contact info in your SoCalRocks.com account from the old 909 area code to do so now!

SoCalRocks.com Store Sale!
This latest coupon expires December 21st, 2004. So Hurry! Save $10 when you spend $50 or more in the SoCalRocks.com Store! Enter the coupon code HOLBUY8 when checking out. Click HERE to see what we've got!

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The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com since December 10th:

 * Road Fever
 * Breaking Ground
 * our quiet tragedy
 * Smokestacks
 * The TomCats
 * Bottomline
 * Empty Seat
 * THE HONKYS
 * FIGHTER PILOT

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Freddie Welfare and the Food Stamps. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

SoCalRocks.com Store Sale!
Save $10 when you spend $50 or more! Enter the coupon code HOLBUY7 when checking out. This coupon expires December 14, 2004. So hurry! Click HERE to see what we've got!

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The following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to SoCalRocks.com in the past week:

 * Neurosynpulse
 * Gainsae
 * JAH! Fellowship
 * Haven Acoustic
 * Indespair

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The SoCalRocks.com Picture of the Week this week is of Daisycutter. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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And, finally, in tragic news for many rock music fans and guitarists around the world, some crazy mo-fo jumped on stage last night just as Damageplan were starting their set in a Columbus, Ohio nightclub and fatally shot guitarist Dimebag Darrell, also formerly of the band Pantera. (For the full story at MTV.com, click HERE.)

The SoCalRocks.com Store is making it easy to get your favorite musician (and/or yourself) some cool shirts and other items for the holidays. Here's the deal...

LIMITED TIME OFFER: Save $12 when you spend $50 or more!

Enter the coupon code HOLBUY6 when checking out.

This special deal expires December 8, 2004, and you should order NOW to insure delivery before Christmas! So hurry!

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SoCalRocks.com Is Getting Busy! In the past week, the following new artists have added themselves (and their events) to the site:

  * Nefarious Death Squad
  * Attached by Wires
  * Stone Pharo
  * Disco Dyslexic
  * The Barnburners
  * **~LAST CALL~**
  * DEA Band

10 new classified ads have been posted. The site's total hit count is rapidly approaching 70,000 (there were 2478 visitors in just the past week). By comparison, at this time last year, the site had perhaps 100 visitors per week. Not too shabby!

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The Picture of the Week is Freddie Weddie Welfare and the Food Stamps. Send a photo of your band in action to info@SoCalRocks.com.

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Lastly, at this annual time of giving, please take a moment to think of your SoCalRocks.com host and the time, effort, and personal expense that goes into keeping this site alive and updated for YOU, my fellow musicians and live music fans. And, if you think it is of value to you, PLEASE click the DONATE button at the bottom of the site and toss a little holiday gift my way. I thank you in advance.


Loren Scott, Webmaster

Eclipse is the "Picture of the Week" this week on SoCalRocks.com. Not only did Eclipse pop onto the site for the first time ever just a couple weeks ago, but they immediately jumped to the top of the most active artists on the site by posting over 60 upcoming events! And, as if that was not enough, Pat Collins (the drummer) tossed a VERY generous donation my way via the site's PayPal DONATE link. So, I could not pass up the chance to go and check out the band myself at Pepe's in Canyon Lake and offer a personal thanks to Pat for the financial assist.

Well... to date, Eclipse is the best sounding club band I have heard -- and I have heard plenty, trust me. All three band members handle lead vocals on various songs, which is a plus right there. Pat on drums handles lead pipes for the high stuff like Journey and Foreigner. Eric Nelson is on lead guitar and is one of the finest local guitarists I have seen or heard. And, Joe Child plays keyboards and guitar. The bass lines are sequenced into the keyboards and are pumped not only through the PA but also through a bass amp/cab on the stage, for a nice punchy sound.

Don't be fooled by the Plexiglas cage in front of Pat's drums. Thanks to quality mics on all of the drums being fed through the PA as well, the drum sound is KILLER. As a drummer myself, I definitely could appreciate that.

The whole band was extremely tight and, considering that they have been performing together since 1979, I can see why.

As any fan of SoCalRocks.com knows, I do not make a habit of shamelessly plugging bands in this space. However, as a huge fan of live music myself, when I am fortunate enough to catch a great band in action, I don't mind sharing the news with my friends. Check out the upcoming schedule for Eclipse here on SoCalRocks.com and check them out! Tell them Loren sent you!

