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Local Riverside Music Scene The Inland Empire region is composed of Riverside County and San Bernardino County. The history of the region's music scene has included Alien Ant Farm, Jennifer Holliday, Voodoo Glow Skulls and A Lighter Shade of Brown. Although not many big names have come from the Inland Empire region, which includes both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, many big shows come through town and the region provides extra work for up and coming L.A. artists. As with other Southern California towns, Latin and Hip Hop have been dominant styles. BellRays * Buddha Bomb * Cold Blue * Crazy D * Darcy Donavan * Dirty Steve * Interval * Jordan Scott Woollen * LadeeCream * Alyssa Jacey * Larry Washington * Mystic Hays * New Division * Nobody Gets Killed * SAXD * Sean Presley * Shade Law * Skeletones * Soul of the River * TheStrangers * Tierra br> Local Highlights Curtiss King is a leading rapper from the Inland Empire music scene. He was originally from Bellflower, CA where he grew up. He scored a hit with Kendrick Lamar with "Watch Yo Lady" in 2007, thanks to placement in a DVD for Vans Downtown Showdown Skate. Later that year King signed with indie label Rocstarr Entertainment. His fanbase grew enormously in 2009 after he helped produce the albums for Noa James and Ab-Soul. King went on to sign with another indie label, Black Cloud Music. Noa James released a song in January 2014 called "The Orca." The song was written on Christmas Eve, which was also his late grandfather's birthday. James was originally from Queens, New York but migrated to Pasadena and San Bernardino. He became a rapper at age 13. He developed the nickname The Intelligent Elegant Elephant and eventually wound up signed to indie label Black Cloud Music in 2010. In May 2011 he was featured on the cover of IE Weekly. One of the most creative experimental bands from Riverside has been Spiderworks, which was formed in 1988 by singer Chris Vigil. Others in the band include bassist Monte Williams, drummer Dan Hill and guitarists Joe Hill and Mike McKinnon. The started out as a cross between metal and punk and became more experimental as time went on. In 1990 they released a debut album called Black, featuring a thrash-metal-punk sound. Gregory Nabours grew up in Riverside, becoming a classically-trained pianist and conductor. He also studied theater at North High School before attending Riverside City College and UC Riverside. Currently he directs stage musicals for RCC Performance Riverside. One of his big productions has been "Big Fish." |
