Link to our myspace so we can easily communicate with all of you. myspace.com.modestomama and become our friend.

Sept 7 -It is some serious rock and hip hop at the Fat Cat with MAMA winner Fig Mutant Thursday night, you need to check his show out. Angst front-man Lonny Jones will be doing an acoustic set at Queen Bean Friday night with Peech and Jon Valenti plays with Rachel Renae at the Red Lion's Sunset Lounge. Silent Envy will be rocking the Underground at Calvary Church . The Steven Converse Trio will be performing at Semplicita Coffee and the Larry Davis Experience will be rocking Yosemite Bowl and SEIP is rocking the Battered Beaver Sunday night.

8-31 The hot local show this weekend is happening at the Queen Bean featuring Jupiter is Useless, fresh off of their Vans Warped Tour gig and the newly signed A Mover A Fighter. Sad news from the local music scene. The band Transport is calling it quits and their last show will be at the Queen Bean on Sept 8 th . They are great guys and hope that they do something new. New show news from Rachel Renae and there are two coffee shops that are delivering music on Friday and Sat nights. Queen Bean is in gear and now Wanderlust and Semplicita are featuring local musicians. Stop by, drink coffee and put $$ in their tip jars and buy their CDs. Make sure that you get signed up on their MySpace sites so you get in the loop.

8-18 Young Idol is coming! Modesto Symphony is back in action this year for the Young Idol contest. Sign up today at www.modestosymphony.org This weekend is the Modesto Art and Wine Festival where you will see the works of over 100 artists, check out more than 30 local bands, see the new Gallo Center Time Capsule and also get some sneak peaks and jazz musician Kenny Rankin will be featured and there will be a kids section a full block long. Tix are only $10 and kids get in free with adults. Do not miss this all day event.

Tailgators has jumped on the local music scene featuring the great cover band Late playing every Thursday nights. The Queen Bean has a loaded weekend and tonight at the Fat Cat will be Team Awesome, Saturday at the Modesto Art and Wine Festival, local bands will be on stage all day long from 10 AM to 10 PM. Make sure that you check out Greg Edward's Off the Air Stage. Always innovative. Neil Buettner is doing a regular Friday night gig at Speakeasy and his shows are cool as he uses lots of cool effects to tweak his trusty guitar and Rick Barnes is close to being selected to the "Don't Forget the Lyrics" TV show. He knows everything so he should do well. Transport is putting the finishing touches on a new CD and Fig Mutant is lighting it up with a mega show at the Fat Cat last weekend and a big write up in a national magazine and Moon Trent has a new CD available on CD Baby. The Modesto musicians are making big noise.

7-25 Local singer songwriter Brett Dennen from Oakdale is all over the XM Radio Channel 75- Hear Music with his song She's Mine. Very cool. Here is more cool news as there are two local bands making the tour circuit. Jupiter is Useless and Evaline are on the Van's Warped Tour playing soon at Sleeptrain Amphitheatre and in Fresno . JIU was featured on B93 15 Minutes of Fame Tuesday morning and will be performing at the Queen Bean Friday night. Do not miss them as they do some cool trippy hard synth stuff that you will really like. Forget Franz Ferdinand, dig on Jupiter is Useless. Saturday, If you are not X-Festing, then you need to head to Oakdale to the Cow Tack and check out the bluegrass from Good Luck Thrift Shop or you need to listen to Neon Knights at T's or check out Portrait of the Artist at the Rock.

7-12 Modesto Area Music Association is dedicated to promoting the local music scene.
This is a cool deal, Lucky Lew, the producer behind some of the best Grandaddy and Built Like Alaska recordings is joining forces with Modesto Sound's Brenda Francis in a new studio. They are searching for a new name and will release details soon. Minor Dischord wowed the morning com mute on B93.1 FM 15 Minutes of fame and next week, we will have a special performance by Jupiter is Useless that is currenly on the Vans Warped Tour. Tune in every Tuesday morning at 7:15. In other MAMA news, the Blue Monday Jam sessions are for all ages. Claytons is a full restaurant so you can go hang out and even better, bring yer Strat, Sticks, P-Bass, Harp and sit in. It is fun so go do it. There are a couple of new artists you need to hear about. Natalie Pinkis is an up and com ing singer songwriter that you can find in our massive local band data base. Friday evening, Rachel Renae will be teaming up with Jon Valenti at the Sunset Lounge at the Red Lion. Bring your friends out to check out the great music. You need to check out this all-ages show with Alisa Poppin & Sean O'Brien @ Queen Bean Friday 7:PM and the newly signed A Mover A Fighter and Unknown Statue on Saturday. Oh yeah, buy your July 21 Xfest tickets by clicking here.

7-03 Wednesday, the Black Irish Band release their 16 th CD at the Pinecrest Amphitheater, Thursday night, Nick Shandel is at El Palomar, Friday night at the Red Lion's Sunset Lounge, Jon Valenti is on deck to do a regular Friday show and he always brings his friends if for a great time, this week featuring Not An Airplane and Jeff Bonilla. Make sure you hear Jon's new song Caress. Joelle Maddyson is at the Queen Bean Friday night, and Northwood Blackroot is Saturday. Don't forget that there is live music every night of the week in downtown Modesto . Tell your friends and get downtown and check it out.

6-21 The big MAMA Event of the weekend is the All Piano Festival at the Queen Bean where our local hotshot keyboard players Aaron Durr, Travis Vick of Fairway, Clark Beggs of the Evening News. Cruise and Good Radio are presenting Not4Nothing and Megan Slankard at Hero's Sports Bar and Lounge. For those of you that want a super huge dose of local music, you can hangout at the Relay for Life and check out this line up.
The Quake Mobile DJ/Presents 9:AM to 10:00AM

Not an Airplane- 10:00AM to 10:50AM
Not 4 Nothing- 11:15PM to 12:PM
Project 59- MAMA Winner Johnny Rapp 12:15PM to 1:10PM
Romak & The Space Pirates of Orange County- 1:25PM to 2:10PM
Supo Sueno Jeff Bonilla * 2:20 to 3:10PM
Unknown Statue MAMA Winner 3:20PM 4:20PM
Aaron Durr MAMA Nominee 4:35PM to 5:35PM
American Radio MAMA Winner 5:50 to 6:50PM
Transport MAMA Winner 7:20PM to

In other MAMA news, check out 2-time MAMA Winner Megan Slankard in this cool East Bay Express interview http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-06-13/news/backstage-wizard/ She has really made big mark nationwide and to think the punched through right here in Modesto.

Aug 24 - The 2006 MAMA Award nominees will be coming out on Friday September 1 in the Modesto Bee and ModestoView. This event will be presented by the State Theatre, Modesto Bee, ModestoView, Chris Ricci Presents, and the City of Modesto with support from B93.1, KHOP 95.1, KWIN, The Hawk 104.1, KRVR 105.5 the River. The MAMA Site will have a new URL www.modestoareamusic.com and has a MySpace too. This is a great event that involves all of the local music community. In musician news, Jon Valenti is doing a bunch of regional gigs and has been teaming up with Tara Tinsley, who did a great set at the Modesto Art and Wine Festival this weekend, as did Roem Baur who has new stuff, Aaron Durr, who also has new stuff, Dollar Show also has new stuff and the local music scene is teaming with new music from bands like FeMMeBotz and Hideous. Make sure and take a listen at our listen and download station in ModestoView. Fat Skeleton is in San Francisco working on a new CD so that should be really cool.

Aug 16 - Sunday was a day that anyone that supports local music should love and be proud. Local kids, put together to make a new band in the Skip's Music Search for the Stars. made it to the Sacramento finals and took 2 nd Place , missing 1 st by only 4 points. Congratulations! High school students Derek Serpa, Alex Lebbert, Andrew Rivera, Garrett Jones, Derek Blythe, and Chris Nelson laid down three "original" tracks and went head to head with 21 other bands. Makes Modesto proud. This is what music is all about and we will have a new band in town called Avant Garde. Cool huh? Check out the video of their performance in View - coming soon in view.

Special note from Nathan of Transport: " Hi...just a little update on what has been happening in Transport Land . After auditioning many talented guitarists throughout the central valley we have found our new Lead Guitarist....Aaron Wilson. Aaron blew all of us away in his auditions with us and his musical vision is right on track with ours. He brings experience and a very professional approach to writing and performing and he has no limitations on his creativity. We have already written 3 brand new tracks with 7 more in development. We plan on uploading some of them to our myspace at the end of summer and setting out on a west coast tour. For more on Transport visit: www.myspace.com/transport "

Aaron Durr has launched is new website and has now landed on an August 30th date to launch his new CD, the Long Semester. www.aarondurr.com Jon Valenti keeps his site updated with new tracks and set lists and will be playing with Tara Tinsley next week. www.jonvalenti.com Send us your gig schedule so we can get it in our calendar and let us know what is happening with your band so we can help spread the love.