This week's Photo of the Week is the band Fired, dressed up as members KISS for a Halloween bash.

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If you would like an image of your band placed in the queue for Photo of the Week, and ALSO placed at the top of your private artist page, like these:

* http://SoCalRocks.com/FreddieWelfare
* http://SoCalRocks.com/Daisycutter
* http://SoCalRocks.com/Eclipse

...just e-mail the image (no larger than 640x480 pixels in size please) to info@SoCalRocks.com. Then, just click that DONATE link at the bottom of the SoCalRocks.com site and send a small donation of at least $20 my way, and I will hook you up! (Split between your bandmates, that may only be about five bucks a person. What a deal!)

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Finally, as webmaster, I'd like to take a moment to shamelessly plug this Saturday's gig (Nov 20th) for my own band, Freddie Welfare and the Food Stamps. We are playing at Bob's Pit Stop in Menifee. This gig is special for us because it marks my debut on bass. I've been on drums and guitar plenty of times before, but this will be my first full four hours of thumping on the low frequencies. So, if you are bored silly this Saturday night, swing on by Bob's Pit Stop and join the party.

Rock On!

Loren Scott, WebMaster

Now available in the SoCalRocks.com Store is the new ROCK HARD line of merchandise, including this snazzy men's baseball jersey. These baseball jerseys are ON SALE for a limited time.

This same ROCK HARD design is also available on other shirts and boxer shorts for the guys, as well as HOT fleece shorts and shirts for the band babes! Check 'em out!

And, remember, your purchases help support SoCalRocks.com!

Just a few tips to help make your SoCalRocks.com experience more valuable:

* When placing a classified ad, make SURE to mention where you are located if it matters. For example, if you are a bassist looking to join a band in your area, it helps to mention what area you live in! Or, if you are selling something, you might want to mention what area you live in so people know how far they'd have to go to see/buy it from you.

* For bands that are adding a new venue for your events to the site, make SURE to include the complete and correct address for the venue. Otherwise, the automatic MapQuest link will be useless and your potential new fans will never find your show! When in doubt, put the address you have into MapQuest yourself first. If you know where the place is, but you don't know the address, call the venue and ask! This is Self-Promotion 101 stuff here, folks. You need to give your fans the correct info if you want to get them to your gig!

* If you know of an Open Mic / Jam Session that is not listed on SoCalRocks.com already (under an Artist account called "Open Mic / Jam Session", go figure), send an e-mail to info@SoCalRocks.com and I'll get it added to the site ASAP. Again, more FREE shameless self-promotion for your event!

* And, as always, try your best to use proper spelling and grammar when writing your artist bio and/or classified ads. If you don't, you are letting folks who read it know what a tard you are before they even meet you. First impressions are valuable. Be smart, if you know that spelling is not your thing, find a friend or bandmate who might be a bit sharper in that area and tell them what you want to say. Let them translate it into intelligent English for you. That's what friends are for.

Rock On!

Loren Scott, WebMaster

To make it easier for new bands to join SoCalRocks.com, I have now added a new 'ADD YOUR BAND' link button right on the front page, as well as from the main menu (under TALENT / VENUES).

And, to make it easier for bands that are already members, I have also added a link under the 'TALENT / VENUES' menu called 'ARTIST LOGIN' that lets you jump right to the Artist Login page without having to scroll through the ever-growing list of other bands to find yourself first. Now, all you have to know how to do is type in your complete band name and password. If you *do* still login to your account from your Talent page listing, it already knows who you are (like before), and you don't need to enter your band name. Easy! Speaking of which, I have replaced the 'EDIT' text in the lower right of the Artist entries with a new and improved 'ARTIST LOGIN' rollover button. OOooooOOOoooh, Aaaaaaahhh!

And, that's not all... It is now even easier for bands to add multiple events to the same venue. I found that I myself, your humble webmaster, would always add a new event for my band, then just click the BACK button on the web browser to jump right back to the Add New Event screen. That would leave my last-selected venue, date, time, and comments in place. I could just change the date and book a new show at the same place MUCH faster. So... I now have added a link on the confirmation page (displayed after you save the event) that let's you do just that -- it let's you immediately add another event by just jumping you right back to the previous page. Simple but VERY effective. Try it out.

