Honey County To Perform at the Old Town Music Festival in Temecula

This weekend an exciting country music festival is coming to Southern California. The two day Old Town music festival will be held at the Stampede in Temecula and feature 6 national acts as well as local SoCal bands. Headliners include Billy Ray Cyrus, Chris Janson and more! I spoke to the band Honey County about their upcoming performance and caught up with the latest news since our last interview at Stagecoach before the pandemic. 

The band was so excited for the return of large crowds and music festivals. They told me they can't wait to perform their latest hit "Got it from my momma" which they wrote during the pandemic. They have been working on some new music and plan to release an EP soon with the music they wrote last year. However "Got it from my momma" is one song they decided to share with the world and they have wasted no time getting back into performances and producing music. They have recently been traveling to Nashville and Alabama and were able to perform the song for some weddings. The girls told me that the song really resonates with brides and has been a big hit with all the postponed weddings finally taking place this summer. They are even planning to perform it at another wedding in New York in July. The group has also been working on filming a music video for the song which they plan to release soon and might even share some previews on social media. They told me what a blast they had filming it in Alabama and they can't wait to release it and share the song with fans. 

The girls are looking forward to their Saturday afternoon performance at the festival and they told me, "We just can't wait to get back out there and be around people again. We are going to see friends and fans we haven't seen in over a year. With the festival being right in our backyard in SoCal it will be like big a family reunion." 

We talked about how it would feel getting back onstage and having the chance to wear some fun looks for the show. The girls said, "It's going to be hot so we will probably ask our stylist for like a swimsuit. A sparkly swimsuit!" 

The duo is so excited for the festival and the chance to engage with fans again. You can also listen to their latest music here  The Old Town Festival is happening June 26th and 27th and will be a great way to kick off the summer.  It will no doubt be a wild time as country fans are looking forward to getting back out and seeing live music. You can find more information at their website here

Stay tuned for my coverage of the festival and the live Honey County performance on Saturday! 

Musicians Celebrate Memorial Day and Getting Back Onstage with a Night of Southern Rock Festival

 

On Saturday night at the Long Beach Cultural Center fans and celebs came out to raise awareness for veterans causes this memorial day weekend. The rock band Six Gun Sal headlined the Southern Rock Festival giving their first official live performance since the start of the pandemic. It was a very special night and everyone had a great time. Red carpet attendees included pro wrestlers, musicians, and Navy SEAL veterans. Check out my video below to see my red carpet coverage and hear interviews with some of the notable guests who attended. I went backstage to the pre-party where there was delicious Mexican food and patriotic drinks served. Guests enjoyed the "Brave Soldier" cocktail featuring the Positive Beverage Tropical Berry flavor and Doublecross vodka as well as catering by Mini Birrieria. There was also wine provided by Urban Press Wineries and beverages from Hint water. It was a great selection! 

 

 The concert opened with Scott Gronsky Band followed by Kimberly Dawn, a rising country singer who gave a great performance singing some of her original hits as well as classic country favorites. Then the night got going with the headliner Six Gun Sal. The crowd was hyped to see the band perform again after so long. The lead singer .. stopped mid show to take a moment of silence to honor veterans and fallen soldiers for memorial day. He also invited the veterans in the audience up on stage and shook each of their hands. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday and remember what the long weekend is all about. Navy SEAL vet Johnny Walker also got up on stage to give a speech about memorial day and encouraged all Americans to come together for the holiday. 

After the break the concert got back into full swing and the night finished out strong with songs like "red blooded American" and other Six Gun Sal classics. Everyone enjoyed getting back out in person and the event was a a success. It was an exciting start to the summer! 

Create the Ultimate Summer 2019 Playlist with these Trendy New Tunes from Long Beach Band WarGirl

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A post shared by SierraClair (@cerisesdumatin) on Jun 19, 2019 at 9:13pm PDT

Have all your friends jealous this summer with a hot new playlist for road trips, pool parties, and much more that will make you look like the ultimate trendsetter. Wargirl, the up and coming indie rock band gave me an exclusive interview before their San Diego show at the Soda Bar lounge where they shared the inspiration behind their catchy new album.

The band's long beach inspired afro punk sound is the perfect music to chill out with your friends to this summer. The band was founded by Matt Wignall who worked with the indie success Cold War Kids and was inspired to create the band to share the mish mash of sounds from his hometown in Long Beach, CA. You won't want to miss out on reading this interview with this group who are poised to break into the indie scene in a big way this year!

Question: How would you describe your sound?