I recently received an email from a friend that read, "I had no idea that Kate Trompetter played piano and I have known her my whole life" Yes it is true and she is quite good! Kate does play a mean piano and is on stage regularly and this Friday you can see her at the Queen Bean. Meghan Baker also returns to Modesto playing the Bean later in the evening. You can groove to some serious jazz with Mark Little and Michelle Richardson at Tymeless Friday nights and there is regular jazz at the barking dog and don't forget Jazz at the SOS on Saturday night. Jon Valenti is regularly playing the Modesto Sports Bar, Nick Shandel is regularly playing El Palomar, Bonilla Bruce and Durr at P Wexfords, Aaron Durr, Al Himes Dale Ward and the Greenville Blues band regularly play MaDea's BBQ. This is just a teaser of the bands playing around town on a regular basis. Check out the To Do calendar and look for the "Live" headline.

The EARL CD release party was a blast at the Fat Cat and there is a wave of new music bubbling up in Modesto. Stay tuned to ModestoView an check out the new music coming down. People are already asking questions about the MAMA Awards and the nominations will be out in late August and mark your calendars, as the MAMAs are scheduled for October 19 th at the fabulous Historic State Theatre. Kate Trompetter plays at the Queen Bean Friday night. This weekend, look for Roem Baur, the Evening News (after their X fest set) and Hazel and Vine at Javas Saturday night. There are so many local bands playing all over town Thurs, Friday, Sat and Sun you just have to click on the Modesto View calendar and look for the words Live! See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

July 13- One of our musicians needs you. Jim Hartley of the MAMA Winning Studebaker Blues Band suffered a stroke and is at Memorial Hospital . His recovery status is unknown at this time, but the community is rallying together to make a difference and great an assistance fund for his family. The show is Sunday at the SOS and features Daniel Castro, Rene Solis, Rhythm Deluxe and MoFo Party Band. They need volunteers for stage, set up, tear down, sound and all sorts of things. Click on this link see more ways you can help. http://www.studebakerblues.com/Jimmy_Hartley_Benefit.html

The X Fest Schedule is shaping up and the power trio of Bonilla Bruce and Durr will be on the Fat Cat Stage. Sadly, Smashmouth has pulled out of the show and they have been replaced with Tone Loc that will wow the crowd with some Wild Thing action. On deck are Pepper, Joe Diffie, Vanilla Ice, Earl, and other great bands. You can check out the most current X-Fest stage schedule as it evolves up to show time by clicking on www.xfestmodesto.com Jon Valenti has been playing his wide ranging repertoire at the Speakeasy and Modesto Sports Bar on a regular basis and has a really cool set list and his song Caress is moving up the IAC Charts. Megan Slankard is back in the area and will be recording a live performance in Murphys. She is just fresh off of her XM Radio performance.

Tara Tinsley will be on her way to record a new CD in Japan . How cool is that. You can catch her at the Tropical Smoothie Café in the meantime and hear her on Radio MAMA on Comcast Channel 7, 19, and 26. There is a local band called Split Personnel. They have performed all over the valley, Sac, etc. and have played The Fat Cat Modesto. They recently performed at the world famous Whiskey A Go Go in LA twice. In August they will be headlining per the Whiskey's request. If you are a local band or want to check them out, go to www.myspace.com/splitpersonnel to hear the 4 song demo. For booking, please contact Rod @ (209)688-6313 24/7 

I got an email from Ticketmaster that read "don't miss Nickleback" Well that is one show I totally plan on missing. Besides hearing it every time it turn on corporate radio, this everything sounds alike genre needs to end. That is why you should be listening to local bands. It is harder now as they are not getting much airplay, but you can hear them on ModestoView and on Comcast Channel 7 and 26 24 hours a day, when there is no TV programming.

Here is something different, CD release party at the Barkin' Dog, Saturday June 17th, 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. No cover. Ernie Bucio's Latin Jazz Orchestra (Orquesta Ritmo de Ernesto Bucio), back from it's triumphant debut at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, will be releasing it's new CD Live at the Barkin' Dog. The CD features all members of the band in solos and showcases Latin classics such as Manteca , Oye Como Va, Ran Kan Kan , La Cuna, Perfidia and Song For My Father. Also featured on the disc are some funk tunes from the Tower of Power book, Squib Cakes, You're Still a Young Man and You've Got to Funkifize. See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

June 6 - Jon Valenti is recovering from a sore throat and will be back in action this week playing the Speakeasy Wednesday night. Better Left Unsaid plays the Fat Cat. Megan Slankard will be playing Gradfitti on Friday night at the Fruityard. There is a really cool band called Nonameko that is from Modesto and has an album that is featured in the latest (Spring 2006) issue of JazzImprov magazine (vol. 6, no. 3). It is called Noñameko and they are based in Modesto and Noñameko is a graduate of Modesto High. This is a great new offering from one of the many talented bands here in Modesto . Music and culture is a really big part of Modesto and makes us really different. Let's all support local bands. Click on the MAMA Bands page to go to the bands websites and purchase their music. Get listening.

There is some really cool MAMA News. KHOP 95.1 has hooked up MAMA winner Jiggy with on-air time. Yes indeed they are playing his music and letting take hold of the mike and music. This is very cool and more stations should take note. Think if our area Blue Collar bands could get the mike at the Hawk, or Angst get the mike at B93? Could it happen? One can only dream that the local musicians get a home on the airwaves. Thanks to KHOP for taking the lead. Local artists take the stage Thursday at MaDea's with Aaron Durr, Friday with Fallen Sleepless at the Rock and Saturday night at Queen Bean with Tara Tinsley and Sunday Jimmy Baines is at the Fat Cat and Peaceable Jones is at the fat Cat Monday night and it is a Modesto Area jam at the Blue Monday Jam at Tymeless Cuisine. Get your gee-tar out and go.

Wow, first it was Donna and Clark, and now Max Miller has left Clear Channel. Max was the one that programmed the music on B931 and was influential in getting some great national airplay for some of our local bands like Megan Slankard, Flying Blind, Fissure and Transport. We hope that the local radio stations will step up and be big local MAMA (Modesto Area Music Association) music supporters. 106.1 FM is a low power FM station that plays local music so tune in when you are in northwest Modesto . Comcast Channel 7 and 26 on Comcast play a soundtrack of local Modesto Music 24 hours a day when programming is not on the air. ModestoView.com and the MAMA Association have been supplying the local mix, thanks to the local musicians that gave permission. See, who needs big label artists? We have them here so listen.

May 17 - Local Music loses some friends this week as Clear Channel has let go some of the most influential and important people in the local music scene. Donna Miller of B93.1 and son Clark Miller that programmed the really cool evening show Unwound were beyond instrumental in helping create the local music scene. It was Donna that was able to bring the world class talent to our area as evidenced by Summerfest, Xfest, Acoustic Christmas, Underground Lounges and so many other fun things. They even brought Sixpence None the Richer to play for free in Graceada Park to raise money for the playground renovation in 1999. Grandaddy, Transport, Evening News, Megan Slankard , UVR, Flying Blind and so many other bands were helped by these people. ModestoView.com was proud to be a part of many of these shows and we wish Donna and Clark all the best in this crazy world of music. We know that they will be even more successful whatever they do next. Now, more than ever, we need to band together and make sure that local music gets on the radio, on satellite, on MySpace and purchased by you the music loving public. Post your comments and greetings to Donna and Clark at the Buzz Blog.

Now that I have listened to the new Grandaddy CD Just Like the Fambly Cat about 400 times this weekend, it is so cool and so fitting that the last "hidden track" is an ELO style Shangri La song complete with operatic vocals. There is a killer 2 minute punk song and a really cool song called Disconnect, but all said and done, Jeez Louise is still my favorite. You can listen to these songs and order the CD at www.myspace.com/grandaddy Jason will be out touring to promote the CD acoustically with Aaron Burtch on support too. We need need need a final Grandaddy show in Modesto don'tca think? What do you think about the new Grandaddy CD? Post your comments in the buzzblog.

There is a musician in town that has created some great new music. Michael D Johnston plays some good driving rock and roll. Many of the tracks are faith based and stand the acid test of solid rock, which at the end of the day is a really good thing. You can check out his music on his MySpace site. Erik Andersen new CD Gemini Sky and he goes electric and is blending in some cool emo stuff. Nick Shandel is on the Sacramento and Company show Friday morning from 9 to 10 so check it out. On May 20, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy will be doing an acoustic show in one of the all time legendary record stores Amoeba in San Francisco on Haight new Stanyan. I can't wait to hear Jeez Louise live. The new Grandaddy CD is shipping. I got mine already and I got my secret free download.