I would also like to take a moment to thank everyone who tossed a donation my way for my birthday. Or, more accurately, I'd like to thank BOTH of you. "Thank you" and "thank you". Whew! That was easy. You know who you are.

Lastly, the Boneyard Dogs sent me a donation AND a photo and, guess what? They are SoCalRocks.com's Photo of the Week this week! See how that works?

Rock on!

I am proud to announce that SoCalRocks.com reached two milestones today: 50,000+ total site hits and 100+ active artists. Whoo-Hoo!!!

In other celebratory news... Your humble web master's 41st birthday is this Wednesday (September 29th). So, what better time to toss a donation my way to show your support for SoCalRocks.com?

Just click that DONATE link at the bottom of the site and send your token of appreciation my way and, being the "giver" that I am, here is what I will do for you.... If you would like an image of your band at the top of your private artist page, like these:

* http://www.SoCalRocks.com/FreddieWelfare
* http://www.SoCalRocks.com/Daisycutter
* http://www.SoCalRocks.com/303

...just also e-mail the image to info@SoCalRocks.com, and I will hook you up!

Thank you to all of my fellow musicians and live music fans for your ongoing support and for spreading the word to help make SoCalRocks.com the success that it has become.

Rock On!

Loren Scott, Webmaster

By popular demand, the selection at the Official SoCalRocks.com Store has been completely overhauled. The selection of shirts, thongs, hats, mugs, mouse pads, stickers, and MORE is all new and .... FUN!

For example, there are shirts that say, "DRUMMERS BANG IT BEST", "BASS PLAYERS DO IT DEEPER", and "GUITARISTS ROCK YOU ALL NIGHT LONG".

And, don't miss out on, "I QUIT THE BAND. NOW I JUST PLAY WITH MYSELF", or "HORNY GROUPIE".

For the kids (and pets), there are shirts announcing "MY DADDY'S A ROCK STAR".

Or, if you are REALLY daring, toss a bumper sticker on your band wagon that proclaims, "MY WIFE DOESN'T ROCK, BUT MY GIRLFRIEND DOES!".

These also make GREAT gifts for your favorite musician or fan. There is even a Drummer's Wall Clock -- to help your favorite drummer KEEP TIME! Ha!

If you have an idea for a specific design you'd like to see on a particular item in the SoCalRocks.com store, drop a line to info@SoCalRocks.com.

Check them out for yourself NOW at www.SoCalRocks.com/store .

And... thank you for your support!

Attention guitarists! Perhaps you have recently seen the two-page ads in the popular guitar magazines for Tony Burnett’s new instructional DVDs – Killer Pro Soloing Secrets. Well, having had the pleasure to know and perform on occasion with Tony for several years, I was lucky enough to get a copy of the DVDs to review for SoCalRocks.com. All I can say is “WOW”!

I have to say that, in my opinion, for a two DVD set (plus the third bonus one, that he did not give me), for about the cost of a few private lessons with your typical guitar teacher, this is a pretty awesome set. In them, Tony leads the viewer through the steps required to rip out those riffs you recognize from the solos in your favorite rock songs. The tips he shares, and the exercises that lead up to these riffs, definitely do make it easier to learn and perfect.

Obviously, depending on your current skill level you may find more or less value in what is covered. I would suggest this as a perfect fit for a guitarist with a year or two of practice, mainly in rhythm playing, who is looking to add lead soloing to their skill set. Granted, if you already know a ton of scales and finger exercises, you might find this a bit below you. You just need to make sure that these lessons fit YOUR needs. For example, I would NEVER advise a brand new guitarist to dive into the stuff covered in these DVD's -- except perhaps the parts about tuning and stretching.

I am primarily a drummer (for 30 years) and have also played guitar for 24 years, but only started working on lead guitar skills (scales, solos, etc) in the past few years. So, after being stuck in a Pentatonic 'rut' for about a year or so, Tony's videos come at the perfect time for me to expand my guitar skill set. Again, your needs may be different.

In short, Tony is a great guy, a sh*t-hot guitarist, and an excellent instructor. The cost of these DVDs would be what you would pay for just a handful of lessons anyway. So, if it fits your skill level and desires, it is well worth the investment in your rock star future to look into it. Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

For more info, or to order, visit www.ohpguitar.com.

