The 2016 Santa Barbara Bowl season is well under way! Artists like G-Eazy, the 1975, and Chris Stapleton have already stopped by, but there are plenty more acts to prepare yourself for. Here are some dates I’m looking forward to…

Jack Johnson’s new music video for “Radiate” from his sixth studio album, “From Here to Now to You.”

Jack Johnson hit the road this fall touring at historic intimate theatres across the US and Europe. The Oniracom crew was ecstatic to get a chance to see Jack at the historic and beautiful Arlington Theatre in Downtown Santa Barbara this past Sunday.

Bahamas did a wonderful job opening for Jack. The crowd was swaying to their calm and soothing tunes. Santa Barbara was Jack’s last stop on his long 7 week tour with Bahamas, so naturally he made this last show a special one playing for two hours with appearances by J RADIO and Paula Fuga. The show went on for a full two hours, with Jack jamming out to “Bubble Toes”, “Staple It Together,” “Brushfire Fairytales” and also some new tracks from From Here to Now to You. Arlington’s intimate setting made for a great atmosphere. We were able to grab a great video of “Bubble Toes.” Check it out below!

Los Angeles based Singer/Songwriter Marc Beauregard stops and talks about where his music came from and where it’s going.

The Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival is near! Kicking off on April 20 and concluding on April 21, the two-day festival has been known for their vast display of various companies and organizations. Previous Exhibitors include California Solar Electric, KJEE 92.9FM, LoaTree, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and us, Oniracom!

The SB Earth Festival, organized by the Community Environmental Council (CEC) and partnered with Plus One Events, New Noise Music Foundation, and LoaTree are excited to bring two days filled with exhibits, music, and green technology to the Santa Barbara Community.

We are also excited to be exhibiting at the Social Media Lounge along with our friends at LoaTree. CEC encourages companies an organizations to become exhibitors at the festival. The registration form can be found on the Earth Day Festival website, and takes only about 10-15 minutes to complete. Here’s what you need to have ready when registering:

We just lived through another historical moment here in Santa Barbara, and no I’m not talking about the grand opening of Chik – Fil- A, is that how it’s spelled? No no, the 55th annual Grammy Awards aired Sunday night!  And this time, there wasn’t too much Taylor or Kanye, unless you count the break-up-song in Wonderland Cirque du-so weird spectacular the lovely Ms. Swift performed.

All this aside, all I could think about, was how many categories does it take to establish an award show?  I’m all for recognizing and honoring the artists I blast from my little macbook speakers, but I mean really, three and a half hours?  Seems to be a bit… excessive.  So, I looked into the past in order to compare it to the present.

In the First Annual Grammy awards ceremony, there were 28 categories.  (Don’t worry, I counted.)  Categories such as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, all the big awards we still await with much anticipation year after year.  However, we still hand out just about all of the same awards from that first ceremony… and then some.

The 55th Annual Grammy awards ceremony possessed not even double but almost triple that amount with 81 total categories.  Some are probably necessary to add i.e. country, rap, reggae, you know, to keep up with the times.  But some of them, well, you be the judge.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Yep, Coachella tickets go on sale tomorrow morning already. And though I personally will not be joining my fellow music sojourners yonder to Indio, CA this year, it got me to thinking, is the west coast really the best coast?

All biases toward the Cali weather aside, I thought I’d delve into NYC’s always-fabulous Governors Ball for some inspiration in this battle of the coasts.

First of all, let me say this, Coachella always impresses with the depth of amazing artists they are able to host in one desert land, however that is also the problem with Coachella: There are too many darn musical acts!

While Governor’s Ball may not have the dearth of artists in the lineup, they manage to pack a pretty serious punch in just, wait for it, 3 days, rather than two entire weekends.

It seems that what Coachella provides in quantity, Governor’s Ball brings in quality, grabbing some of music’s biggest acts such as Kanye West, The Avett Brothers, Kings of Leon etc.  Also, Governor’s Ball will be hosting my girls of Icona Pop. Talk about a party.

All qualms aside, each festival will be featuring tons of music’s best and brightest, kicking off 2013 with much excitement.

So, If I were to attend either festival, which in reality I am not, here are some of the artists I’d be most excited to see:

Before we dive into all the holiday tunes and listing the top albums of the year, we decided to compile a nice covers only playlist! We have quite the eclectic staff. You’ll see covers from Bon Iver, System of a Down, Johnny Cash, and Adele. Enjoy our interesting mix below!

Watch Kermit Lynch perform “Kitty Fur” at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, CA.

Watch this awesome live performance of ALO’s “Dead Still Dance” at the Farm Aid concert in Hershey, Pennsylvania on September 22, 2012.

This past weekend was full of New Noise Santa Barbara festivities. The New Noise Music Conference and festival kicked off on Wednesday with a couple of shows, and continued on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday was filled with musical performances at various venues sprinkled around downtown Santa Barbara. Artists such as Tyrone Wells, American Dirt, Naked Walrus, and The City performed at Muddy Waters, SOhO, Whiskey Richards, and Velvet Jones.

Friday was fully packed with interesting panels all about new media and the music industry. This year, Jacob Tell and Mike Wald of Oniracom  lead a hands-on workshop about New Media for Traditional Business. Gideon Rubin Local Market Launch and Kyle Ashby of Kaldera Marketing were also panelists at Oniracom’s workshop. During the panel, Oniracom discussed how traditional businesses can use the internet and new media to captivate audiences and develop unique web presences. The audience even received a “digital marketing plan” worksheet to help them organize their own plan for their traditional business.