There is a cool train song that was written by the Black Irish band. This is a song about the railroad train called Sierra. It was created for the Sierra Railroad and this is a fun thing to listen to. You know that train buff and Modesto Bee Photographer Ted Benson probably has this on his I-pod. Give it a listen http://www.sierrarailroad.com/ Megan Slankard is touring all over the northwest and has some really cool gigs. Life on the road creates great new song ideas. Megan will be featured as a featured concert on XM Radio and we will keep you posted when that will happen. Jon Valenti has been performing his new song Blue to the crowds in Modesto and you can hear it if you check him out live. He is on regular rotation at the Speakeasy and Modesto Sports Bar. See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

There are some MAMA TV schedule changes. Nick Shandel will be seen on News 10s Sacramento and Company on May 19 so set your Tivo. Are you the next big thing? Do you care? Modesto is home to many great bands, including Grandaddy, critically acclaimed worldwide. There is new and emerging talent every day. The Modesto Area Music Association is your central point for local music and hosts the annual MAMA Awards in October. There are thousands of garages in Modesto , most of which should be host to a band. Burn an MP3 and send it to us and we will post if for download Upload it now . This will take some time but you know what you are doing. Listen to MAMA. Do you need a demo CD to distribute to local festivals and venues, but can't afford to get one made? If you are nineteen or younger, you can record at student rates. Visit Modesto Sound to find out more: http://www.modestosound.com/

The Modesto Area Music Madness continues on News 10's Sacramento and Company. The band Angst was the featured artist last Friday and they found a bunch of new fans as this MAMA winning power punk band went acoustic. This week, the action continues as singer songwriter John Bruce performs this Friday on Channel 10 from 9 to 10 each Friday for Modesto Music Action presented by the MAMA Association. Later this month, Nick Shandel and Ann Loureiro will be on the show. We have been invited back for more performances in May and June. Bands are being scheduled now. It is cool to see the Modesto music scene get recognized all over California . Email me if you are interested.

Live music this week is off the hook. Tonight, Jon Valenti plays the Speakeasy, Grenville Blues Band is at Ma'deas on Wednesday, Timbalero at Galletto on Thursdays. Friday Nick Shandel Band is partying at the Bamboo Villa and Peaceable Jones is playing at Sidelines while Guitarman Rick Barnes plays at P Wexfords. Dean Moore and the Bluestrings are at Ma'deas Friday and Saturday and the Speakeasy has jazz Friday and Sat nights and Ernie Bucio jazzes the Barking Dog Grill Saturday night. You are hooked up in Modesto for local and live music.

The MAMA Area TV stars continue. Fissure made an appearance on News10 Sacramento and Company and this Friday will feature up and coming band The Evening News. Tune in on Friday from 9-10 am and support local music. There is a really cool music festival called Noise Pop in San Francisco beginning this weekend and it features the unique, El Olio Wolof on April 1st at the Knockout in the Mission . They will be featured on the compilation CD too. Cool stuff from a cool band. Fat Skeleton is playing the Queen Bean on Friday night and it will be a total blast and Scarlet Letter is playing the Underground, also on Friday.

Click here for Grandaddy Pre Order
Grandaddy alert! Just Like The Fambly Cat, the final CD in the Grandaddy chapter of local music is coming out on May 9 and you can preorder it to arrive in your mailbox the very same day. If you pre order, you get an exclusive bonus track called “Winners” when you order, I got mine and it is a cool song. Also, I was vinyl shopping in Berkeley yesterday and found Sumday on vinyl and a special 45 with Grandaddy on one side and Polyphonic Spree on the other. Very cool. My highschool daughter thinks that vinyl is the best. You too can turn on a new generation to the fun of vinyl records. Mike Cloward at Modesto 's own Devil in the Woods records can get you addicted to the indie vinyl scene. Dust off your turntables and have fun.

For a look back at last year read on below.

Hey Modesto Music Fans. You have come to the right place to see a complete year in review for the 2005 season. There is so much that has happened in our city and yet so much more to be done. We need to make sure that we have more venues for all ages. We need a police force that recognizes that most people downtown are good people and need to be welcomed. We need more local radio stations that play local music. This is just a start and we can do so much better, but we really had a fun year and we, the music fans of Modesto got to hear a lot of new and wonderful music. Thanks to everyone that makes and supports music.

All the best, Chris Murphy

And now... a tour of 2005.

Megan Slankard is #1 most played artist this week (December 19th) on XM Cafe Radio 45. Thank you for your requests, please keep them coming! Megan needs your help to stay on the charts!http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=45 Click "request a song" on the left side of the page!

One of the outlets for local bands to be heard has gone off the air. In a format switch from Rock to Spanish hits, local bands lost a huge ally for local concert support, radio airplay and exposure. Hopefully rock will return to the airwaves, but in the meantime, is it important that our bands keep making good music, networking with MySpace and the MAMA Association. Rock will never die as it burns in our souls. Local stations that support our local rockers are, KCSS Turlock 91.9, B93.1, KHOP 95.1. Contact the local program directors and let them know that we need local rock on the radio. For a list of local bands and links to their music and websites, click on the MAMA Page. www.modestoview.com/mama

This week, there is some really cool music. For you big fans of one of the most exciting bands to hail from our area, the Flying Blind show will be a gas on New Year's Eve. There is really nothing like a good FB live show. They really should get it together and try again.

New musicians check this out! Brenda Francis, owner of the Modesto Sound Studio, has let us know that they have their new website up and to let all of the Modesto musicians know that they are a non-profit recording studio to help singers, songwriters and bands get started. Recording time is only $15 per hour. There is no excuse not to get your music on disk. Modesto is lucky to have a variety of great recording studios. Celestial Sound is operated by Roger Hanner, The Sound Chamber is operated by Frank Imbesi, and Sister Dimension studios are run by Frank Alkazar. These are some of the people that give Modesto it's sound and we thank these people for being in business here in Modesto . Click on the MAMA site to see info for all local recording studios.

In local band news, El Olio Wolof heads out for a tour of the great northwest playing over a dozen gigs around Ore and WA. Check this link for a review in one of the great metro newspapers, the Stranger from Seattle .

New Section in our MAMA bands.
We have added Tribute bands, Latin bands and Electronica. If you know of any bands in these areas, please let us know so that we can add them to the MAMA List of local Modesto Area Bands. Hook us up so we can help hook them up.

Check it out, Modesto music is a favorite of Harry Potter! Yes it is true. Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter himself and mega punk music fan has listed his favorite CDs/(albums for you old timers like me) and the top of his list is The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy. Right there with the Libertines, Pixies and the Sex Pistols. Just for fun, ask some of your Modesto friends if they have ever heard of Grandaddy. If they have not, please enlighten them to some of the talent we have here. Who needs Emimem when we have our own Jiggy? The list goes on and on.

Local bands playing this week are Johnny and Kelly Wed at Galletto, Thursday night at Fuzio and Friday at 1505. AutoSelect is at the Bamboo Villa on Friday Dec 16. Also Friday, Ernie Bucio plays at Barkin' Dog Grill. Friday night, check out acoustic artist Nick Shandel at El Palomar. Long time Modesto guitar man Rick Barnes is playing Fridays at P Wexfords. There is a new club to add to the Modesto list called "The Brunswick" at the corner of Pelendale and Dale. Stay tuned for the upcoming gig lists.

Check it out, tribute bands are a blast. Modesto has a new tribute band to U2 called Rattle and Hum. I was skeptical when I learned about it, but click on their site and listen to a sample clip of Vertigo. Pretty darn good. Can you feeeeeeeeeeeel .feeee -eee-eell Click on the MAMA Band page and check out their new MySpace website.

Kelly and Johnny fans, you can see them 3x a week. Tues @ El Palomar, Wed @ Galletto, Thurs @ Fuzio. Ernie Bucio fans can get their fix 2x weekly, Thurs at Jacob's and Fri at Barking Dog.

Final Cut Media is in the final edit of the 2005 MAMA Awards. For the first time this year, you can buy a DVD of the show. It is an all-ages edit and features some stellar live performances from Fissure, Kid Charlemagne, Angst, and more. Email here to get on the first release list. Pricing will be posted next week. Bands, send us your gigs and news and ModestoView will help you spread the word. See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama Send us your music update to mama@modestoview.com

Big heads up. Friday night, Dec 9 th Megan Slankard will debut her new I Little Extra Sun at a CD release party at Slim's in San Francisco on a night where she plays with Luce. Get this, people that went to the Picnic at the Pops event will notice that the dress she was shopping for on What Not to Wear, that she wore at Picnic at the Pops is the dress she wears on the cover of the new CD.