Loren Scott
WebMaster, SoCalRocks.com

Getting to SoCalRocks.com is now four keystrokes quicker. Instead of typing www.socalrocks.com, you can now get here with just socalrocks.com.

Okay... so it was a slow news day. :)

Hi Gang,

I'm sorry to say that I have noticed some classified ads posted on SoCalRocks.com recently that have absolutely nothing to do with live music bands, fans, or venues. This is not good.

With so many other places on the web to promote your get rich quick schemes, home typing jobs, penis enlarging systems, and so on, PLEASE do not clutter the SoCalRocks.com classified sections with this drivel.

Effective immediately, any ads that are posted on SoCalRocks.com that are not of a clear value to the target audience of SoCalRocks.com will be purged immediately.

Freedom of speech? First amendment? I don't care. It's my site, and I don't need that crap here cluttering up the bandwidth. eBay forbids the selling of body parts, and I forbid spam in my classifieds. Don't like it? Too bad, so sad. If the home typing business has *really* made you that rich, you'd be out on your yacht sipping some drink with an umbrella in it rather than spending all day posting ads up trying to recruit other folks to join your pyramid scheme. Well... Homey don't play that.

Thank you for your time.

Loren Scott / Webmaster

A lot of bands have been asking how they can have their band photo or logo image added to the top of their SoCalRocks.com artist page, similar to these:

http://www.socalrocks.com/ViewArtist.asp?Artist=303
http://www.socalrocks.com/ViewArtist.asp?Artist=TAKE+OUT
http://www.socalrocks.com/ViewArtist.asp?Artist=DAISYCUTTER

...and others.

The process of adding an image to the artist account will be automated soon. For now, bands just e-mail me (info@SoCalRocks.com) the image file (preferably in a .JPG format and of no more than 100k in size) and then just click the DONATE button at the bottom of the site and contribute at least $10 to the cause.

I will then have your photo posted at the top of your SoCalRocks.com account within 24 hours and will also add it into the queue for "Photo of the Week" placement on the front page of the site.

Simple, eh?

As you know, SoCalRocks.com remains 100% free -- partially due to my complete lack of free time to add the required hooks into the site to actually charge anyone for anything. Lucky you! Unfortunately, that means that I am still doing a lot of work on the site for nothing. Unlucky me! So, click that DONATE link, send me a reasonable contribution along with your band photo, and I will hook you up.

Rock On!

Loren Scott

It has come to my attention that somebody has been sending out e-mails pretending to originate from SoCalRocks.com 'staff' or 'management' requesting that you open an attached file to allow your SoCalRocks.com e-mail account to remain active. The file attached to those messages contains a Worm Virus and will end up sending similar e-mails to other people from your machine if opened.

These e-mails did NOT originate from SoCalRocks.com!

First of all... there is no 'staff' or 'management' e-mail accounts at SoCalRocks.com because, other than myself, SoCalRocks.com has no staff or management. Just me -- Loren Scott. The only e-mail account that I use to represent SoCalRocks.com is info@SoCalRocks.com.

Secondly, nobody who lists their band info or posts a classified ad on SoCalRocks.com has a 'SoCalRocks.com e-mail account'. So, there is no account that would need to be made to stay active by opening an attached file or by any other means.

Thirdly, I would NEVER send anyone on SoCalRocks.com an e-mail with a file attachment unless I had specifically coordinated it with that person ahead of time. This is primarily due to crap like this.

So... if you get an e-mail from SoCalRocks.com -- or from ANYONE else -- that contains a file attachment that you did not expect, DO NOT OPEN THE FILE ATTACHMENT. Reading the e-mail itself will not enable the virus, but simply opening that file attachment will.

Be safe!

Loren Scott

A couple weeks ago, I stopped by the Thursday night open mic session at Aloha J's in Temecula for the first time in a long time. After taking my own turn banging on the drums for a few songs with Rob and Tony, I sat back and watched local rock band "Take Out" take the stage for a bit of original tunes.

Before they jumped on stage, the guys handed me a copy of their just-released self-produced CD called “Take Out vs The World”. This CD contains 12 original tunes, plus a cover of "Deuce" from KISS.

These guys have a tight sound with a great sense of humor thrown into the mix. I won't spoil all of the surprises on the CD here. Let me just say that if you don’t like bands that write songs that all sound the same, then you will love Take Out. Every song on this CD stands alone.

