Review of Springboard West Festival in Ocean Beach

Diamonds & Whiskey from Charlotte, NC performed at the Harp. (All photos by Bob Edwards unless otherwise noted.)

By Bob Edwards

This past week, Ocean Beach hosted Springboard West, a music festival and conference for aspiring artists. Organized by an LA-based company, the festival featured two days of  panels and workshops attended by 50 artists from around the world and culminated on Saturday with a “Band and Brew crawl” at five OB venues.

Hundreds of music fans from San Diego and elsewhere were entertained at the OB Playhouse, Mothers, the Harp, Winstons, and Te Mana by an eclectic mix of artists. The acts that performed work in a  variety of genres such as singer/songwriter, pop, and country-, punk-, and soul-influenced rock acts.

Festival sign at Te Mana

As in most festival settings, it was a challenge to see more than a handful of the acts as all five stages were cooking simultaneously. Short breaks between performers allowed fans time to move from stage to stage or to grab a drink.

Kate Usher and The Sturdy Souls, a duet from Montauk, New York, opened the Mother’s stage at about 2 PM with a well-appreciated set. Ms. Usher, a vocalist graced with a beautiful voice, was backed by gifted guitarist Kevin Angiula and, like many of the artists who were traveling lightly to the event, also relied on some backing tracks to fill out her sound. Although it has always been difficult to get decent sound quality in Mother’s, the band and sound person did a good job of musically filling but not overwhelming the room.

Kate Usher And The Sturdy Souls (picture from the band’s Facebook page)

Another standout performance the OB Rag attended was a set by Kenny Nelson, a Santa Barbara-based vocalist. Mr. Nelson performed a series of fine love songs with touching lyrics that he delivered with a strength and emotion influenced by the likes of Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell.

The festival was well organized with each artist starting on time, decent sound, and good beer and wine. Respect and enthusiasm for Ocean Beach was expressed by all the artists and organizers interviewed by the Rag.

Singer Kenny Nelson and accompanist at Te Mana

Julius Robinson, who is part of Springboard West, was the emcee at Te Mana where acoustic singers and duets performed in a laid back setting. He explained to the Rag that Springboard has sponsored seven such festivals in Houston and three years ago decided to bring the concept to San Diego.

In its first year in San Diego the festival was held at the Music Box in Little Italy but last year the promoter moved it to Ocean Beach. Mr. Robinson said, OB is “a perfect neighborhood for what we’re doing”. He explained that over 3,000 artists submitted samples of their music and 50 were selected to participate.

Bar at the OB Playhouse, ground zero for the Springboard Festival

On Thursday and Friday these artists attended panels and workshops on subjects such as “How To Pitch Songs” as well as tech oriented topics and discussions on how to utilize social media in promoting their music. There was no charge to the artists that participated, though they were responsible for their own transportation and lodging in San Diego. Production costs were assumed by Springboard West, investment groups, and vendor sponsors.

Sons of Levin at Winstons

After her set, Ms. Usher spoke briefly with the Rag and said she had taken full advantage of the panels and felt that they provided valuable information to newer artists.

Springboard West seemed to be an enjoyable experience for all. Hopefully it will return to Ocean Beach in future years.