Quinn Carlson, formerly of Triple Wisdom gives us reason to be thankful as there is a new band called Fat Skeleton that is the new Triple Wisdom. They opened for Transport this last weekend at the Palm Gardens .

Dave Hanley has been playing his bluegrass in San Francisco and is really enjoying the BlueStick pickups on his Martin acoustic. Way better than a Fishman, less feedback. They are installed on my Martin too, sounds better than a Taylor . The boys at Skips did a great job. Email us your gigs and band info so that we can help you get the word out.

Dateline: November 21, 2005 - 8:55 am - XM Radio 45 played our own MAMA Winning Megan Slankard's My Hallelujah. November 22 at 11:10 Riley. Her new CD, I Little Extra Sun will be released at an all ages CD release party at Slim's in SF on Dec 9 th . This is some great national airplay that all began right here on B93.1. Great music from a great person.

The Alistair / Angst Show got cancelled due to tour bus problems. There are some bummed out local bands that were hoping to get on the stage with these national artists. Hopefully this event will be coming back soon. Local music fans, this is a sad day as Flying Blind has announced that they will be performing their last shows. You can go to the Fat Cat on Wednesday to see FB in one of their final performances.

Need your bluegrass fix? MAMA winner Dave Hanley, now solo after his Puffin Billies days will be playing the Fat Cat on Wednesday night the 9 th . Celebrate your election victories or defeats with some bluegrass. Saturday night, go see some MAMA Winners and nominees at the Central Valley Rocks show in Tracy .

Granddaddy is featured in the London based New Musical Express website for Diary of Todd Zillla and get this, their new song Natures Anthem is the music for the new Honda Hybrid TV Commercial. Heck you are probably hearing our own Grandaddy 10 times a day and don't even know it.

Hey Modesto Artists. Get heard on national radio. Take advantage of the XM Radio unsigned. This is a channel fully devoted to emerging bands that do not have record contracts yet. It is known that many of the big record company execs and radio station programmers routinely listen to this channel to hear the next big thing. http://www.xmradio.com/pdf/unsigned_sumission_form.pdf

Get your music to local Program Directors at our local stations and see what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

The MAMAs were a blast. See the winners. There were some great moments, some great surprises and some really special moments at the 2005 MAMA Awards on Thursday night. This is one of the few nights when people from all cross sections of town are all together, from the City of Modesto, CVB and Chamber of Commerce to the Modesto Bee, all the radio stations and local magazines all teaming up to celebrate our local music scene, that is truly unique in Central California. Check out a complete listing of the winners from this year and years before by clicking here on the link and going to the Hall Of Fame. It was an awesome evening and on behalf of fellow MAMA co-founder Chris Ricci, we thank all of you that helped make this one of the best evenings of the year in Modesto . Click here to see the winners. Click here to see the pics.

A quick apology to the folks that tuned in to the webcast. The video was beautiful but sorry for the audio difficulties. We will be rebroadcasting the entire show in a week or so as soon as Final Cut Media completes the edit. We will get the word out to the bands and the people that votes when the broadcast will be. It will be featured on both Comcast Channel 7 and 26 over the next few weeks as well. DVDs of the even will be available as well.

Check this out. In the new October issue of Blender Magazine, one of the top songs to get this month is Pull the Curtains by our own Grandaddy. How's that for cool. Maybe one of the MAMA artists that you vote for will be on this list in the future.

MAMA nominee, El Olio Wolof would like to welcome new bassist, Amanda Jane Meadows. MAMA nominee Mike Hammar and The Nails are adding some Hammond B3 organ tracks, courtesy of Hammond guru Allan Carroll, to some of the songs from their 'Going Home' CD... and are expected to begin their sophomore CD this winter at Sister Dimension studios.

Local musician Nideit has just finished their CD, entitled 'Everybody Loves Something'... recorded and mixed at Sister Dimension studios. Cool, passionate alternative rock... In Fear Of Falling just finished their demo... hardcore metal. Devin StaatsWalker, IFOF's bass player, is also the bass player for MAMA nominees Sickle...

Sam Regalado of the MAMA Winning Johnny Rocket and the Thrust is nearing completion of his latest CD project. He is playing and singing everything himself, layering harmony vocals flawlessly... His new CD should be out this Winter, watch for it!

This just in.. is MAMA nominee band The Evening News breaking up as the votes are counted. The emails are flying and the band members are not being quiet. Wow, a shakeup in the last week of the 2005 MAMA Awards vote. Can you believe all of this is happening right here in Modesto ? It is.

The MAMA nominees are playing our in force so that you, the voting public can hear who they are an place your vote for them. You can click on the MAMA vote page and clink on their weblinks to hear some clips too and learn more about the local bands.

Peaceable Jones has a new demo CD. It is available through their website. Click on the mama page to go to all of the band websites. MAMA Nominee Eric Benson will be playing the Open Air Mark et Thursday night. There is a huge MAMA Nominee show at MJC on the 7 th featuring The Evening News, John Bruce and others as a benefit to Hurricane Victims. MAMA Winner Erik Anderson has a new song out called Life Goes On. Transport's EP has been re-titled Sudden Oak Death.

The future of Grandaddy is a mystery as the new CD surfaces. Lobby Jason and the guys to get together and go all the way. After last summer's CD and sell out tour, they are "this close". Critically, they are already legends, but it would be great to see them as a household word. If Phish can be world famous, so then can Grandaddy. Who's next? Check the MAMA site and see our huge pool of local music talent.

There is some new music rumbling in Modesto . This week, I just got my preorder of the Excerpts from the ToddZilla Diary from Granddaddy this week, complete with my new Robodeer T-shirt. Jason Lytle's views of Modesto have changed and we, the music fans of Modesto may be the losers as the last song on the CD is titled "Goodbye".

New music coming soon from Transport with the Noises from a Secret Nuclear Bunker EP. MAMA nominees are gigging all over the place and there are lots of opportunities to go see MAMA nominated bands. Jazz nominee Eric Benson will be playing the open air market Thursday evening in 10 th St Place. Johnny Pistola band is playing Nino's Friday night.

There will be a MAMA Nominees event coming soon at the Mustang Club on Oct 15, two days before the voting deadline with D.A.R.Y.L.,The Femmebotz, Nothing Less, Angst, and The Evening News. This is a great way to learn about local music. Former MAMA winners Better Left Unsaid are back and playing with Five Star Rising at their CD Release Party and you can hear it live at the Fat Cat on Oct 6.

There a couple of new Hip Hop bands that you should check out that are nominated that include Bree, Jiggy, Breed Nation, Okwerdz and more. You can also find new artists like Net Work, 4 Down 1 Up and others are now featured in the MAMA band list.

Built Like Alaska - A showcase band at the South by Southwest festival. This is agreat honor and it is helping build their reputation nationwide. This, in additon to being included on the score of the film Ellie Parker, we can expect much more from Built Like Alaska. Check out the SXSW link.

The vote is on. There are over 56 bands and musicians nominated for the 2005 Modesto Area Music Awards. The lobbying and the mail list communication is huge and you, the music fan, place the votes. Check out the MAMA Vote page and make sure that you click on the website link by the nominee name and learn more about our local performers. Techno band D.A.R.Y.L is in the studio finishing their new CD. Former Ceres resident and teacher Meghan Baker is gigging all over the bay area. Word on the street is that the band Sleep Where I Fall is giving local bands a bad name wherever they play. Heads up. Our music scene needs to be a positive movement.

MAMA Voting is live! Over 56 local artists are nominated in the 2005 MAMA Awards. There are many categories including Best Pop, Best Hard Rock, Best Alternative /Indie, Best Unplugged, Best R&B Hip Hop, Best Jazz Blues, Best Venue, Best Event and so much more. Take a look, discover new bands and place your vote for your favorite thing. Get goin and vote!

Queen Bean is fast becoming the place in Modesto to hear some of the best music. The Bean is host to some of the Off the Air shows and will feature a new artist Saturday night that was highly recommended by Megan Slankard , David Newell. His website has been added to the MAMA Band list so you can check him out on the web too. Go see him live.

The big countdown is on. Less than 15 days until the huge Picnic at the Pops, where this year, the nationally acclaimed talents of the Modesto Area Musicians will be on the big stage with a the full Modesto Symphony. Make sure you carve out the evening of September 10 for the Picnic at the Pops and watch Megan Slankard , Devante, Keith Cole and Eric Anderson perform songs from films.

