Russian Rock Star Is Out to Build New Career in S.D

Vladimir Kuzmin first visited San Diego County in October, 1989, when he and his five-piece, Moscow-based band, Dinamik, performed shows at Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla. Local reviewers gave high marks to a performance that was highly polished and technically proficient, and diplomatically tiptoed around the fact that much of the group’s material was derivative of long-established American and British rock forms.

For all the attendant press coverage, however, Kuzmin hardly made the splash here one might have expected for an artist described by some as the Bruce Springsteen of the former U.S.S.R. Attendance at the shows was disappointing, and the series, which unofficially coincided with this city’s ballyhooed Soviet Arts Festival (Mayor O’Connor tried to block the band’s appearances here), quickly became a curious footnote on the local music scene.

But Kuzmin is determined not to be remembered as a group du jour in America’s ongoing fascination with things Soviet. Thursday night, the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist will perform his first local show in some time when he and his current trio (which features the drummer from Dinamik) perform at Sound FX in a multi-act concert to benefit the San Diego AIDS Foundation food bank.

The occasion also marks the second wedding anniversary of Kuzmin and his wife, Kelly, a local model he met on his first visit here. After the Sherwood Auditorium series, Kuzmin invited Kelly to accompany him to Moscow, and the two were married there Feb. 20, 1990.

In fact, the couple has spent a great deal of time in the Soviet Union since Kuzmin’s American debut. For the past two years, Dinamik has been on a triumphant, crisscrossing tour of Russia, where the band witnessed firsthand the enormous changes that have left the Soviet Union a splintered and contentious commonwealth of republics. It is a subject that makes Kuzmin more than a little uncomfortable.

“The situation there is pretty sad, I don’t even feel like talking about it,” Kuzmin said recently from his home in San Diego. “For two years, I tried to make people there happy with my performances. My message was ‘sing happy songs and laugh.’ I wanted to give them a good feeling. It was very frustrating, actually.”

Most of the other members of Dinamik decided to stay in Russia when Kuzmin returned to the States. If anything, the amicable separation might prove a boon to Kuzmin, whose songwriting and personality dominated the band. Left to his own devices, he intends to pursue the same goals that preoccupy many of his adopted country’s young musicians.

“My plans are to play and play and play, to get American management and a record deal,” he said in heavily accented but thoroughly intelligible English. “I’m kind of starting over. After selling 20 million records in the Soviet Union, it’s like coming again to zero. It’s a challenge, and, you know, it’s very tough. But I’m optimistic. I have some fans and friends here.”

The Kuzmins considered, then decided against being binational.

“Living in both countries would be very difficult for Kelly because we would be only traveling and traveling,” Kuzmin said. “So, we live here, because she’s a native of San Diego.”

Kuzmin, who plays violin, saxophone and flute, in addition to guitar, said that Thursday’s audience will hear a lot of new material.

“Mostly, they will be new songs. I’m writing many, many songs--for me it is like to eat and to sleep, you know. So, we have a lot of new music.”

Before signing off, the emigre had one more parting thought about his native land.

“You know, rock music in Soviet Union was better before Gorbachev because then it was illegal,” Kuzmin said, and laughed.

Besides Kuzmin, Thursday’s program features Jet Black, Screaming Silence and Urban Gypsy. The music begins at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. for a free food buffet. Because some record companies chipped in, there also will be CD and T-shirt giveaways. Admission is $10. For more information, call 560-8022.

GRACE NOTES: Acoustic performer Meghan Shannon, who got her start at the long-lamented Old Time Cafe, will perform at Kensington Community Church (4773 Marlborough, off Adams Avenue) on Sunday. The occasion is the fifth annual “Souper Supper,” a benefit for the local Peace Resource Center.

Shannon, who accompanies herself on guitar, hammer dulcimer and Appalachian (lap) dulcimer, specializes in interpretations of contemporary and traditional, topical songs about peace, women’s issues and social justice. She won top honors in the “vocals” category at the 1990-91 Topanga Canyon Banjo and Fiddle contest, and has performed with Patty Larkin, Sam Hinton and several other folk notables.

The performance follows a 6 p.m. dinner of soups and breads. Admission for adults is $10 to $25 (on a sliding scale, according to one’s ability to pay); and $4 for children under 12. For more information, call the Peace Resource Center, 265-0730.

BOOKINGS: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets unless otherwise specified). Blakasaurus Mex, the Black Rock Coalition band that played a lively set at the Belly Up a couple months back, will play UCSD’s Price Center Ballroom on Friday . . . . Scotland’s Primal Scream plays Iguanas March 8 (on sale now). . . . MTV’s “120 Minutes” program and Hyundai join forces to present Big Audio Dynamite, Public Image Ltd., Live and Blind Melons in a late-afternoon concert at the Del Mar Fairgounds’ O’Brien Pavilion on March 25 (on sale Saturday). . . . Rapper Ice-T will play Iguanas with Body Count and Hardcorps on March 28 (on sale Friday at 3 p.m.).

CRITIC’S CHOICE

MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE

If you’re in the mood to have your perceptions churned good and nasty, take in Friday’s show at the Casbah (2912 Kettner Blvd.) featuring Mojo Nixon and Eugene Chadbourne. Of course, homeboy Nixon needs no introduction, but this dispenser of firm-footed, wit-twisting rock ‘n’ roll deserves a welt-raising pat on the back for standing almost alone among San Diego musicians in his vocal opposition to “Operation Desert Slaughter.”

By contrast, and in spite of relatively frequent visits to these parts, Chadbourne might still need an introduction 20 years from now. Founder of, and fugitive from a school of fused country and rock called “shockabilly,” the North Carolinian has made his mark in the not-extremely-lucrative world of “rock performance art.” In so doing, Chadbourne has demonstrated a fascination with musical instruments--especially those assembled from ordinary household implements.

Either of these lads can burn your mental toast. Show starts at 9 p.m. For more information, call 294-9033.