Right now, as I write this, sitting next to me are two of my acoustic guitars. My new Martin sits by my desk, its warm, rich mahogany gleaming in the low light. I can almost smell it from here. On the neck a rare and beautiful rosewood from East India is laid where my fingers go, along with solid Black Ebony and Sitka Spruce details. And then there’s my Taylor. The top is a crispy crackling Sitka Spruce, making it loud and bright. Indian Rosewood runs across the back and sides of my instrument, and this fingerboard is a solid piece of ebony, a deep, durable but extremely rare wood.

So let’s get this straight…in my room right now, I have mahogany, rosewood, ebony, and Sitka Spruce. Common sense makes it seem wrong. In most countries, these are illegal to harvest. In fact, ebony can now only be found from one country in bulk, the small Eastern African country of Cameroon. But still, when a well-versed guitar player walks into a guitar shop, he or she will insist on therarest woods on the planet. Why?

Back in the 1930’s C.F. Martin & Co. was producing instruments of mahogany, Brazilian Rosewood, and other high-quality tonal woods from all over the world with free reign.

Enjoy ALO at Bonnaroo Music Festival playing their new single “Speed of Dreams” from the latest Brushfire Records release.

On April 12, 2012 Radiohead rocked the Santa Barbara Bowl yet again (full setlist here).  Mr. Yorke seems to love this place each time he plays, but who wouldn’t?  This outdoor amphitheater is much more intimate than Red Rocks or the Gorge, as it is set in the picturesque hillside of the Santa Barbar Riviera.  The often humorous banter between songs and loose energy connected audience & band in an unexpected manner.  We couldn’t help but be mezmorized by the LED backdrop and rotating screens, and being only a few rows back were able to capture some beautiful moments:

Videos courtesy of @marlosmassage

In the several months before I moved out of Santa Barbara last October, a band emerged on the scene to reignite my hope for the rebirth of the local musical landscape. Not since Matthew McAvene teased me with a few smoking sets in early 2007 had I felt the spark of any new, home-bred talent. All it took was one performance by Howlin’ Woods on a Friday night at Cold Spring Tavern to convince me that these guys had the goods. They could jam fiercely, led by the sinewy guitar voodoo of Griffin Chetakian. The rhythm section of Matthew Farrington on drums and Brian “Solar B” Chandler on bass (and keys) was rugged and raw, yet with an intuitive grace. A lot of bands can jam. These guys came across as the total package thanks to the presence of a true frontman. Jordan Chetakian – a powerhouse vocalist with some acoustic guitar chops to boot, boasted a dynamic range. He could rain down with the back-alley blues, bust out a little Sly Stone soul and woo the ladies like a tormented indie rock icon. Offstage he was just an unassuming, plaid-shirt wearing dude with glasses which made his spotlight transformation all the more profound.

By Tyler Blue (Website | Twitter)

For a live music lover like me, one of the best things about leaving a small town like Santa Barbara and heading to the big city of Portland is instant access to an extensive crop of diverse concert venues. When I moved to Santa Barbara in 1999, there were at least half-a-dozen clubs and bars which regularly hosted the sort of jammy music I wanted to see. They dropped like flies until SOhO became virtually the only place to go; at least for smaller shows. I’ve had plenty of memorable times there but one can only endure so much repetition before craving a change of scenery. Cruising the streets of Portland, I find myself frequently amazed upon discovering yet another theater which has eluded me up until that point. Practically every neighborhood has one and each is a unique entity with historical significance, style or both. It doesn’t hurt that they have cool names like Aladdin, Roseland, Groove Suite and Refuge. I just looked at http://www.jambase.com and there are a bunch more I still haven’t even seen, let alone been to.

Photo by T. Blue: Soulive’s Eric Krasno lays it down at The Wonder Ballroom

The first show I saw in Portland back in ‘99 happened to be at the city’s most famous venue - The Crystal Ballroom. Opened back in 1914, the ballroom’s claim to fame is its massive dancefloor which “floats” on ball bearings. I thought that was one of the coolest things ever and still do. Since my return back in October, I’ve been appalled to find that many locals don’t hold it in very high regard for various nitpicky reasons. Almost any other town would give its left nut to have a Crystal Ballroom. But in Portland, with so many other options to choose from, it’s understandable that people gravitate to other favorites. Several of my friends had been telling me that The Wonder Ballroom was at the top of their list.  I finally had the opportunity to check it out on Tuesday night when Soulive and Lettuce came to town. The 778-capacity venue, which opened in 2004, definitely lived up to the hype.

Zooming down from Camas, WA across the mighty Columbia River to make an 8 p.m. start time, I should have known better than to be in a hurry. Scrambling up to the box office, the schedule revealed there would be two DJ openers and Soulive wasn’t coming on until 10:15. Fortunately in Portland, there’s always somewhere close by to grab a pre-show cocktail and Secret Society Lounge is one of the best. Two martinis later, I strolled in to the Wonder; anxious to see what the place was all about. The building itself, which was completed in 1914 (apparently a banner year for Portland construction), started out as the Ancient Order of Hibernarians - an organization committed to immigration reform and preservation of Irish culture. In 2006 it was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. Nestled near the happening North Mississippi neighborhood, it’s a little bit church, a little hipster hideaway.

During a recent show in Charlotte, Ben Folds pioneered a new element into his live show - spontaneous song writing inspired by people met via Chatroulette.com. 

For those of you who don’t know what Chatroulette is, it’s a website that pairs random strangers for webcam-based conversations. Visitors to the website randomly begin an online chat (video, audio and text) with another visitor. At any point, either user may leave the current chat by initiating another random connection.

Folds placed his computer on his piano, hooked it up to the big screen and proceeded to let the games begin.  What followed was comedic bliss and great musicianship in it’s finest form.  Check it out!