It’s All About San Diego
Growing up in Los Angeles County, I was completely convinced that L.A. was the center of the universe.
What proof did I have? Everyone on TV looked and sounded like us, unless someone was making fun of them (”Mel, Kiss mah grits“). Newscasters and actors were taught to speak like us, getting rid of any hint of a southern drawl or “ethnic” diction. Movies were made in L.A., movie stars lived there. You only had to watch one Rose Parade to know that everyone wished they lived in L.A.
Then I moved to San Diego County.
About twenty years ago, when I first arrived here, I was struck with how little I heard about L.A. Even the television stations were all on different channels. The news, no matter how far off, all seemed to relate to San Diego.
This took on strange proportions after 9/11, when the front pages of the newspapers carried stories like “San Diego airport, office buildings closed” and television reports centered on San Diegans who were in New York, or who recently visited. The same thing happened after the tsunami. Somehow, the news was still about San Diego!
This all got me thinking; Perhaps I’d placed the center of the universe a little too far north. Knowing that it’s all about San Diego, our news people really stretch to some surprising lengths to find a San Diego angle for every story. It’s like the San Diego version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
This weekend, I decided that I wanted to play too. I was heading up to Orange County to the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, and I was determined to find a San Diego story there before the weekend was over.
This proved to be the easiest challenge I could have undertaken. The very first band I listened to was Nathan James and Ben Hernandez. Their sound and style harkened back to old delta blues, including the use of guitars, a harmonica, a jug, spoons and a duet on kazoos. Great music, humorous dialogue, and then they did it - they thanked San Diego!
Why did they thank San Diego while playing in Orange County?
These talented blues musicians said that San Diego has been so supportive of them, and Blues Lovers United of San Diego sponsored them at the 2007 International Blues Challenge that they recently won in Memphis Tennessee!
Where can you see this San Diego blues duo?
- May 27, Nautical Bean, Oceanside
- June 3, Coyote Bar and Grill, Carlsbad
and La Jolla Brew House - June 17, The Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach
- June 18, Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge, San Diego
- June 20, Nautical Bean, Oceanside
- October 13-20, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, San Diego to the Mexican Riviera
Several of the other performers at the Doheny Blues Festival will be performing in San Diego County in the coming weeks, and I plan to write more about this in an upcoming article. Of course, I expect to find more connections to San Diego among them. After all, it’s all about San Diego!
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