Are you ready to enter the “Age of Love” That’s the name of the EDM and house music event coming to SLO’s Kreuzberg California next Friday, Feb. 21. The lineup includes Afro house act Jungle Haüs, euphoric house artist Stompy, and live violin and piano EDM producers Elysian Moon—aka Tyson Leonard (violin) and Grace Jiia (cello and piano).
“We’ve been spending lots of time in the studio over the past few weeks reimagining our gear and composing music,” Jiia explained. “It’s been an incredibly successful year, and we look forward to putting on more special events for the crowd in SLO, with an emphasis on safe, supportive, and fun alternative options for people to experience pinnacle, intimate, and transformative moments with each other through music and space. I believe the scene has been foundational and a unique contribution to the robust music variety that exists in SLO.”
Presented by Sunset Tribe, Age of Love is an all-ages event from 8 p.m. to midnight, with $23.27 tickets available at my805tix.com. Organizers say to expect “an evening where world grooves meet heart-first hypnotic electronic music. Curated by Sunset Tribe, this night features a lineup of artists spinning a fusion of stunning melodics, deep tribal, organic, Afro, and euphoric house music. Connect with cultural rhythms from beautiful places around the globe—Europe, Tulum, Africa, and beyond … right here in San Luis Obispo. May tonight be the evening that illuminates a new age for you: the age of love.”
Elysian Moon’s Jiia and Leonard found each other at a music festival, when she heard Tyson’s violin music echoing “across the grounds.”
They toured with artist Ayla Nereo, discovering a deep passion for playing music together. Inspired by this connection, they launched Elysian Moon and penned their debut track, “Solstice,” on winter solstice of 2023.
“We share the same musical sensibility, hearing the same lines in our head, and we’re both string players with a background of classical training,” Jiia explained. “I, however, offer a delicate, emotional neoclassical flow to the music, with orchestral style synthesizer sounds, while Tyson brings the fire, a grittier, more energetic, gypsy, and eclectic vibe to the table.”
Where do they fit into the EDM scene?
“EDM is traditionally DJ dominated and currently in a fast social media-driven cycle that’s hard to keep up with while beats per minute are being driven faster and faster,” Jiia said. “We want to pull things back into a deeper groove in a more connected space. Thanks to amazing technology these days, producers like us who create original music are able to play in the EDM world, creating a compelling and heartfelt show with audience reciprocation. We produce and perform our own music, which sets us in a growing category with acts such as Kiasmos, Satori, and Polaroit. Our music is made for the festival stage as much as for the EDM club, beachside resort, or concert hall.”
Alright, readers, are you ready to lose yourself in a wash of sound?
“Music is one of the most potent forms of magic,” Jiia concluded. “Our mission is to create music and experiences that are the foundation for our community’s peak experiences, or as we say, ‘eternal sunsets.'”
Love stinks
Valentine’s Day is Friday, Feb. 14, and whether you’re lucky in love or looking for love in all the wrong places, the place to be is Benny’s Pizza Parlor and Social Club (7:30 p.m.; all ages; free).
“Cheers to the liver for handling what the heart can’t,” said Ali Wenzl of Hot Tina. “Join us on Valentine’s Day to fill the hole in your heart with rock ‘n’ roll, pizza, and booze.”
Alt-country and Americana band Longstraw will start the party at 7:30 p.m. followed by Hot Tina.
“Our Love is for Losers Party will include drink specials, and we’ll be raffling off prizes worthy of the holiday. Prom attire encouraged,” Wenzl added.
Sounds like heaven
Can a man have a voice like an angel? Yes! Think Simon and Garfunkel or Jeff Buckley or alt-folk singer-songwriter Iron & Wine (née Samuel Ervin Beam), who plays the Fremont Theater on Thursday, Feb. 20 (8 p.m.; all ages; $38 to $78 at prekindle.com), with Anna St. Louis opening.
Beam’s been at it for over a decade, recording seven studio albums filled with emotive and cinematic songs like “Call it Dreaming”: “Say it’s here where our pieces fall in place/ Any rain softly kisses us on the face/ Any wind means we’re running/ We can sleep and see ’em coming/ Where we drift and call it dreaming/ We can weep and call it singing.”
