Central Coast Underground · Est. 2025

Ground
Ears

Your guide to live music, local bands, and underground shows from San Luis Obispo to Ventura — no algorithms, no ads.

shows
this month
3 festivals
coming up
9 venues
we cover
Shakey Graves — Ventura Music Hall · Apr 21 Festival — Shabang · SLO · May 2–3 Festival — Boots & Brews · Ventura · Jun 13 The Heavy Heavy · SLO Brew May 13 + SoHo SB May 14 Bob Dylan — Santa Barbara Bowl · Jun 17 levitation room — Ojai Deer Lodge · May 1 Festival — Ojai Music Festival · Jun 11–14 Psychedelic Furs w/ We Are Scientists — Libbey Bowl · May 31 Circle Jerks — Majestic Ventura Theater · May 22 Free — Avocado Fest · Carpinteria · Oct 2–4 · 60+ bands Unknown Mortal Orchestra — Ventura Music Hall · May 19 Submit your show → groundears.com/radar Shakey Graves — Ventura Music Hall · Apr 21 Festival — Shabang · SLO · May 2–3 Festival — Boots & Brews · Ventura · Jun 13 The Heavy Heavy · SLO Brew May 13 + SoHo SB May 14 Bob Dylan — Santa Barbara Bowl · Jun 17 levitation room — Ojai Deer Lodge · May 1 Festival — Ojai Music Festival · Jun 11–14 Psychedelic Furs w/ We Are Scientists — Libbey Bowl · May 31 Circle Jerks — Majestic Ventura Theater · May 22 Free — Avocado Fest · Carpinteria · Oct 2–4 · 60+ bands Unknown Mortal Orchestra — Ventura Music Hall · May 19 Submit your show → groundears.com/radar

Shows

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Playlists

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Folk / Indie Folk
Indie Folk 2026
Curated by Indie Folk Central · 100 tracks · 65K saves
Deep House
90s Underground Deep House
Vintage underground curation · 309 tracks · 11K saves
Metal / Doom / Sludge
Blackened Doom & Sludge Metal
Curated by arcticdrones · 54 tracks · underground
Psych / Surf / Garage
Garage / Surf / Psych Rock
Curated by Jack Bush · 441 tracks · Central Coast approved
Dark Disco / Indie Dance
Indie Dance / Dark Disco 2026
Curated by Once Upon A Song · 100 tracks · 15.5K saves
Ethiopian Jazz / World
David Byrne Radio: Ethiopian Jazz
Curated by David Byrne · 20 tracks · handpicked ethio-jazz

Interviews

All interviews →
Carpool Tunnel — Driving To The Moon
Band Feature · KCPR
Carpool Tunnel is ready to 'Bloom' with their debut album
SLO modern rock band Carpool Tunnel discusses their debut album "Bloom" — how members connected via a musician app, the SLO scene's evolving identity, and what it means to record your first full-length in the 805. One of Cal Poly's finest right now.
2026 · via KCPR, Cal Poly SLO
📷 via Carpool Tunnel / YouTube
LSD and the Search for God live at Mercury Lounge
Session · KCPR
Behind the Burnt Dog: LSD and the Search for God
A behind-the-scenes look at KCPR's Burnt Dog Session with SF shoegaze band LSD and the Search for God — recorded live on the Cal Poly airwaves.
Feb 26, 2026 · via KCPR · Jordan Mendelevitch
📷 via YouTube · Mercury Lounge NYC 2025
The Mother Corn Shuckers — Keep Me From You
Album Release · New Times SLO
The Mother Corn Shuckers release Sunset Gold at The Siren
Local bluegrass-rock outfit The Mother Corn Shuckers drop "Sunset Gold" — produced by The Mother Hips frontman Tim Bluhm — with a release party at The Siren in Morro Bay.
Apr 2026 · via New Times SLO
📷 via The Mother Corn Shuckers / YouTube
Lucía performing at Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
Live Preview · SB Independent
Mexican Jazz Songbirding: young singer Lucía makes her Santa Barbara debut
Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition winner Lucía makes her Santa Barbara debut at Hahn Hall — the Independent previews her set and what the city's jazz season looks like this spring.
Apr 20, 2026 · via Santa Barbara Independent
📷 via Charlie Parker Jazz Festival / YouTube

