LOCALS ONLY

Be gone, Bastards

San Diego's Robin Leach-approved cost of living continues to serve as a cattle prod for local musicians. The members of instrumental band Tristeza recently moved to less economically punishing cities. And now country combo The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash has gotten the hell outta dodge, too-relocating to Austin, Texas.

“San Diego is a great place for playing a show every now and then, but there just aren't enough venues [within] a two-hour drive to make any sort of living,” says frontman Mark Stuart. “It really makes no sense to be based in San Diego when you can live for half that and make more money by basing the band out of Austin. Most of the venues that supported original country music and roots-rock between here and L.A. have closed.”

Stuart had played area clubs for more than 25 years, initially as frontman for ska/power-pop group The X-Offenderz. Best of The Bastards is due next April and will include a duet with Billy Bob Thornton. www.bsojc.com.

Notables...

The Rapture, featuring former San Diegans Luke Jenner and Vito Roccoforte, literally brought the house down during their sold-out Nov. 18 homecoming show at Brick By Brick. During their set, a piece of the ceiling fell, hitting the band's guitar tech with enough force that the show had to be stopped for 20 minutes so that paramedics could attend to him. The band eventually finished its set, and the tech is expected to recover just fine. www.therapturemusic.com.

After a short tour with Cold War Kids, San Diego buzz band Delta Spirit has been given a residency at Silver Lake's popular rock dive, Spaceland. Rent a bus, buy a keg (hell, invite some frat boys) and go see 'em for free every Monday in December. www.myspace.com/deltaspirit.

Liz Phair-esque indie chick Joanie Mendenhall has joined with former San Diegan Angela Correa for a new project called Low Standards. Judging by the talent of both of these women's solo records-Mendenhall's Secretary Waltz and Correa's Correatown-this could be a doozy. The first two tracks at their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/thelowstandards) are jazzy piano-cabaret romps with an old-timey swing to 'em.

A documentary about roots-rock hellions The Beat Farmers is in the works. It'll include footage of their infamous appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, in which they made the gap-toothed funnyman an honorary roadie. The three remaining members, now known as The Farmers, will perform at Tio Leo's on Dec. 2. www.beatfarmers.com.

Although we're still pissed at the producers for killing off Marissa, we just might have to check out the new OC soundtrack, called The OC Mix 6. For this batch, performers cover rock classics, including fantastic wussies Pinback tackling “Wasted” by big, old, mean Black Flag. www.pinback.com.