Also at the Fremont, see Mexican singer and actress Edith Márquez on Friday, Feb. 14 (8 p.m.; all ages; $49.50 to $124.50 plus fees at prekindle.com). She’s a Latin American favorite.
Eagles tribute act Hotel California plays on Saturday, Feb. 15 (8 p.m.; all ages; $27.50 to $47.50 plus fees at prekindle.com), delivering classics like “Hotel California,” “Take It Easy,” and “Desperado.”
Psychos!
Strap in and hang on because Numbskull and Good Medicine present the godfather of modern psychobilly, Reverend Horton Heat, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, in The Siren (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $36.77 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with Black Joe Lewis opening,
The Dallas, Texas-based trio is fronted by James C. Heath, who’s a force of nature. Black Joe Lewis is a blues, funk, and soul artist influenced by Howlin’ Wolf and James Brown.
Aloha
Tavana plays The Siren on Saturday, Feb. 15 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $24.30 at tixr.com), with Devin and the Relatives opening. Tavana has opened for Alabama Shakes, Shakey Graves, Xavier Rudd, Jenny Lewis, Julian Marley, and Kaleo to name just a few.
“I perform everything live and use no looping,” Tavana said in press materials. “Everything is played moment to moment. … It’s hard to explain how fun it is to do this. It’s like having a whole band in your body and mind.”
Dawg and Jerry homage
“The music that my father, David Grisman, and his close friend, Jerry Garcia, made in the early ’90s in the house that I grew up in is not only some of the most timeless acoustic music ever recorded, it also triggers my oldest and fondest musical memories,” explained Sam Grisman in press materials. “What I find most inspiring about this material is the way their camaraderie and their love and joy for the music simply oozes out of each recording.”
The Sam Grisman Project plays Rod & Hammer on Friday, Feb. 14 (doors at 8 p.m.; 18-and-older; $39.05 at ticketweb.com) to share David and Jerry’s “beloved repertoire.”
Also at Rod & Hammer, check out IMVA when the R&B act headlines Love in the Key of Groove—a evening that also includes performances by Vince Cimo’s Hot Fire and Antonio Barret (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; free).
Jazz icons
The SLO County Jazz Fed has cooked up an amazing concert this week when two-time Grammy-winning saxophonist Ernie Watts is joined by Grammy-winning pianist Bill Cunliffe on Saturday, Feb. 15, for a concert in SLO’s Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $35 general $10 students at my805tix.com).
Watts has been featured on more than 500 recordings from the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Marvin Gaye, and Frank Zappa. He was also a member of the Johnny Carson band for 20 years.
Cunliffe won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and has played with Frank Sinatra, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, and James Moody among many others.
Cunliffe also plays a Jazz Vespers Concerts in SLO’s First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Feb. 16 (4 p.m.; all ages; free but donations apprteciated).
For the love of animals
Talie’s Trailer Park Revival will play a fundraising concert at Creston’s Stillwater Vineyards on Sunday, Feb. 16, to benefit the Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation, which rescued wild and domestic animals stranded and injured in the recent LA County fires. Admission is $25 (call (805) 237-9231 for reservations or to donate).
The brand-new band features some familiar Central Coast players: singer-songwriter Talie Copen, Burning James, Daryl Van Druff, Dave Kief, and Sarah Blick. According to their bio, you can expect “a blend of heartfelt storytelling and foot-stomping rhythms that will undoubtedly leave audiences craving more.”
Deep roots
Bluesy roots and Americana singer-songwriter Azere Wilson plays a For the Folks concert at Bang the Drum Brewery on Saturday, Feb. 15 (7 p.m.; all ages; $145.64 at eventbrite.com or $15 at the door).
“It’s my first time as a trio with Adrian Libertini on upright bass and Manas Itene on percussion,” Wilson explains. “There are two other solo artists playing, Erisy Watt and Francesca Blanchard. Francesca is amazing, and she sings in French as well as English. I’m not sure where she is originally from, but I’ve met her and she’s a sweetheart on top of her awesome musicianship and artistic prowess. Erisy Watt is new to me, but from what I hear, her voice is like a dreamscape.” Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2025.