During the past couple years, local beatmakers and electronic-music heads have gotten together every month at Kava Lounge for an invite-only showcase called "Family Matters." Free from the pressures of the audience, they'd get a chance to show off their works-in-progress—unfinished tracks, rough mixes, crazy experiments—and give each other feedback. 

But it looks like Family Matters is done. Kava Lounge has come under new ownership and manager Mateo Silva, who organized the monthly showcase, has taken leave from the club.

A group of local musicians will pay tribute to the late rock critic Paul Williams in a show at Winstons on Sunday, May 12. The lineup includes psychobilly great Mojo Nixon and award-winning troubadour Berkley Hart.

Paul Williams, a pioneering rock critic who lived in Encinitas, died at age 64 last month after struggling for years with early-onset dementia. Proceeds from the show will go to Williams' widow, the celebrated singer-songwriter Cindy Lee Berryhill (who'll play a few songs at the show), and their 11-year-old son, Alexander.

A while back, I wrote an article about the mad sitar skills of Jessie Gulati, a member of local band The Donkeys. Well, it turns out he's putting his skills to good use. Gulati recently performed on an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, accompanying the British rock band Django Django as they played their song "Life's a Beach." 

Watch the video below. You can see Gulati in the back left corner, sitting down and looking very serene as he gets down on the regal Indian instrument. "Wish it was The Donkeys playin' on Leno but it's still pretty exciting," he says in an email.

One of the most laid-back bars in the Gaslamp has closed its doors for good. On Saturday night, the same night The Propagandist celebrated its year anniversary, the Downtown bar also had its final night of operation.

Co-owner Brian Divine says it's closing down because he and his co-owner and wife, Jessica, have lost their lease on the basement space. They'd been sub-leasing with George's on Fifth upstairs, and the restaurant has been evicted, he says.

TIGER ARMY NEVER DIE!

Twelve years ago, I pumped my fist to that rallying cry. Newly licensed and driving around in my small Mercury Tracer, I screamed over the treble of my shitty car speakers, blown from the constant abuse from punk that defined my youth.

I honestly didn't know that Tiger Army was still a band until our music editor, Peter Holslin, goaded me with the announcement they were coming to town (my love of pop-punk is well-known in the office). By my account, I thought Tiger Army had cashed in on their rallying cry and, well, died.

Indie-rockers Pinback went on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon yesterday to play a couple of tunes from their latest album, 2012's Information Retrieved. 

As Cover Me Badd's Adam Gimbel points out, the band played onstage with Roots guitarist "Captain" Kirk Douglas. Also, Rick Froberg from Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu sang backup. 

And if you look carefully, you'll notice Rob Crow is rocking a Residents T-shirt. The San Francisco experimentalists were pretty stoked about that, tweeting at him today, "you rock."

Watch them play "Proceed to Memory":

For the second time in nearly two months, indie-rockers Mrs. Magician have been victimized by a thief. On Facebook today, frontman Jacob Turnbloom announced that someone swiped all of his gear from his car as it was parked outside his apartment in La Mesa early this morning. 

"Everything was stolen, everything," he wrote. "Im [sic] heart broken right now, and now I have to call the cops wait to make a report tht [sic] won't lead to anything and head to work after." 

The stolen items include his guitar, amplifier and Mrs. Magician 7-inches, LPs and T-shirts.

In an email, Turnbloom sent a detailed list of some of the gear that was taken:

Pick up next week's issue of CityBeat to read more about Faughnder's Coachella.

Mrs. Magician may have been blessed with a recent rush of fortune, but times have been tough for them this month. In a post on their Facebook page, the indie-rockers announced today that, due to an unfortunate turn of events, they're "screwed vehicle wise" for an upcoming West Coast tour. 

In the post, the band related a sad tale of destruction and theft. First, their Ford E-350 tour van, a 12-seater nicknamed Big Blue, got smashed up by a Ford Ranger while the van was parked. Then, days later, their trailer got swiped from their "headquarters" in Golden Hill, and along with it some guitar and bass cabs, drums, hardware, cases and most of their merchandise.

John Reis and his indie-rock brethren have been doing all sorts of awesome stuff lately. First, Hot Snakes reunited. Then, The Night Marchers announced plans for a new album. Now, after a seven-year break, Rocket from the Crypt is getting back together. When will the fun stop?

After hinting at a reunion in November, yesterday Rocket announced a series of upcoming European tour dates on its Facebook page. True to the Swami's enigmatic nature, the info came encircled in a fog of cryptic tomfoolery: The band also included an interview (who conducted it, nobody knows) announcing plans for a new album produced by Dave Grohl and a note explaining, "We are not playing the Indio Date Festival"— though it's not quite clear when they're actually being serious.

Of course, everybody's probably wondering if the band will play any local shows. None have been lined up yet, apparently, though the band's interview suggests it's a possibility. Reis didn't respond to a phone call, email and Facebook message from CityBeat.