Two Efforts Emerge to Rally Local Musicians

Pigs may herd sheep before anyone will turn typically independent-minded rock and pop musicians into some semblance of an organized body.

However, two local scenesters are trying.

The Orange County Music Business Assn., a fledgling group headed by Maria Wood, will sponsor an Independent Music Expo concert Oct. 26 at Club Mesa, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa.

Wood’s idea of “independent” differs from the general music business definition, in which the “independent” scene typically is linked to ‘80s-spawned punk and alternative rock. Fliers for Wood’s expo proclaim that “Orange County clubs have been a showcase for local punk and metal bands. . . . Well, now it’s time to show off some [local] mainstream artists.”

Those showing off at the expo, which will run from 5 p.m. till after midnight, are B-4 Midnite, Shook Up World, Fata Morgana, Corday & the Curious, Niki Smart and Daughter Eve. Admission is free until 6 p.m., $2 after that.

“I’m not saying [punk] is bad or anything,” said Wood, an Anaheim Hills resident who sings in the duo B-4 Midnite and is the younger sister of local punk/blues hero Joe Wood. “But I feel like Orange County has been stuck in the ‘80s and won’t grow up. There’s a huge market” for local mainstream pop-rock acts who, Wood says, typically don’t get the club showcases they need.

Wood’s association meets on the first Wednesday of each month for networking and brainstorming aimed at promoting local bands’ careers. The 10-month-old association should be “like a carpool” for emerging musicians, she says. “We’re all doing the same things; if we all drive together, we can go so much quicker and more efficiently.”

So far, she acknowledged, “very few” people have turned out for meetings. She is hoping the expo will be a way for her to “prove myself to the county” and help the organization grow. Information: (714) 284-7190.

Adrian (just Adrian), who hosts “Orange County Homegrown,” a local music program Sunday evenings on KEZY-FM (95.9), has a similar idea of gathering the local music flock for schmoozing and mutual aid. He hopes that a concert he will promote tonight at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana will be the starting point for a local “music society” he aims to launch. Barrelhouse, Insight, Christina Pfohl & Velvet Bleu, and Toulouse Engelhardt are on the bill. Admission: $10. Information: (714) 240-2001.