Juncosa--Born to Be Solo

After having been through a string of different bands over the past couple years, Sylvia Juncosa has finally realized something about herself: She was meant to be solo.

“Then it can never break up,” said Juncosa, laughing at a resume that includes ill-fated stints playing keyboards with the Leaving Trains and Clay Allison and guitar with SWA, as well as leading several versions of her own power trio To Damascus.

“I think I kind of wore through the bands, used them up. . . . I always tried to have a band to make it seem more credible, but it’s actually been me all along that made my music credible.”

Now the musician widely regarded as the top female guitarist in town is on her own, with an album, “Nature,” set for May release on SST. She’s joined on the album by drummer Dave Childs (ex-Lawndale) and bassist Tom Shannon (of the band Death and Taxes), who will also be with her when she plays the Anticlub on April 15.

But Juncosa insisted that the lineup is by no means permanent.

The idea is to have the best players for each project,” she said. “I want to play with Mike Watt and George Hurley (of Firehose). They don’t know about it yet. . . .”

LANA TURNER, WHERE ARE YOU?: “It was just like the movies,” said local singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge of her discovery by Island Records head Chris Blackwell last year. Blackwell was taken by a friend to a Long Beach bar where Etheridge was performing, and after hearing four songs he signed her on the spot.

And those who saw Etheridge open for Lyle Lovett at the Roxy recently know why Blackwell acted so fast. Working with just an acoustic guitar, the Kansas native captivated the largely industry crowd--usually death for an unknown opening act--with a voice reminiscent of Janis Joplin, powerful songs and a confident, naturally dramatic stage manner.

Several managers and record company representatives expressed disappointment upon finding out that she was already taken. An album, co-produced by Etheridge and Kevin McCormick, is due in May, with a tour backed by a band to take place at the same time.

How did someone so talented escape the notice of the L.A. club scene?

“I haven’t really played in any of the regular club places in L.A.,” Etheridge said. “For one thing, I wanted to make a living at it and it’s very rough to make a living playing in L.A. I just found neighborhood bars where I could make some money and I’ve been playing every week. And that’s where Chris Blackwell found me.”

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: When Nick Lowe had to back out of his gig playing bass on John Hiatt’s just-completed album, X-man John Doe gladly stepped in, joining multi-instrumentalist David Lindley and English drummer Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention as the record’s core band. Other locals involved in the recording were Peter Case, Victoria Williams, three of the Chambers Brothers and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo. Doe reported that he had the time of his life on the sessions, in which he and Mattacks proved an inventive, solid rhythm team though they’d never met--Mattacks had never even heard an X record before.

Actually, though both were mainstays in the L.A. scene in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Doe and Hiatt had never met before either. But the album’s producer, John Chelew, reported that the two got along like brothers. Among the things they have in common are family concerns: Doe recently became a first-time papa and Hiatt’s wife Nancy is expecting in June. But Doe said the relationship goes deeper than that.

“It’s amazing how you can meet someone you don’t share actual background with, but because the world is so much the same for everyone you’ve come to the same conclusions about music and life,” he said. “Yeah, we share a lot.”

NEW ‘N’ NOTES: Title of the month goes to the Orange County trio Abecedarians (the name means “alphabetizers”) for the compact disc compilation “AB-CD.” The more than 70-minute package, released by New York-based Caroline Records, contains highlights of the darkly atmospheric band’s recording history from 1985 to the present, including seven of the eight tracks from the fine new album “Resin.” . . . Remember the “Thrilla in Manila?” Well here comes the “Battle for Seattle.” Ex-Seattlites and current Angelenos the Moberlys will be going head-to-head with the Young Fresh Fellows (who still live in Seattle) April 22 at Club Lingerie. The show also marks the Moberlys’ full-scale return to the L.A. club circuit following their successful “Month of Mondays” shows at the Lingerie. Group frontman Jim Basnight has been working with songwriter Joey Alkas, who co-wrote the Plimsouls’ “Million Miles Away,” in preparation for new recordings. . . . Katy Moffatt, one of the stars of the “Town South of Bakersfield” L.A. country compilation, is in the studio with Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin and Mark Linett producing. An album is due from Wrestler Records later this spring.