There is a really cool acoustic artist name John Bruce that you need to hear. Formerly of the punk band Hetch Hetchy, he is creating some cool and driving acoustic music. Click on our mama band site and get the total hook up to John Bruce and other local musicians. You will be impressed. See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

Modesto Area bands, are you listed in our MAMA band list? Let people know who you are an get bookings and the word out there. We will even link to your website or MySpace page. Send the info to mama@modestoview.com

This week, Mark Macsenti will be taking it to the streets beginning Aug 27 and giving us a taste of his new CD Hole in the Sky live from 10 th Street Place. Loards Ice Cream and Senior Fresh are hooking us up with the music starting at 7:30 until 10:30. Ben Goodell is the new drummer for Angst and he tears it up. El Olio Wolof is back in the studio working on new music and will be at the Fat Cat later in September to debut the new music. The local DJs are working on the 2005 MAMA nominations. Voting will begin on September 1. Yahoo. See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

A couple of local music milestones here in Modesto . Local up and coming band Angst is losing their drummer and is seeking a new one. Triple Wisdom, after a brief reunion and a killer show at X Fest and at the Speakeasy is again now more. Maybe Triple Wisdom will plan a triple reunion. Never know. Rick Barnes is playing at Sidelines on a regular basis and Sidelines is increasing their live music offerings. For regular live music, you need to check out these places: Fat Cat, Nino's, The Ranch, T's, St Stan's and the Mustang. There are other restaurants that also offer live music on selected evenings, but please make sure that you support the clubs offering the music, and drink some beer while you are at it.

Check out the local band action. Johnny Pistola is playing Nino's on Thursday and Friday. If you haven't been to Nino's, you need to go. A reunited Triple Wisdom and Zebras from Zimbabwe play at the Fat Cat Thursday night. Good to see TW back in action . Meghan Baker has a really cool gig in San Francisco at the Club Waizaima in SFO. It is great when our local artists play the big cities. Guess what? Megan Slankard , Devante, Erik Anderson and Keith Cole will be playing along with a huge backup band for over 4,000 people right here in Modesto . Can you guess what event it will be? A ModestoView T-Shirt will go to the first person that tells us what it is. Stay tuned for MAMA Nominees coming soon. Voting will begin September 1 and will conclude October 17.

There is a beautiful song by local band Transport called Pretty and it is. Listen to this song Click here " In a store she wants more than their offering And I like the way she looked at me and I can't believe she's still awake in a store she wants more than their offering she's got a pretty face"

Did your band play X fest? Send the pics and we will post them. Do you want to see what many of the local bands look like? Check out the ModestoView gallery and see some live action shots from this weekends' X Fest. You can see local bands like Earl, Flying Blind, Duncan Booth, Grandaddy Time Machine and many more. Do you have pictures of your band playing Xfest? If you do, email them in a zipped file to ModestoView and we will post them in the official X Fest photo gallery. Local bands on stage this weekend: Tonight: Rick Barns and Silvermoon are at Vella Farms and Carl Robinson is jazzing at Skewers. Saturday night Deck Hogin is playing Jazz at Oceana and Carl Robinson plays Jazz at PomoDoro. Sunday night: Crypt Orchid is on stage at Fat Cat. Auto Select is at Whanga Rhei on Friday and Saturday.

There was a total MAMA Band presence at X Fest. The Tailights tore it up on the Toyota Corona Beach stage, Five Star Rising, Transport, UVR, Flying Blind and Third Party rocked the B93.1 Stage. New to Modesto , Never Ending rocked the Coors Light Stage. Local DJ Billy Casazza spun house music at the disco complete with a fire wielding dancer. Makeshift Gray rocked the Yamaha Rock 96.7 Stage and Simply So and Wonderbread 5 jammed it on the Mega 100 Stage. Congrats to all the local bands that make Modesto music good. See what is happening in the local music scene at http://www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mailto:mama@modestoview.com

Mark Macsenti has finished work on a new CD called Holes in the Sky. He has been working on this in Texas and it has been mixed by some of the experts. Stay tuned for some new sound clips nest week. In other news, Sammy Leverone is working hard out there and is in the studio and is complete with the full Sammy Leverone Band. She has been playing at the Blu Peacock and other great places. There are a couple of new band links on the band page. Make sure that your or your friend's band is on the list. Hook us up and we will post it for free. Make sure to include the web URL.

Megan Slankard will finally be on TV with here total makeover. Yes, on July 16 @ 9:00 pm on TLC, you can see the 2001 MAMA Winner transformed. Set your Tivo now. This just in from Mark Mascenti of the Tailights. Dony Wynn, drummer for the late Robert Palmer and Brooks & Dunne will drum and produce their upcoming CD. All new originals. Mark has known Dony for 20 years back in LA and he calls Mark, " Marky DC " The working title is "Up late" New & acoustic tracks. Stay tuned for some sneak peaks. This just in from Morbius: " Well, we are back from Arizona and we had a blast. We got to meet Glenn Danzig, just before he got knocked out by another band on the bill. Hey he was nice to us! Anyway, we sold over $300 in merchandise over there and got a little piece of fame. We are back in our home town and looking to keep that ball rolling! We've got a lot stuff planned for this month and hope ya'll can keep up.  DON'T MISS THE EXPERIENCE WE CALL.......MORBIUS"

2003 Mama Winner Erik Anderson has announced that he will be back on the scene full time as he has a new CD coming out called Lushes Foolish and also has a new baby daughter. Congratulations to Erik. He has a new website at www.eriksongs.com . Local rockers Lonero are currently working on getting a spot on Late Night w/ Conan O'brien. Cool huh? Ann Loureiro is back in the studio again working on some new music. See what is happening in the local music scene and see a listing of the local bands at http://www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mailto:mama@modestoview.com

We lost a local musician. Ken Darby from the Black Irish Band, long time local favorite. Check BlackIrishBand.com for more details. UVR and Grandaddy have just returned from the road. Here is a diary update from Chris "It has been a crazy couple of months for me and the rest of the band. We have been lucky enough to play in Japan , and in Europe for these 2 months, and now we're finally home in California . IN the next few days we'll update the website with 100s of new pictures and videos from our tour, so everyone can see what we've been up to, the places we have toured, and all the new friends and fans that we have met along the way. While in Paris , we recorded a new song, and also shot a music video, so as soon as both of those are out of production, they will be available to you on the website to check out. In the next week, look for the website updates, and also an e-mail with all of our upcoming concert dates in the USA . Cya at the show- Chris" See what is happening in the local music scene at http://www.modestoview.com/mama

2004 and before..........

X Fest is going to rock. This may be one of the best X Fests ever for local music. There are a ton of local bands on the schedule including a refreshed Grandaddy 94. Bands from the Off The Air shows, Megan Slankard , Flying Blind, Nothing Less, Fissure, lots of acoustic, some metal and some pop will be on stage. Check out the X-fest website and check out the band list and the schedule. Did you hear that 2003 MAMA Winner UVR has been crashing the Vans Warped Tour, distributing CDs and trying to get their music out around the scene. Give them a 10 for effort and buy their CD. Blood on the Satellites is really good and fun.

Check out the X-Fest Site- http://www.xfestmodesto.com

See what is happening in the local music scene at www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mama@modestoview.com

The Dec 5 Modesto Bee just listed as the MAMA section as the best place to find out about local music. We agree and thanks for visiting.

2003 MAMA Award winner Tina Louise Barr will be kickin' up the Bluegrass with her autoharp jam on the 4th . Grandaddy's Jim Fairchild is out on the road with Earlimart. Their new song "Hidden Track" is all over XM Radio's XMU Channel 43. Final Cut Media is putting the finishing touches on the 2004 MAMA Awards Show that will soon be broadcast on Access Modesto. Stay tuned.

Yes indeed, Transport and 5 Star Rising tore it up before Vanilla Ice hit the stage. Transport ended their show with a hard rapping Beastie Boys and LL Cool J jam. Just warming it up for Ice Ice..Baby. This week, what better Thanksgiving kick off can you have besides a live show by Flying Blind at the Fat Cat with their pals from LA Virgil. They are still one of the best live bands around. MAMA Lifetime winner, Ernie Bucio will be playing at the Barkin' Dog Grill on the 27 th so grab a burger and some jazz for desert. AutoSelect plays St. Stan's on Friday night. Local band Angst plays at the Yosemite Lanes on the 27 th . Erik Andersen is releasing a new CD called Lushes Foolish.

The bands of Modesto are playing all over. Check out Transport as they open up for Vanilla Ice at the Fat Cat on Wednesday the 17 th . They have some cool surprises up their sleeves. On the 18 th Wazoo plays at Nino's out north McHenry. The 19th and the 20 th serve up a huge line-up at the Palm Gardens . Liquid Conscience plays on the 19 th . Captive8, Morbius and more play on the 20 th .

It was cool to see MAMA Winner, Shelly Streeter judging the Modesto Symphony Young Idol. On the 20 th , you can't miss Built Like Alaska at St. Stan's. You can see 2004 MAMA Winner Fairwell Madison @ Kingdom Koffee on N. Carpenter.