It’s no secret to the people who know me that I am not particularly a fan of country music. However, one of my favorite tunes on this CD is “Yesterdays”, the only country-style tune on the CD. The music fits perfectly with the lyrics, which are the story of my life. How, you ask? Well, I guess you’ll just have to get the CD and listen to this song to get the answer. You can get your own copy of from their web site at www.FriendsOfTakeOut.com or at one of their live shows.
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Does your band have a CD you’d like reviewed on SoCalRocks.com? If so, send an e-mail to info@SoCalRocks.com for info on how to get it in my hands.

This has been a GREAT couple of weeks for me at SoCalRocks.com! First, Ben Robinson's brand new blues-rock CD, Remembrance, was hand delivered to my front door. It rocks! Ben has certainly matured since I first saw him as a 13 year-old guitar wiz at the local jam sessions several years ago. This independently-produced CD contains eight original songs written by Ben himself. The guitar tone, riffs, and Ben's vocals remind me of various works by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Johnny Lang, and Walter Trout. More info can be found on Ben's own web site at www.benrobinson.us.

Next, I received a copy of the self-titled, and self-produced, demo CD from The Next. This disc contains four original songs that were very catchy and well-produced. The first track, "I'll Believe You" reminded me somewhat of a U2 sound. The music in the tune "Seasons" reminded me of Coldplay's sound. For more info on this Nuevo-based band, and to download MP3's of the songs from their demo CD, visit their web site at www.thenextmusic.com.

Finally, I was absolutely blown away last Saturday night at Shooter's Food and Brew by the band Daisycutter. If you've seen Daisycutter in the past, and if it was more than a few months ago, do your ears a favor and see them again now! With the addition of the amazing Al Montana on lead vocals, this band has jumped up to a whole new level. Not only are the vocals top notch, but the band themselves have also gotten much tighter since I last saw them about six months or so ago. The thing I like most about this band is that they don't play the same old cover songs that are over-played by every other bar band. They were pulling out perfect covers of great classics that I had not heard in years! Catch the Daisycutter in action by watching their schedule on SoCalRocks.com -- www.SoCalRocks.com/daisycutter.

SoCalRocks.com has grown steadily over the past few months and now has had nearly 15,000 hits to the site. Not bad for a regional site with virtually NO advertising other than word of mouth and a few business cards left here and there. With that said, the time has come for me to attempt to bring in a small profit from my work on SoCalRocks.com.

Being a musician myself, I know how broke we all are. So, I am committed to keeping any expenses charged to my fellow musicians to a bare minimum. For example, I may need to start charging some token amount such as $5 per month for a band to be listed here. Classified ads will always be 100% free.

I am also looking into creating ‘venue accounts’ where the clubs themselves could post their own event schedules here, including bands that are not already listed on SoCalRocks.com. For this service, the fee would be something equally cheap like $20 per month. That's just 4 or 5 drinks sold per month. Not bad. Additionally, I plan to allow some small banner ads to be placed on the site promoting venues as well as other live music and club-related businesses (micro-breweries, music stores, etc).

If you know of any clubs or other businesses that may be interested in advertising on SoCalRocks.com, PLEASE have them contact Loren Scott at info@SoCalRocks.com to discuss options. I am WAY flexible at this point, and am tossing different ideas around that will allow me to keep this site alive and well for my fellow performing musicians and the fans that love to see them play.

Thank you!

Loren Scott
SoCalRocks.com Webmaster

Just a short note from your host, Loren Scott, at SoCalRocks.com wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year! A lot of live music will get the folks up and dancing and quenching their thirsts with high octane beverages. So, if you plan to party hard, make sure to go with a friend who can stick to the sodas. We want to keep as many of us around as possible to enjoy live music in 2004!
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Any bands that have CD's of their music that they would like to send my way for an unofficial review, please do. Send me an e-mail at info@SoCalRocks.com for the shipping address. I welcome all musical styles and have no problem shamelessly plugging your music to anyone who will listen. I may even start a section here on SoCalRocks.com for regular music reviews of local bands if there is enough interest.
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And, finally, a reminder for all bands to list your upcoming 2004 show dates on your SoCalRocks.com account calendar! This is FREE publicity people! Help me to help you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Attention SoCalRocks.com Artists: SoCalRocks.com caters to fans of live music. Because of this, any listed artist that does not have any live shows listed on SoCalRocks.com for over 90 days will have their artist account suspended. This will not delete your band information from the SoCalRocks.com artist database, but it will hide your band from view on the site until you log into your account and add at least one upcoming event. Once your account goes over 80 days without an event listed, you will start to receive daily e-mail reminders to update your event listing. So, make sure to keep your show dates listed!