Answer: It honestly depends on who you ask. Every single band member is going to answer that question in a different way which is what makes the band special. Everyone comes from such a different background and it's such an eclectic mix. We've got some Afrobeat, indie, rock and roll background, jazz, acapella you name it its in there and that kind of makes up a comprising Long Beach town.


Question: How would you describe your style? Is it more rock and roll or Boho?

Answer: Me, I just wanna be Keith Richards when I grow up. It's really up to the individual. I would say there's a lot of punk, in a weird way in a sense that if you look at Blondie, the talking heads, B52, bands that were considered in the punk scene but not necessarily the largely popularized versions of punk, It's more like that because that's what the late 70s early 80s punk scene was about just individualism and self expression.

Question: What are you playing tonight for this San Diego audience?

Answer: We have a new EP out and an album so there's 6 songs on our EP and 10 songs on our album. We've got about 16 songs that we can choose from right now. We're also going to be doing some Eagles covers. Freebird is on the set list!

Question: Who are your musical inspirations? 

Answer: The first sort of inception point for the band was that I produce records I have my own studio and I was like I want to make some music with my friends I haven't done that in awhile. So, I've always really liked the later Clash material like London Calling and Sandinistas especially Sandinistas was so interesting because again, here's something that's considered punk but they had some hip hop,  Afrobeat and the base player was into Reggae and it was like they kind of put all that together and it evolved into a much more mature band.
So hearing that stuff I was like gosh like Sandinista's could come out tomorrow and it would still sound current. I really just wanna make something like that. There was a festival recently with a bunch of like the old Orange County angsty bands playing and they're all sort of old and grey haired flipping the crowd off with their baseball hats on and it was kind of cool and relevant when you're that age, but it doesn't age well at all. And all of us in the band love music and we're kind of addicted to it. And if you found us all of us in 20 or 30 years I think we'd all still be doing music in some way or another. And I just really wanted to make some kind of music that if I'm 60 years old and playing that music that I won't look like an idiot doing it. So that's what inspired my idea for the band.

Question: Where do you find inspiration for your songs?

Answer: I think we're largely inspired by our environment in Long Beach. And what we're surrounded by culturally and artistically. We surround our self with the local flora and fauna to go out and write.
Our band does have an undertone of Long Beach because that's where we're all from. Long Beach is just this melting pot for diversity and character. In terms of writing its kind of nice to step away and be in a place where we're not in the thick of our everyday lives.
Inspiration for me is not just like where I live but like who I'm around the conversations I'm having what's happening socially. What I'm experiencing personally as a black woman in America which is really prominent right now for me. As the front woman of this band I really want to speak to that I think it's super important. But I also want to keep this music and the lyrics universal for people to take it in their own interpretation I think that like Matt was saying I want this music to be timeless and I want it to be accessible for everyone because that's what lasts. Things that you can latch onto.
We're all so diverse in the band which is like a reflection of long beach. So our influence is varied which is cool we're like a melting pot within a melting pot. We're like fondue!

Question: You've released your EP and you've been touring for about a year and a half, what's next for you guys?

Answer: We're a little bit like a freight train we never really stop. Once we came back from the last tour we started working on some demos. We wanna keep the momentum going. We recorded the album last year and we released it in both Europe and North America so now it's time to really stream our focus into what's coming next in the sophomore album. But, in the meantime we're just enjoying touring and finding some awesome venues to play at. We're heading to a festival in the UK this weekend. We're doing a lot of travel.

Restaurant Review: Kincaids on the Pier

Kincaid's is a great traditional sea food restaurant located on the Redondo Beach pier. With beautiful views of the ocean and docks, the nautical theme of the restaurant provides a perfect ambiance.  Redondo Beach is a sunny beach town located in Southern California in the South Bay of Los Angeles. The Redondo pier is a great place to enjoy nightlife and the beautiful ocean views. Kincaid's is one of my favorite sea food restaurants in a prime location right on the water. It is a great place to go if you are looking for something a little more upscale than the typical beach shack. I love the nautical ambiance and fresh seafood. Their menu is full of amazing choices. And if you aren't in the mood for a full dinner they have a great deal for happy hour. My favorite time to go is during happy hour from 4-6 on weekdays. I usually order one of their half price appetizer specials like the delicious teriyaki chicken platter. They even have live music performances in the bar adding to the nostalgic feel of the place.
For formal dinner I like to get a seat by the window and watch the boats sailing in and out. My favorite dish is their scallop platter. The fresh seared scallops and lemon sauce are mouthwatering and quite filling, especially after a basket of their delicious warm bread. This is a fun spot to hang out if you want to eat on the water.