Local MAMA Promoter John Black celebrates his college graduation at the Season's with, what else, a concert with the MoFo Party band. JB is the man. If you need to get your Johnny and Kelly fix. Tuesday at El Palomar, Wed at Gran Finale, Thurs at Fuzio and Fridays at 1505. And this just in.Deva is joining the music scene with live jazz on Thursday nights. Yeah baby..

You can get a copy of Transport's new CD Coefficient of Friction at Café Deva in downtown Modesto . This week you can see MAMA Nominee Tre3fold at Fat Cat twice, on the 9 th and the 14 th . Grandaddy's Jim Fairchild is touring with Earlimart. Meghan Baker deserves a huge Standing O for producing Cammp Modesto. The recent show at the Fat Cat on Halloween, brought out a late night performance by Built Like Alaska and more.

We have a special exclusive video clip for you. We have prepared a look back at the previous year's live performances that was shown at the MAMA Awards. Now, you can be the first to check it out. Coming later this week, a special video preview of the B931. Acoustic Christmas Show. MAMA Winner, Erik Andersen has just received a guitar sponsorship from Godin Guitars.

ModestoView.com is Modesto 's premier address for local music information. The MAMA Awards rocked Modesto last week. We have so many great performers and musicians in our area. The capacity crowd at the State Theatre got to see 8 great live performances, a lifetime tribute, 4 videos and 11 awards, all within a fast paced three hours. There is truly a lot going on. Click here to see the winners and check out all of the local bands we have to offer. MAMA Bands Crypt Orchid and Makeshift Grey play at the Fat Cat on the 27 th . If you have a local band that is not on our list, please let us know by clicking here. mama@modestoview.com Which local radion station did not participate in the MAMAs? Post your answer here.

With the coming of the MAMA Awards, it is definitely Rocktober in Modesto . The musicians of the Modesto Area await your vote. It is you that will tell them who is the best. You can see some of the MAMA bands but if you can't make it, the voting page has a link to all of their websites. Choose your category, jazz, blues, rock, acoustic, events and venues, so rock the Vote locally before your rock it nationally. Vote now @ www.modestoview.com

In other MAMA news, UVR is touring all over the place but will take a pit stop to help co present awards at the MAMAs. Sunday is hard rock day at Fat Cat featuring MAMA nominees Crypt Orchid, Fissure and more. You can watch the 2001 MAMA Awards tonight on Channel 96 and 2002 Wednesday night on Channel 96.

Sad news. Former MAMA Winners and awesome bluegrass band Puffin Billies are no more. Dave Hanley has taken over lead guitar to work with 2004 MAMA nominee Meghan Baker and is hard at work with that schedule and will be featured in Cammp Modesto on Halloween at the Fat Cat. Meghan Baker will be a featured performer at the 2004 MAMA Awards. Also on deck at the MAMA Awards will be Megan Slankard, Tailights, 5 Star Rising, El Olio Wolof and more to be announced.

The Modesto Music scene was out in full force at the Turlock Music Festival. Everyone from Transport, Third Party, 5 Star rising and Megan Slankard were out playing music in the sun and the fun. Thumbs up to Keith Cole and the other organizers for a great musical event. This week stay tuned for the first chance to vote for your favorite Modesto musician.

The MAMAs are coming on October 21, 2004 from the State Theatre. If you want to see a whole bunch of local Modesto area bands, check out the Turlock Music Festival at the Fairgrounds on Sept 11th . Click here for the band listing and show times. Wed night, Morbius is at Fat Cat, Captiv8 is at Palm Gardens on the 11th .

Stay tuned later this week to see who the MAMA nominees will be so you can vote for your favorite music category. Keep your eyes peeled on the Modesto Bee and ModestoView for the scoop. Megan Slankard is now a rocker. She is punching through the pop charts with her song Too Bad You. Remember what it was like when Dylan went electric? There are some new bands added to the ModestoView MAMA band list. Check out the interesting website by El Olio Wolf. Modesto has way more than the usual boring music.

Tailights' leader Mark Macsenti has just returned from mixing his new CD in Austin Texas. He calls it a "vast audio landscape" All of you Transport fans need to be requesting Transport Music at B93.1 and on KFOG when you are in the city. Local bands on deck this week are: Built Like Alaska in a rare local performance at St. Stan's Friday night. Also on stage is folk singer Eric Lash. On Saturday night, Jazz musician Ray Cepeda is having a CD release party at Oceana. Bourbon St Blues plays at T's on Friday and Saturday.

Big thumbs up to B93.1 as they are now the #1 station in the area. See what happens when you support local bands and produce local concerts. It also may be due to their very cool show, Unwound on Sunday evenings. They are playing Grandaddy and Transport. Listen in Sunday night from 9 to midnight. See what played last week at http://www.b931.com/ Oceana has Jazz this weekend with Miguel Gardell Duo. Local rocker Rick Barnes is paying St Stan's on Friday the 20 th . Valley Jazz plays on the 21 st .

Big news from DJ Farmboy. Now spinning parties on Thursday @ Wanga Reis called Attitude with Dj Farmboy and Taylor. Check out the recent pics from Romania , www.djfarmboy.com . They will be playing a festival August 5,6,7 in Brazil . They are releasing their first original single being released by Nutbass recordings on Viynal sometime in September, Chandler from Zebras from Zimbabwe is the Engineer. Coming soon, MAMA Awards. Look for the voting September 1.

Did you know that MAMA stands for Modesto Area Music Associaion? The nomination process is on for the 2005 5 th Annual MAMA Awards that will be held at the State Theatre in October. Make sure that you are lobbying your local DJs who make the call for nominations. On line voting will begin on September 1st . In other MAMA news, local artist opened Tracy De La Mora opened up for Jefferson Strarship with Paul Kantner and Marty Balin. Pretty cool huh? On Wednesday check out MAMA artist Makeshift Grey. On Friday Anne Loureiro plays here own music at St Stans on then on Saturday 5 Star Rising rocks St Stans. Saturday, MAMA winner Sammy Leverone plays the Blu Peacock. Big thumbs up to the restaurants that are making live local music happen

Lots of things happening locally. Guess what? Good news for Megan Slankard, B93.1 (Modesto/Stockton) and the Point (Chico) have now officially added “Too Bad You” into rotation. That means they’ll play the song 3 to 4 times a day! Listen to the radio and request her song. 209-551-9393 in Modesto. Megan is playing at St Stans on the 6th. Many of the local Modesto Bands are being contacted to play the Turlock Music festival. Transport is reporting brisk downloads of their song Pretty and The local music world is buzzing.

This is a beautiful song by local band Transport called Pretty and it is. Listen to this song Click here " In a store she wants more than their offering And I like the way she looked at me and I can't believe she's still awake in a store she wants more than their offering she's got a pretty face"

Megan Slankard impressed the Hootie and the Blowfish crew and we hope it leads to something. Meghan Baker is hosing CAMMP Modesto at the Fat Cat, with art, music, poetry and other really cool stuff. Johnny Pistola Band rocks the Ranch on Friday and Saturday. The Tailights are in the studio this weekend working on new stuff and Sister Dimension Studio reports new music by Mike Hammer band on disc. The local music world is buzzing. See what is happening in the local music scene at http://www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mailto:mama@modestoview.com

There is a battle of the Band on Saturday the 24 th at the Crab Shack at 10 th and J featuring Desolit and others. Also this week, is the debut show for the newly made over 2001 MAMA Award Winner Megan Slankard. Check her out, pointy-toed boots, Strat and all at Slims, Thursday at 8pm. Her makeover show will be on The Learning Channel on May 21 at 10 pm.

The Grandaddy crew is heading to Australia this month teach down under about central California living. Robodeer sees the world.

Flying Blind is back in Modesto this weekend on the 17 th . You can hear some of their new music at an exclusive show at the Fat Cat Saturday night. Listen for the new track Planes.

On the radio front, B93.1 is delivering the alternative music we crave. Sunday nights are now a bastion of sanity for all of the listeners that demand more from their radio. It is true alternative, chill out selection on unwound from 9-12 am on Sunday nights featuring the actual favorite songs of the DJs and program director Max Miller. . Tune in to 93.1 FM and support a radio station that really cares about the local music scene.

Sunday night, 2003 MAMA nominee Thr3efold releases new music at the Fat Cat.

We just received by underground email a new track from Flying Blind. This is the first track to surface since they have moved to LA. The track is called Planes and it can be heard when FB returns to the Fat Cat on April 17 th . You forget how great a live act Flying Blind is. Maybe they will stick around.

Bands are lining up for Indie Fest, scheduled for Modesto and the area on May 16 and 17. Set times will be posted in the next few weeks.

