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Ryan McDonald

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Chris Isaak knows what you want to hear
Breaking News

Chris Isaak knows what you want to hear

The songwriter known for Wicked Game, and working with filmmaker David Lynch, performs at BeachLife Ranch this Sunday, September 24 by Ryan McDonald Long enough ago to predate cell phones, Chris Isaak got a 4 a.m. call from a woman who said she was coming over. Isaak agreed, but regretted it almost as soon as […]

Ryan McDonald
South Bay punk pioneers gather to honor producer Spot
Hermosa Beach

South Bay punk pioneers gather to honor producer Spot

by Ryan McDonald When Wyn Davis thinks of Spot, what comes to mind is a man roaring down Pier Avenue on roller skates, the nominal safety bestowed by knee and elbow pads rendered irrelevant by the loss of peripheral vision from the camera he held tightly to his face. Davis is an owner and founder […]

Ryan McDonald
Just the Man to See: Beloved musician and therapist Kevin Sousa touched thousands of South Bay lives before passing away last week 
Hermosa Beach

Just the Man to See: Beloved musician and therapist Kevin Sousa touched thousands of South Bay lives before passing away last week 

by Ryan McDonald In the darkest days of the coronavirus pandemic, Kevin Sousa would take the short walk from his Hermosa Beach home to the Hermosa Music Company, the recording and performance space he co-founded in the city’s light industrial district. Sousa opened the Hermosa Music Company around the time COVID-19 made crowded club shows […]

Ryan McDonald
Fundraiser will benefit musician, chef Albert Kim
Manhattan Beach

Fundraiser will benefit musician, chef Albert Kim

by Ryan McDonald Every Friday night for the better part of the previous decade, the Scott Whyte Band could be heard at Sharks Cove, a sports bar and restaurant on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. It’s been a few years since they’ve played as a group, but on Jan. 19, the band will get back together as […]

Ryan McDonald
Skateboard legend, Caballeros at Redondo BeachLife

Skateboard legend, Caballeros at Redondo BeachLife

By Ryan McDonald Last year, Steve Caballero announced that he and two other musicians he had been playing with were looking for a new vocalist. Caballero, a pioneering professional skateboarder whom Thrasher Magazine called the “Skater of the Century,” announced the search on Instagram, where, as of June 2021, he has some 644,000 followers, and […]

Ryan McDonald
Former pro surfer Tom Curren at Redondo BeachLife
Surfing

Former pro surfer Tom Curren at Redondo BeachLife

by Ryan McDonald Tom Curren is the rare surfer who inspires as much reverence in impatient youth as he does in his aging contemporaries. A three-time world champion who “retired” from competition three decades ago, his timeless style remains relevant no matter how much surfing progresses. Curren seems to operate with a blood pressure five […]

Ryan McDonald
Pennywise’s Lindberg plans acoustic sets at BeachLife
Surfing

Pennywise’s Lindberg plans acoustic sets at BeachLife

by Ryan McDonald Jim Lindberg’s songwriting process almost always begins the same way. The question he has to answer, quickly, is where it will lead. “I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent staring at a wall, waiting for inspiration. It kind of always starts there,” said Lindberg, the frontman for Pennywise, the South […]

Ryan McDonald
Pennywise’s ‘Bro Hymn:’ A hymn known by heart
Redondo Beach

Pennywise’s ‘Bro Hymn:’ A hymn known by heart

by Ryan McDonald Justin Thirsk heard the plan the day before. He was nervous, but it was not the sort of thing he could prepare for. “I’m trying to think if I’d ever sung that part before that night,” he said in an interview last week. He paused. “No. There’s no way. I wouldn’t have.”  […]

Ryan McDonald
The Drop: Surfing and Addiction
Hermosa Beach

The Drop: Surfing and Addiction

by Ryan McDonald If ever a life called out to be transformed into a podcast, it is that of Rick “Raz” Rasmussen, a towheaded trafficker who jet-setted from jungle to red carpet before being gunned down in Harlem following a botched cocaine deal. He was 27, not far removed from a comfortable childhood in suburban […]

Ryan McDonald