Spin the Globe

Updated every 14 days →
🇨🇴 Colombia

This fortnight's pick — 4 bands pushing the underground in Bogotá and beyond

BABELGAM live
🎸
Post-Punk / Doom-Pop
BABELGAM
Bogotá duo blending post-punk dissonance with doomy, hypnotic pop textures — think Bauhaus filtered through a South American lens. One of the most distinctive sounds to emerge from the Colombian underground.
📷 via YouTube
LA PAYARA live
🌀
Psychedelic Cumbia
LA PAYARA
Cartagena-rooted psychedelic cumbia — traditional coastal rhythms run through a woozy, hallucinatory filter. La Payara's live sets are equal parts ritual and rave, pulling deep from Afro-Colombian tradition.
📷 via YouTube
Meridian Brothers — NPR Tiny Desk
🎺
Experimental Cumbia / Avant-Garde
MERIDIAN BROTHERS
Bogotá's most singular experimental project, led by Eblis Álvarez since 1998 — fusing cumbia, vallenato, and electronic music into psychedelic, shape-shifting sounds unlike anything else. Featured on NPR Tiny Desk and KEXP.
📷 via NPR Tiny Desk Concerts
LIKA NOVA live
Indie Pop-Rock / Pacific Rhythms
LIKA NOVA
Cali-based project fusing indie pop-rock with the Pacific rhythms of Colombia's coastal south — marimba, cununos, and lush guitar woven into something entirely their own. Riding the wave of Colombia's international indie boom.
📷 via YouTube

Art

All exhibitions →
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Permanent Collection
Modern Life: A Global Artworld, 1850–1950
Through May 31, 2026 · Santa Barbara Museum of Art · SB
Highlights from the SBMA permanent collection spanning Impressionism through early Modernism — 100 years of global art history in one room.
📷 via SBMA / YouTube
DJ Javier: San Milano Drive at MCASB
Solo Exhibition · Through Apr 26
DJ Javier: San Milano Drive
Through Apr 26, 2026 · MCA Santa Barbara · SB
Debut solo museum show from SB–based Filipino-American artist DJ Javier — large-scale paintings, murals, sculpture, and interactive installations celebrating Filipino heritage and surf culture.
📷 via The Creative Community / YouTube
🌺
Open Group Exhibition
The New Salon: Arte Del Pueblo
Jun 7 – Jul 25, 2026 · MCA Santa Barbara · SB
MCASB's beloved annual open-call show — no jurors, no curators, all welcome. Opening reception June 7, noon–3pm, free. Submit work May 26–27.
📷
BFA Show · Photography
F/6 — Cal Poly BFA Photography
May 22–29, 2026 · Cal Poly University Art Gallery · SLO
Senior BFA photography exhibition from Cal Poly's fine arts program. Opening reception May 22, 5–7pm. Free and open to the public.
SLOMA gallery exhibition
Rotating Exhibitions
SLOMA Spring 2026
Ongoing · San Luis Obispo Museum of Art · SLO
Rotating shows featuring local and regional artists alongside public art installations. Art After Dark on the first Friday of every month. Free admission.
📷 via SLOMA / YouTube
Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art
Senior Exhibition
Re-Encounter
Spring 2026 · Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art · SB
Annual senior show with 14 emerging artists exploring memory, identity, and the space between past and future lives. Free admission.
📷 via Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum
Studio Channel Islands exhibition
Group Show
New Work from Across the US
Jun 6 – Jul 25, 2026 · Studio Channel Islands · Camarillo
A diverse group show featuring new paintings, sculpture, and mixed media from artists across the United States. Free to attend.
📷 via Studio Channel Islands / YouTube
Andres Salazar at WAV Gallery Ventura
Solo Show · Paintings
Love and Loss — Andres Salazar
Opened Apr 4, 2026 · The WAV Gallery · Ventura
Over 30 new oil paintings and works on paper exploring grief, love, and transformation. Opening featured live music by Mike Fonte.
📷 via WAV Gallery Ventura / YouTube