The Santa Barbara Independent Local Bands

It’s not everyday that you meet an artist who considers himself part heavy metal rocker, part “blues shouter,” and ...

Alastair Greene's Trio Grande

BLUES/ROCK

Spiraling pedal work and emotive vocals blend elements of nu rock, ’90s grunge, and Kravitz-inspired guitar solos that seem ...

Anapamu

Well...its like, starting out with a Latin beat for rhythm, then adding percussive fingerstyle guitar melodies, accompanied by explosive ...

Andrew Jackson

WORLD

Original Latin soul; a blend of Latin rhythms with infectious soul melodies.

The Anthony Prieto Band

LATIN, SOUL / R&B

Twelve years ago, Michael Andrews placed an ad in the Indy calling for like-minded musicians to recall the Funky ...

Area 51

COVER BAND

The Augmentors play intense, passionate music. It's percussive acoustic guitar punctuated by a sexy saxophone, compelling vocals, and meaningful ...

The Augmentors

CLASSICAL, EXPERIMENTAL / NOISE, JAZZ / AVANTE GARDE

Two Saturdays ago, outside Reds and beneath an inflatable screen silently exhibiting the 1932 film Murders in the Rue ...

Béla Lugosi

The music sounds like a twisted electronic version of an indie/emo/rock band that makes you dance instead of nod ...

The Bicycle Escape Plan

ALT / INDIE ROCK, ELECTRONICA, ROCK

An amalgamation of blues, country, and rockabilly, Big Jugs serves up quirky tunes that are sure to get you ...

Big Jugs

COUNTRY / ROCKABILLY

Bira has been working as a composer/producer for the past 10 years. Over that time he has performed with ...

Bira

FOLK ROCK, FUNK, HIP-HOP / RAP, JAZZ

A reggae talent that’s been making waves inside and outside of Santa Barbara for more than 10 years, Dylan ...

Black Judah

DANCEHALL, REGGAE / CARRIBEAN

Boombox Orchestra. Boombox has concocted a new recipe for music blending an array of funky styles. This band began ...

Boombox Orchestra

FUNK, HIP-HOP / RAP, ROCK

Modern pop rock influenced by songwriters and producers of the past.

Brightmillion

POP, ROCK

In an age when stories about starving musicians clambering up music industry’s food chain are as commonplace as Starbuck’s ...

Bruce Goldish

ACOUSTIC

Many of the members for 10 or so years participated in the Wednesday, open jams at the Creekside Inn. ...

Bullfrog Blues Band

BLUES

The brainchild of Rob Taylor (vocals, guitar), Brad Altavilla (bass), and Chris Agh (drums), this straightforward rock collective are ...

Cat OK

Chance’s End, led by classically-trained violinist and Santa Barbara native Ryan Avery, is putting a violin smack dab in ...

Chance's End

CLASSICAL

* Chris’s songwriting pluses with his raw, honest, straight-to-your-sense-of-ironic lyrics and driving vocals. His alternatively-tuned guitar work mushrooms with ...

Chris Hadel and Lisa Danhi

BLUES/ROCK

Christina Grimm performs heartfelt songs of love, loss, and transcendence that take the listener on inner journeys. Rooted in ...

Christina Grimm

FOLK-ROCK/BLUES

Brent and Crista like to believe that they are bringing a fresh angle to the the hip-hop world. Brent's ...

Circle 13

ALTERNATIVE, HIP-HOP / RAP

Despite their in-your-face moniker, leading lady PussyWillow Sparks and her band craft socially conscious songs that are understated, poignant, ...

Clitorectomy and the Mutilators

Tenor saxophonist Colter Frazier has been relatively isolated in Santa Barbara, California for many years, honing a unique playing ...

Colter Frazier Quartet

JAZZ

Here’s a common musical experience: you resent mainstream radio because a small grouping of bubblegum-pop hits get played ad ...

Colter Frazier/Rob Wallace Duo

JAZZ / AVANTE GARDE

The current lineup of this talented art-rock band includes Rey Villalobos (vocals, guitar), James Garza (guitar), James Van Arsdale ...

The Coral Sea

DANCEHALL, REGGAE / CARRIBEAN

The offspring of numerous veteran S.B. reggae acts, Cornerstone embodies the concept of roots music. Fusing sounds of dancehall, ...

Cornerstone

Raw and aggressive garage rock at its finest, this three-piece band will scream its way into your hearts with ...

