Disc captures vibrant acoustic scene

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 18, 2007 1:12 PM PDT ∞

While San Diego County's music scene as a whole is in the midst of a massive explosion, no portion of that scene is livelier than the acoustic singer-songwriter component. With more than a dozen coffeehouses and bookstores hosting live acoustic music around the county at least weekly, there is an unprecedented number of acoustic acts in town.

For one of the musicians involved in the acoustic scene, the quality of the music he was hearing was something that deserved documentation.

"Over the past couple of years, I've been kind of infused into the acoustic music scene here in San Diego and thought it would be a really cool idea to get a snapshot of the acoustic music scene," said Beau Gray, producer and entrepreneur behind the "Acoustic San Diego" compilation. "I wanted to keep it strictly acoustic so it could be available in the coffeehouses, where the venues are."

Nineteen local musicians and bands are represented with a track on the album, the first issued on Gray's own Glorified Records. He's roped in some big names, too: Gregory Page, Michael Tiernan, J Turtle, Lindsey Yung, Kyle Phelan and Kim DiVine are all established regulars on the local acoustic scene, and all have a song on "Acoustic San Diego."

Gray, whose own outfit, the Celtic band Fiffin Market, is represented on the album, said finding enough artists to fill out the CD was easy.

"I started with people I knew through the scene, so I went with Josh Damigo, Free Air, Lenny Avenue and Michael Tiernan. ... These are all artists who really play the scene and really play the acoustic music circuit. Those are the people we concentrated on."

Much as with the recent "Staring at the Sun" compilation produced by Bart Mendoza and Chuck Schiele, Gray is hosting a series of shows built around the artists represented on "Acoustic San Diego." The first show is tonight in San Diego, with a North County show next week.

"I thought it would be a cool idea, since we have a bunch of local artists, to spread them out over different nights and give all the arts an opportunity to play and debut the compilation and get it out into the San Diego scene."

Gray also said that he and his wife, Kimberly, plan to make Glorified Records an active participant in the local scene.

"This is just the start. We have plans to start signing bands. We want it to be all genres ---- rock bands and pop bands and acoustic and whatever's good and we like and we feel we can market. I kind of have a niche with acoustic music and thought this would be a good debut for the label."

And with Starbucks featuring its own specialty music label, Gray is hopeful this debut can give local independent coffee shops a competitive edge.

"The idea is to give independent coffee shops something to sell at the counter; something grass-roots and local to sell."

Acoustic San Diego series

Four Way Free, Josh Damigo, Paige Aufhammer, Kyle Phelan, J Turtle, Ryan Horne

When: 8:30 p.m. April 19

Where: Lestat's, 3343 Adams Ave., San Diego

Cost: $5

Info: (619) 282-0437

Web: glorifiedrecords.com

Nathan Welden, Lenny Avenue, Christopher Dale, Free Air, Fiffin Market

When: 7 p.m. April 20

Where: Cosmos Coffee Cafe, 8278 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa

Admission: Free

Info: (619) 698-4217

Lindsey Yung, the Gooses, Kim DiVine, Aaron Bowen, Matthew Blake

When: 9 p.m. April 21

Where: Across the Street, 4601 Park Blvd., San Diego

Cost: $8

Info: (619) 507-7223

Paige Aufhammer, Matthew Blake, Free Air, J Turtle, Amy Kuney

When: 6 p.m. April 28

Where: E Street Cafe, 128/130 W. E St., Encinitas

Cost: Free

Info: (760) 230-2038

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