Similarly, venues on SoCalRocks.com that have not had an event scheduled for over 90 days will also be hidden from view (on the Local Venues) page until an artist adds a new event at that venue to the site.

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Support SoCalRocks.com: Please help SoCalRocks.com by visiting our affiliates through the image links on the site or via the direct text links below.

MusiciansFriend.com - Online discount musical instrument supplier.

Zzounds.com - Another online discount musical instrument supplier.

CafePress.com - Create & sell your own band merchandise online.

The home page of SoCalRocks.com has been overhauled to now constantly display up-to-the-second information on upcoming shows, most active bands and venues, most recent classifieds, and of course, the latest SoCalRocks.com news. The main menu of the site has also been reorganized a bit to simplify navigation.

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If your band already has a web site that lists your upcoming show dates, and you also list your upcoming show dates here on SoCalRocks.com (as you should), it may seem somewhat of a pain in the rear to have to constantly remember to update your show dates on both sites. Well, now you can access your upcoming show dates from the SoCalRocks.com database, and display them directly within a page on your existing band web site!

One of the coolest things about this system is that once a show date listed on SoCalRocks.com has passed, it is automatically purged and removed from the schedule. So, you no longer have to worry about removing the old obsolete dates from the calendar! [MORE]

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The SoCalRocks.com Store has been updated once again, and now includes a new line of official SoCalRocks.com clothing specifically designed for the live music fan. If you are not a huge DJ fan and prefer your music LIVE, say so with these official "I LOVE IT LIVE" shirts, thongs, stickers, and coffee mugs. [MORE]

In an effort to keep everyone on SoCalRocks.com informed of the latest site-related news, anyone adding/editing their band bio or classified ad will have the option to add themselves automatically into the SoCalRocks.com E-Mail Group. To get this started, all listed bands and current classified ad posters have had their e-mail addresses included. To opt-out, just click the link at the bottom of the confirmation e-mail that was sent out to you.

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New "I'M WITH THE BAND" apparel is now available in the SoCalRocks.com store (www.SoCalRocks.com/store). Selected items within the SoCalRocks.com store are currently ON-SALE. So, show your support for the site, get some cool clothes, and save a few bucks all at the same time!

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For those bands who have their own band web sites already and don't like the hassle of having to add their upcoming show dates to both sites (here and there), SoCalRocks.com now has a way to simplify this. You can now just add your info to SoCalRocks.com and fetch this same info for displaying on your own site.

For example, try typing http://www.SoCalRocks.com/GetEvents.asp?Artist=<YourBand>, where <YourBand> is replaced with your band name, for example: http://www.SoCalRocks.com/GetEvents.asp?Artist=303.

Complete details and examples of using this page effectively from within your existing web site -- including customizing the text and background colors -- will be posted here within the next day or two. Stay tuned!

Save some cash on selected "official" SoCalRocks.com shirts and hats until September 1st. Go to www.SoCalRocks.com/Store for details.

SoCalRocks.com WebMaster Loren Scott would like to take a moment to thank the following specific folks for their recent contributions to support my efforts with SoCalRocks.com:

* Brett Schneider (After Hours bassist)
* Darrel Woodside (After Hours guitarist)
* Steve Hagar (Bluefish bassist)
* The entire Reseeded band!
* Luis @ EPSA Music (for the great deal on the JBL SF-15 cabs!)

Lastly, your humble webmaster will be handling drum duties with Mo Green this weekend (August 29th & 30th) at Ringers in Bonsall (9pm-1am). So, stop on by and say "Hi".

Well, better late than never... Gabriel Olsen's article in The Californian newspaper that was published on April 3rd, 2003 is now available to read online at SoCalRocks.com. Just click on the "NEWS / PRESS" menu and select the "SoCalRocks.com PRESS" menu item. Or, go to this link to get directly to the article page:


http://www.socalrocks.com/Californian-040303.asp

SoCalRocks.com is born.