Cosmic Revelators

GARAGE ROCK

Mike McHugh’s ever-changing solo project straddles the line between acoustic-fueled Jack Johnson surf rock and funky, hip-hop à la ...

Coyotes and Bourbon

ACOUSTIC, ALT / INDIE ROCK

3 piece band. Members live in Orcutt, Arroyo Grande & SLO. Ages 41, 21 & 21. Singer moved from ...

Crisis Point

PUNK

With only a two-song demo to their name, these synth-lovin’ music makers are already making (new) waves in the ...

The Dance

ALT / INDIE ROCK, EXPERIMENTAL ROCK

Traditional Irish tunes with a modern twist. The band shines on instrumental numbers “Paddy on the Turnpike” and “Waterloo ...

Dannsair

IRISH

David Courtenay has been spending the last few years spreading his vintage-rock inspired groove tunes on the S.B. and ...

The David Courtenay Band

FUNK, REGGAE / CARRIBEAN, ROCK

Good time, danceable blues funk, or blues with grooves! The most creative description we've heard is, "Bonnie Raitt meets ...

Debra Farris Band

BLUES, FUNK

Classically trained in opera and art since the age of nine, Delaney Gibson boldly breaks the tired trend of ...

Delaney Gibson

ALT / INDIE ROCK, POP

The band was originally called Dirty Sanchez, then it got changed to the Delta Martinis and may change to ...

The Delta Martinis

FUNK, REGGAE / CARRIBEAN, ROCK

Ater leading Relapse Records’ extreme metal band Uphill Battle, guitarist Adi Tejada was looking for something deeper. In 2006, ...

The Depths

Part jazz fusion, part atmospheric rock, and part noisy jam band, this group of Goleta-dwelling cohorts refuse to take ...

The Dick Poythress Co-op

JAM

Our influences combined and more.

Die Don Romero

The mysterious side project of Coyotes and Bourbon mastermind Mike McHugh, this faceless music maker has managed to blend ...

DJ ?

spinning the straight-up party jams to keep yo butt on the dance floor... baby!!!

DJ Frank Ramirez

The résumé of DJ Gavin Roy reads like a what’s what of Santa Barbara dance venues, including Q’s, the ...

DJ Gavin Roy

ELECTRONIC / DJ

DJ Magneto calls Santa Barbara home, but the swath of land privy to his electronica eclectica goes as far ...

DJ Magneto

ELECTRONIC / DJ

A Santa Barbara nightlife staple, Matty Matt Moore is notorious for getting a party started. But there’s more to ...

DJ Matty Matt

ELECTRONIC / DJ

The Donner Party may be a young band, but the combined experience of its constituents is second to none ...

The Donner Party

ALT / INDIE ROCK, JAM, JAZZ

Hard rocking, punk-infused riffs and raucous, in-your-face electric guitar solos cross genres to create a sound that is 100 ...

Dying Crooners

PUNK/ALTERNATIVE WESTERN

Easy Chief is a band of unparalleled rock explosions coupled with the relentless drive of punk.

Easy Chief

ALT / INDIE ROCK, ROCK

A rock band is akin to a group of children simultaneously drawing a single picture. While one child may ...

Eating Crayons

Eclectic soul

Ed Diamond

SOUL

If the modern-day incarnate of Headbanger’s Ball had a theme song, it might sound something like EverneveR. With one ...

EverneveR

GRUNGE, METAL

FINGERSMYTH places an emphasis on the craftsmanship of the popular songwriting prowess of Mark LaCommare and Christopher Zerbe. The ...

Fingersmyth

ACOUSTIC, FOLK / SINGER-SONGWRITER

The songs are simple and old fashioned, the musicianship is superb, and the sound is full yet clean with ...

Flint Westrock and Friends

AMERICANA, COUNTRY

Sounding like a slightly less political Pennywise trying to recover from the worst breakup ever, Floater Six claims they ...

Floater 6

PUNK

After meeting in Maui, Gunn and Mulberry moved as a duo act to Santa Barbara and began touring the ...

Fly to Blue

ACOUSTIC, FOLK / SINGER-SONGWRITER, POP

Bodhrán, tin whistle, banjo, and mandolin are just a few of the instruments the members of Foggy Dew use ...

Foggy Dew

IRISH

Playing classic rock ’n’ roll that’s chock full of political commentary and intermixed with a fair share of blues ...

The Founding Mothers

BLUES, FOLK / SINGER-SONGWRITER, ROCK

Blending hip-hop, reggae, and folk rock with a soulful guitar flair, Lackner takes a refreshingly organic approach to his ...