There is a cool music scene in Ripon at the I Roast for You coffee show for all ages. Lattes and Local bands.. A great combo. Everchanging and Angst played great shows last week.

Wow, the bands are heating up for summer. Battle of the bands last week at Davis High was won by local band Angst. It is so cool to see the teenagers of Modesto delivering such great and powerful music. Bands like Everchanging, Desolit, Blank Logic and many others show that we have a bright future in music. So. Support your local garage band. The next Grandaddy my be rehearsing.

"I am a harmony junky; I love harmonies/background vox stuff. You bring a tasteful/playful mix of harmonies in the songs which is fun to sing along with" great comments from Megan Slankard about Sam Regalado's new solo CD. Nice to see the music community supporting each other. Thumbs up to places like Minnie's, St. Stan's, Nino's, ... for keeping small crowd live music alive in town. There are too many people that want to kill it. Sammy Leverone and friends will be playing at the Blue Peacock on the 27 th .

Local Musicians, you can play in a Jam session Friday and Saturday nights at the Ranch on South 9 th . Thursday night, local rockers Johnny Pistola will have their spring bash at Ninos complete with BBQ kicking off Spring Break.

Grandaddy is on tour with Saves the Day and will not be back in Modesto until late April.

5 great local high school bands played at Seasons. Angst, Everchanging, Desolit, Cedric and Blank Logic all tore it up. It is good to see some kids that love the Clash. This was an example on how to have a great youth alcohol free event, attended by both kids and parents. Anne Loureiro will be at St. Stan's on the 6th.

Grandaddy headlines the Warfield on the 3rd. Did you know that there are jam sessions every Friday and Saturday night at the Ranch on South 9th? Bring your instrument of choice, get your name on the list and have fun. 2003 MAMA Winner Transport is playing for all ages at Dodge Ridge on the 6th. Lots of powder with great music.

Grandaddy is touring with Saves the Day, UVR is out touring, AutoSelect will be playing at St. Stan's on the 27th. Desolit will be playing at the Seasons (formerly Elks) on the 27th as well. Johny Pistola will be playing the Johansen High Crab Feed on the 28th.

MJC radio is now available 24 hours a day. Check it out at www.gomjc.org/mjcradio

Megan Slankard got a cool sponsorship from Daisy Guitars.

Erik Anderson's 2003 MAMA Award winning band Sojourn is in need of a bass player. Contact Erik to hook up- mailto:sojourn@sojournmusic.biz

Transport has announced that their CD will be coming out in early April. It will be very good. The local music organization that began at the 2003 MAMAs, is now called Local 209 to promote regional music. Get on their mail list.

A Note from Portland: "This is Robin from Rage Enterprises, I used to be a concert promoter there before moving to Portland, Or. I just wanted to let the local bands know where we were at and that we would love to see them if they ever come through our area. We have started a magazine, you can check it out at www.cravemagazine.com. I hope the local scene is still alive and kicking, we really miss music in the central valley" In other local music news.

2003 MAMA winner Transport will be performing at Fat Cat this week. Also, there is a MAMA Fest at the Daily Grid in Turlock on the 24th. Megan Slankard has a new email network going so make sure that you get on her list at www.meganslankard.com

There is a new Metal band in the area called DesoLit, hailing from Manteca. Make sure that you check out MAMAFest1 coming soon on Jan 24th to the Daily Grind in Turlock.

Be sure to check out DJ Farmboy and more at the Lush sessions at Fat Cat on Thursday evenings in the upstairs lounge.

Did you know that ModestoView was featured on the Central Valley Report, our own local news source. Thanks to George and Ellen for the great job that they do and for showcasing ModestoView.com. Make sure you tune in every evening on the hour on our local access channel. Click here to watch the episode.
http://vidheads.com/asxgen.asp?file=ModestoView/CVR_ModestoView.wmv

2003 and before......

For those who haven't heard, former mama nominee local group/Modesto Rocks CD artist Hollopoynt is no more. The members split up and joined different projects. Everyone still remains good friends and keeps in contact. Three of the remaining members joined forces with a new front man and bassist to create Five Star Rising a soon to be local super group. The Band has been tucked away formulating its sound and will be recording a demo at local group UVR's studio in about 3 weeks. Five Star Rising has popped up a few places for trial locally like live on the air at B93 with Dave Mazzy and the Fat Cat for a cool show. Keep your ears open and eyes peeled for Five Star Rising @ www.fivestarrising.com

Latest with "Johnny Rocket & the Thrust" group: *SAM / Bass Player, has recorded a CD of his Original songs...titled; "Portrait." *ROLAND / Lead Guitarist, is now recording a CD of his Original songs and should be completed by early Summer.*JR&T band, is working on a CD of Original's done by the group, but will be completed in the Summer of 2004.

There is a new indie music radio station being beamed from MJC. Yes, local bands unite and rejoice that there is a new place for your music to be heard. It is on the web right now and hopefully there will be a transmitter address soon. Greg Edwards from Clear Channel has been helping this station develop. Thumbs up! Listen now at mms://mjcradio.yosemite.cc.ca.us:1033/

MAMA Winner Erik Anderson's band Sojourn has a new website. http://www.sojournmusic.biz They are also adding a new keyboard player. Stay tuned for new music and video for the track Stained. Get some live music: on the 6th - Makeshift Grey's CD Release Party with Unother, The Bomberz and Holiday will be at Stifler's in Modesto. Also on the 6th - Beseech, Fraktur, and DescenD will be at Palm Gardens in Modesto. Did you know that there are other networks for local bands out there. Check this one out.
http://www.local-bands.net/index.php

Just in case you missed it, which was hardly humanly possible……The MAMA went to:
Over 9000 votes were cast and there are some great winners. The envelope please…. Best R&B/Jazz - Sweet Addiction, Best Alternative - Transport, Best Pop - UVR, Best Americana - Sojourn, Best Acoustic Folk - Christene LeDoux, Best Venue - State Theatre, Best Event - Tresetti's Fat Tuesday, Best Hard Rock - Unknown Statue, Best Blue Collar Band - Notorious. There were some hall of fame moments To see a complete list of the nominees and the winners, as well as a complete summary of the Hall of Fame winners from previous years events. Thank you to all the voters and the supporters of the event, including Chris Ricci Presents, Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group, Modesto Bee and Radio Stations, B93.1, Rock 96.7, The Hawk 104.1, Planet 95.1, State Theatre, The Ranch 93.9, Modesto Chamber of Commerce, Modesto Convention and Visitors Bureau, Scott Campbell and ATV Video, Site Jockey and Fire 2 Wire. This event would not have happened without these supporters. Thank you again.

There is a ton of new MAMA info this week. Built Like Alaska is working on a new CD. Fiver has finished mixing a new CD, Nifty Tom 50 has a new CD, Megan Slankard's new CD has a lot more edge and bite to it than her previous CD, great stuff.

Grandaddy is playing at the Elliot Smith tribute concert in LA and there is so much more. Chris Clouse is releasing a new CD this week at the State Theatre on the 8th. Do not miss this event. MAMA winner Transport will be opening the show. MAMA winner Sweet Addiction is playing some more Disney gigs.

There is so much happening in the local music scene. Local music promoter Anastasia Rego had a baby girl, congrats to Baby Zoe. She will be back in action as a presenter at the 2003 MAMA Awards.

On the 16th , Transport will be at Fat Cat with fellow nominee Nifty Tom 50 giving you a MAMA preview.

UVR is touring all over and is playing in Berkeley this week oat iMusiccast on the 16th.

You can hear the groovy techno sounds of Nutbass with DJ Farmboy every Hi-Fi Friday at Stiffler's. It is cool to have an all ages (16+) place in downtown Modesto doin' the local thing. In the sad news, Pete Lovely's Love your Productions is no more. He put on a wide variety of shows over the years.

The Grandaddy Fillmore shows were truely awesome. To see Grandaddy up on that legendary stage was amazing. They pulled off all of their new music and then they finished the show with He's Simple, He's the Pilot. Our mouths were hanging wide open when they finshed. They are true stars now.

MAMA Is in the House!
The 2003 Modesto Area Music Award nominations have been announced. The winners will be announced in am invitation only black tie event at the State Theatre on October 23. The event will be broadcast on the web too. So, vote for your favorite band, artist, venue, or event in the special voting webpage. Have fun, enjoy the local scene and be happy to know that Modesto does indeed Rock! Vote now at http://www.modestoview.com/mama

Grandaddy has filmed a new video for Now It's On, complete with surreal computer video set and Boy Scout Leader in a hamster wheel to keep it on. You can watch the video at http://www.v2music.com/us/GranDaddy/GranDaddy.html

Megan Slankard has finished her new CD and she can't wait to play it for you. She will be working the local circuit a lot over the next few days.

