Ron Silva | The Che Underground

Mark your calendars for ‘A Che Underground Midwinter Masque’!

February 15, 2022November 12, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

Mark ye well: A neat two years since “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase,” the tribes will gather again in February 2022 for an effervescent weekend of mirth and music.

“A Che Underground Midwinter Masque,” Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 at The Casbah San Diego, will feature legends of the San Diego scene and beyond.

Fancy dress is highly encouraged but not required. (Stay tuned for costume contest details.)

And check out this boffo lineup (with more names to come)!

CU Video Jukebox: We’ve got you covered

January 30, 2022May 25, 2015 by Mmrothenberg

(In the first installment of a series, San Diego musician and impresario Bart Mendoza selects unexpected covers of local bands.)

The ultimate compliment for a band? It has to be having your songs covered – it’s a clear sign you’ve made an impact. It is a rare thing indeed, but percentage-wise, San Diego’s bands circa the late 1970s through the mid 1980s actually have fared quite well, with new generations of musicians taking up inspiration in their songs. Here are 10 examples:

1. Brandywine Road – What Do All The People Know? (originally by the Monroes) This song is well on its way to being a standard, and this is a terrific version.

The Crawdaddys, Nashville Ramblers
in Spain: A view from Toledo

January 23, 2018August 6, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

In mid-June, the reunited Crawdaddys and Nashville Ramblers were the latest of our San Diego crowd to enjoy the hospitality of Spain. Both bands played the Go Sinner Go! festival in Toledo June 10 and 11, and the Crawdaddys followed up the next day with a surprise appearance at the renowned El Sol club in Madrid.

I’m grateful to Silvia Zadarnowski (spouse of Crawdaddys bassist Mark) for these photos of all three events and to musician and show organizer Eduardo Arriero Hernandez for answering my questions about the show and Spanish fondness for this San Diego scene.

Buy your tickets now for the Crawdaddys and the Unknowns at San Diego’s Casbah, Sept. 2-3!

What is your own involvement with the Spanish music scene? You have a band, and you’re an organizer of the Go Sinner Go! Festival. Can you tell me briefly about those and how long you’ve been part of the music scene over there?

I’ve played in bands since I was 17, and I’m 32… so half of my life!! I’ve played guitar and sung with Hollywood Sinners for 11 years and keyboard with Fumestones for one year. I started organizing concerts in Toledo, my home town, of national bands I liked, and I continued it in Madrid. I can try get my favorite bands from all around the world, spend some days with them and have fun!!

Crawdaddys/Unknowns Labor Day gigs:
Buy your tickets now!

December 11, 2017June 9, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

What could be hotter than the triumphant return after 30 years of two famed San Diego bands? The tickets to the event, which just went on sale on the Casbah Web site!

Here are those details again of this can’t-miss event:

Read moreCrawdaddys/Unknowns Labor Day gigs:
Buy your tickets now!

The Crawdaddys at Rhino Records!

December 11, 2017June 4, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(Crawdaddys Redux: Joe Piper channels his inner Andrew Loog Oldham to write this eyewitness account of the Crawdaddys’ long-awaited return to the stage last Sunday.)

What was originally intended to be a “low-key warmup gig” for the reunited ’81-model Crawdaddys prior to their jetting off to Spain for a prestigious appearance alongside The Nashville Ramblers at a bullfight or somesuch (actually “Go Sinner Go!! 2011”), quickly turned into The Event Of The Summer one whole day before summer even officially kicked off.

A capacity crowd crammed into the Rhino Records pop-up store on Santa Monica Blvd. last Sunday evening to raise money for a most worthy cause (MusiCares, providing a safety net for music people in times of need — feel free to contribute any time) and get their Rave Up R&B groove thangs righteously refurbed.

Unknowns, Crawdaddys revisit San Diego!

December 11, 2017May 30, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

Where were you 30 years ago? If you were hanging with San Diego’s cool kids, chances are a gig featuring the Crawdaddys and/or the Unknowns was on your social calendar. And since a few decades hardly matter among friends, Che Underground: The Blog is proud to present a Labor Day weekend featuring both these legendary bands at San Diego’s Casbah!

Here are the deets:

What, when: Che Underground presents the Crawdaddys (Friday, Sept. 2) and the Unknowns (Saturday, Sept. 3)

Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101

How much: $20 per night, $35 for a two-night package (on sale soon via the Casbah site)

Here’s what’s cooking with our headliners:

Nashville Ramblers at Til-Two

December 11, 2017January 26, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

Veteran San Diego musician and photographer Dave Doyle was on the scene Jan. 21 when the legendary Nashville Ramblers visited the Til-Two Club on El Cajon Blvd. to celebrate the pending release of their classic “The Trains.” Here’s his report:

“The Nashville Ramblers hit the stage Friday night, last exuding their honest, youthful charm as if I were standing in Bodie’s or Winston’s back in ’86.

“Despite the fact they are all older and live in different parts of the country, they are all consummate musicians and still perform regularly; their consistency should come as no surprise to the observant listener.

Best San Diego record?

September 4, 2011January 8, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(Ray Brandes puts out a call for swinging singles.)

Later this month, Mike Stax’s Ugly Things Records will release a celebrated local recording, the Nashville Ramblers’ “The Trains.” If one were to rank the best recordings ever to be made by San Diegans, this one would no doubt place in the Top 10.

On any list it would face some tough competition, though, from Rosie and the Originals’ 1961 classic, “Angel Baby,” to my personal favorite, the Crawdaddys’ “5 X 4” EP, released in 1980.

What is your favorite San Diego recording and what is your personal connection to it? (Feel free to consider artists from San Diego who moved or recorded elsewhere.)

— Ray Brandes

Read moreBest San Diego record?

Nashville Ramblers release party

July 3, 2011December 27, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Ray Brandes alerts us to the long-overdue release of “The Trains,” with attendant parties in San Diego and LA.)

It is true that good things come to those who wait. The Nashville Ramblers’ song “The Trains,” which Steven Van Zandt once called “one of the most unspeakably gorgeous instances of romantic yearning disguised as a pop song,” will finally, after 25 years, get its own release.

Mike Stax’s Ugly Things Records will release “The Trains” at a special record release party on Friday, Jan. 21, at the Til-Two Club at 4746 El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego.

Ron Silva & the Monarchs, reunited

December 31, 2010September 19, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Dean Curtis hails the return of a favorite Bay area band with deep San Diego roots.)

When I moved to the Bay area in ’92, I was pretty out of touch with the local music scene. One night, I was browsing through the Bay Guardian’s music listings, and I saw “Ron Silva & The Monarchs” listed.

“Naw, it can’t be the same Ron Silva from The Crawdaddys!” I thought. I went and checked it out anyway. Sure enough, it was the same Ron, fronting a new band of hip R&B cats from San Francisco, put together in ’93 by ex-Loved One Nick Rossi. Ron’s voice sounded better than ever, and the band was top notch!