Gabe Lackner

Folk-Rock duo with rich harmonies and layered acoustic background.

Gates & Goodell

FOLK / SINGER-SONGWRITER

Grover tries to combine different styles of music including folk, classic rock, AC pop, and even a bit of ...

Grover Anderson

FOLK ROCK

This bluesy jam rock outfit is as happy to put its collective spin on a Neil Young staple as ...

The Harlequins

With little in the way of advance advertising and no discernible media hype, Joe Woodard’s Headless Household consistently fills ...

Headless Household

JAZZ / AVANTE GARDE

The Hero & The Victor (THATV) is an American post Punk/Indie/Rock band out of Santa Barbara, California formed in ...

The Hero and The Victor

ALT / INDIE ROCK, ROCK

With influences as diverse as Bob Dylan, Radiohead, and the Beatles, The Hoagland Conspiracy employs harmonica, guitars, and steady ...

The Hoagland Conspiracy

This alterna-rock three-piece group brings to mind Silversun Pickups and something a bit grungier. Their catchy brand of pop ...

Hoover Dan

Hot Lava first erupted at the Oaks Parent/ Child Workshop (a preschool), where a group of musical parents coalesced ...

Hot Lava

Immaculate Fatality is not the same band that formed in January 2005 from the ashes of two expired thrash ...

Immaculate Fatality

METAL

Despite hip-hop’s massive popularity among most everyone younger than 40, rap’s had a hard time gaining a stable foothold ...

Intuition

ALT / INDIE ROCK, EXPERIMENTAL / NOISE

There’s something to be said for any band that can capture the undivided attention of a crowd full of ...

Iration

REGGAE / CARRIBEAN

I was a Lover sounds like no other band in Ventura County — dancing, dreamy, and aggressive.

I Was a Lover DeLorean Was a Dealer

Funky, folky, moody, mixing acoustic guitar and percussion with a modern soundscape of loops, samples and ambient keys. Think ...

Jamie Green

ALT-POP

Jaret Campisi may’ve been born in Pennsylvania, but his sound is firmly rooted in Santa Barbara. Playing deceptively simple ...

Jaret Campisi

ACOUSTIC

Rock, blues, and country.

Jena and The Ballad of Calamity

BLUES/ROCK, COUNTRY

"Eastern-tinged, reggae-infused music." — Santa Barbara Independent "[His] voice is very soothing with delicate instrumentation. The production doesn't leave ...

Joss Jaffe

ACOUSTIC, WORLD

Currently at work on their debut album, these Santa Barbara youngsters have already been featured on local rock station ...

Kill Ugly Radio

Ocean-inspired songs and jazz standards on Songs in the Key of Sea highlight Kimberly Ford's beautiful voice and the ...

Kimberly Ford

JAZZ

Corporate Nightmare’s golden children of the Central Coast alt-rock scene sounds like the love child of Ben Folds and ...

Kinothek

Kissing Tigers is made up the five young men who love to laugh. The band began in 2001 when ...

Kissing Tigers

My name Is Lance Adam I am a solo artist, I sing and play guitar, I'm originally from Philadelphia ...

Lance Adam

ACOUSTIC

Ventura-bred Santa Barbara staples Le Meu Le Purr have long been frequenters of the I.V. music scene. With their ...

Le Meu Le Purr

ALT / INDIE ROCK, ROCK

Leslie sings with tremendous power and precision. The slight edge of her voice adds a truly soulful, rock 'n' ...

Leslie Lembo

ROCK, SOUL / R&B

Hailed as “wine country’s tastiest jazz band for the last 10 years,” these boys deliver standards on their new ...

The Lighthouse Jazz Quartet

JAZZ

The LIMBZ was created in 1992 by KAJ MAJ (joshua Mendoza), IZE (Isaac Barba), and X-TEk (George Dwarte). The ...

The Limbz

When the radio station 106 VIC in New York put The Little Heroes' "Bridges and Tunnels" at #9 on ...

The Little Heroes

Raised in Carpinteria, California, brothers Taylor (guitar, vocals) and Jordan Bleecker (drums) grew up playing music together. At Westmont ...

The Lonesome Dub

REGGAE / CARRIBEAN, SKA

Loomis & The Lust, recently joining forces in the fall of 2007, has a new sound, fresh young faces, ...

Loomis & The Lust

Isaac Barba, better known as Lyricist IZE, is a conscious and positive hip-hop emcee on the rize. He performs ...

Lyricist IZE