Dave Woody of Fiver has finished mixing new music and will be sneaking out some new tracks, according to Mike Cloward at Devil in the Woods Records. We should be hearing some really good stuff.

Anastasia Rego, the mistress of local indie music is nearly ready to give birth. She is hoping to have a happy healthy baby before the MAMA Awards. Wish her luck.

The Modesto Chili Cook Off in Downtown Modesto brought out some great music. Thsi great summer tradition is something that we look forward to.

Did you know that Grandaddy is headlining at the Fillmore and a national tour. Their first show did so well on Sept, 18 that they added another show on the 17th. Now it's on.

Johnny Rocket & The Thrust are playing in Merced on Aug 16th and will be back in Modesto at the Int'l Festival on Oct 4th. Megan Slankard will be at Sharkey's on the 9th. Vinnie Smith and Joe Sliger have been playing together and Vinnie has been working with Michael McDonald (Doobie's)

Please pause for a moment of silence for the Brown Bag. Maybe we all need to join together and create one. We really need a place like this to incubate the local bands

Concussion is playing on Thursday the 14th at 8 PM in front of Sharkey's Crab Shack, corner of 10th & J Streets... In other hard rockin' news, Concussion just took some new promo shots yesterday for the promo kit going out to Hard Rock Cafes, House of Blues, assorted clubs, casinos, etc. from Sacramento to LA, and from Vegas to Mexico, and there are now two new band pics on the website, as well as new audio clips from the past show with Kaleidoscope at Sidelines Sports Pub & Grill on 7.24. www.concussion.com Saturday Aug. 16th,

Sojourn will play at Palm Gardens Lounge in downtown Modesto. Do you have your tickets for the Grandaddy show at the Fillmore on Sept 18th? Get the latest updates in the local music scene at http://www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mailto:mama@modestoview.com

The MAMA Awards are coming soon. Stay tuned to the Modesto Bee and the local radio stations for voting information and the awards show, scheduled for October 23rd at the State Theatre. Get the latest updates in the local music scene at http://www.modestoview.com/mama to send us your music update reply to this email or contact us at mailto:mama@modestoview.com

X Fest was a total blast. Over 14,000 music and fun fans crowded the 106 degree streets of Modesto. Bands like Third Party, AC/DShe opened up the event and Stroke 9 was the hit of the show along with tribute bands like Hot For Teacher and Stung. If you missed it, sorry, but it will be back next year as all things went very smoothly.

XFest is Coming soon on July 19 featuring FastBall and Stroke 9. On deck and opening for FastBall will be the one and only Puffin Billies. Yahoo. That will be great. To see what the band schedule is, find tickets, and to get a map of all the stages. Click here to see it all.

The summer music scene is heating up in Modesto again. Sharkeys is hosting the weekend music in 10th St Place. Ninos, and the Brown Bag are regularly booking local bands. Mustang is taking some time off from music booking and the Fat Cat is doing a lot more local booking. Check the Modesto view calendar to see who is playing.

Surf music rocks. Did you know we have our own high-energy surf band. Yes that right, the waves are lapping for the Super Avengers. This is one of the coolest cover bands, now doing some new originals too. Tired of the everyday cover scene? Then slip on your vans and rock to Pipeline and Walk Don't Run. Endless Summer is in the house. You can book them at www.superavengers.com

Have you bought the new Grandaddy CD "Sumday"? "I'm On Standby" and "Now It's On" are incredible. 10cc meets Pink Floyd, meets ELO, meets Elliot Smith. Click here to buy it. http://www.amazon.com

Thanks to all the people that made Indie Fest happen, Miss Anastasia, Robbie, the Mustang, and the crew from Ceres as they are keeping the indie scene alive with over 30 bands on 4 stages.

A new Modesto rock band is showing some very familiar faces. Better Left Unsaid brings together an experienced and driven group of musicians. Featuring vocalist Bryan Strait (Built, Broadside, Immortality), drummer Brent Terry (Eyecon, Lythic), guitarists Zeke Rasnic (Dyatribe) and Jason Jones (Cutthroat, Dyatribe, Shrine) and bottomed out with bassist Rich Saturnino (Bind, Dyatribe), Better Left Unsaid is hitting the Central Valley scene running, performing various dates. In sad news, the Mustang will not be hosting local bands in the near future, dang shame. Who is going to step up next?

"I can't believe we haven't played Modesto before, I had no idea it was this great" spoke Edwin McCain, backstage after the sold out show at the State Theatre. He has it right, Modesto is the place to be, especially if you are in for some fun, food and best of all, Music.

Grandaddy's new CD Sumday is getting the huge reviews. Great songs like Now It's On and I'm on Standby are incredible. Hopefully they will play here in Modesto again soon. Order it at Amazon today.

Modesto Rocks show at the Center Plaza was a lot of fun and a great way to see all of the artists that were on the Modesto Bee compilation, Modesto Rocks. Bands Sweet Addiction, West Of Nowhere, Zuzu's Petals, UVR, Flying Blind and Monkeyshine were all doing it up big on stage.

Grandaddy edition - There is more Grandaddy news coming all the time as we count down the days until the June 10th release of Sumday, awaited around the world. You can see and vote on a new video at http://www.mmusa.tv/php/ovenfresh.php?aid=945&sid=2 Check it out. There will be a new track coming out daily at http://talkscape.grandaddylandscape.com On another note, one of their fans made a cartoon for Jed's Other Poem. Check it out

There is a weekly way to play if you are a local Modesto Area Band. Call Chris Ricci to get on the MAMA night list at the Fat Cat. This is not a battle of the bands, but a great showcase for local music. You can also reach Chris Ricci at chris@chrisriccipresents.com and check out the Fat Cat Calendar at www.fatcatmodesto.com. There is local music going strong at Nino’s, Portofino, Mustang, Lyons, the Brown Bag and more. There will be lots of local music to be heard coming out on the new Modesto Rocks CD produced by the Modesto Bee. It will be out later in March. The new Scene section will debut on Feb 7, that should feature many more things to do for the youth of Modesto.

Waterneck is now a creative duo. Jason is working on his new solo cd and all ready has two songs recorded and radio ready. He also has been playing some big shows and has a lot more coming up in 2003..Bryan has about 15 songs done and writing more to start recording in spring 2003..Bryan also has been getting back into acting and will start shooting a Major Motion Picture in late Sept early Oct 2003.... Bryan and Jason will be teaming up to play the big live shows in the area. You can write to Waterneck at waterneck@yahoo.com or check out our club HERE.

Local band UVR is hitting the regional tour circuit. Their new song Hollywood is getting airplay on B93.1 Anne Loureiro is ready to get back into the studio following the birth of her son. Flying Blind is spending a lot of time in LA getting their face in front of the music scene and playing more clubs in the Hollywood area, including the Gig last weekend. Puffin Billies are working on a promo pack to send out to get a lot more bookings outside the area. They were great at the 2002 MAMAs. See some new local bands, Farewell Madison, the Woods and more at the Brown Bag. This is becoming the place to get heard.

New music all over the place. Every Friday, Sharkey’s Crab Shack hosts a Battle of the Bands. Many bands emailed in their interest to participate in the Modesto Bee local compilation CD. Last day for CD submission is Friday the 24th. Granddaddy has started a new label called Sweat of the Alps to help the indie bands out there. They are currently working with Arm of Roger and 2002 MAMA winner, Built Like Alaska. Lela will also be the new A Girl Hurts website contact person, so local shows and information and news releases/links should be emailed to Lela at lemur1706@hotmail.com

2002 MAMA winner Erik Andersen has a new line up and is switching from acoustic to rock and has a new band called the Swooners. Very cool. He has added, Jeffrey McClellan- bass, Jeff Divini-drums, Steve Skidgel- guitar.

Transport will be giggin on Saturday the 4th of January at Portofino Café on McHenry in Modesto. They play at 10:30pm but go for dinner and drinks. We need to keep the live music playing at the restaurants. On the 3rd, Destructo Bunny is playing at the Brown Bag and every Friday, there are Elvis’s at Sharkey’s.

2002 and before. .

Local MAMA artists continue to play all over. UVR played with Avril Lavigne. I think she opened for them. Michael Goodell of the Stringbangers has launched a new CD. Transport threw a great party l;ast weekend with 2002 MAMA award winner Erik Andersen over the weekend, and Hollopoynt is performing again with a new bass player. Look for new music from former Hollopoynters Chris Ferris and Henry Aruzo coming soon.

The 2002 MAMA Awards show is finished thanks to the fine editing of Scott Campbell of ATV. Videos will be mailed out to the winners and you can own your own copy of the MAMA’s for a measly $10 for a 2 hour show. Email us at mama@modestoview.com to get more information. There may even be a DVD version coming too.