Our man Sgt. Tiki has surveyed the musical landscape and selected six upcoming San Diego concerts — four local acts and two touring — for your musical enjoyment and edification.
Whether your tastes run to blues, Americana, country, rock, or a cappella, you’ll find something to satisfy your audio appetite.
Coral Bells
Indie folk-Americana band Coral Bells was founded by members who hail from Oklahoma, Boston, and Imperial Beach. The band took home a 2021 San Diego Music Award for Best Americana or Country Album, for their full-length Treehouse Tapes. They’ve been featured on various media outlets, from local KPBS, NBC SoundDiego, and 91X to NPR and more. Their most recent EP Still Be Home was produced, engineered, and mixed by Scott Seader (The Sinclairs) and mastered by Nashville-based Moses Mastering. New music is apparently on the horizon. “We’re slowly, intentionally, and deliberately curating our fourth album,” the band reported last year, “shaping it note by note, word by word.”
- Where: The Holding Company, 5046 Newport Avenue, San Diego
- When: Friday, January 16, 2026, 7:30 pm
- Age: 21+
- Get tickets
Buckethead
Brian Patrick Carroll, more widely known as Buckethead, quickly became one of the most recognizable guitarists in the business due to wearing a white mask and Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head. The clownish looking persona belies a truly innovative guitarist, known for blending genres such as metal, funk, and ambient music. His complex style first earned widespread notice during his stint with a latter-day version of Guns N’ Roses, playing with the band from 2000 to 2004. On his own, he’s a prolific recording artist who has released over a hundred albums, often dropping them as part of his “Pike” series, as well as collaborating with other artists like virtuoso fingerstyle guitarist Lawson Rollins, Primus bassist Les Claypool (Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains), and funk icon Bootsy Collins (Science Faxtion).
- Where: The Music Box, 1337 India Street, San Diego
- When: Saturday, January 17, 2026, 7:30 pm
- Age: 21+
- Get tickets
Cowboy Jack Johnson
Longtime (since 1968) San Diegan Cowboy Jack Johnson has fronted local tribute acts such as The Hank Show, re-creating the music of Hank Williams with costumes that include vintage smile-pocket Western shirts with hats and ties provided by original tailors from Nudies Rodeo Tailors and playing instruments accurate to the era that Williams recorded, from 1947 to 1953. Johnson formed another re-creation called Band in Black, featuring the music of Johnny Cash. “That band does the same thing,” he says, “we dress in black and play vintage gear like an upright bass, the lead guitarist uses a Telecaster, and I have my Martin guitar.” (Cash owned several Martins.) “We cover the late ’50s through early ’60s, all presented based on research and authentic down to the last detail.” For this Escondido performance, Johnson will cover a wide range of classic country artists.
- Where: Escondido First Congregational Church, 1800 North Broadway, Escondido
- When: Sunday, January 18, 2026, 2 pm
- Age: All ages
- Ticket info
Yale Whiffenpoofs
The Yale Whiffenpoofs, America’s oldest collegiate a cappella group, are celebrated for their signature close-harmony sound and their wide-ranging repertoire spanning vocal jazz, folk, pop, and Broadway favorites. Each year, 14 senior Yale students are selected to be in the group. The ensemble performs for more than two hundred audiences annually across all six inhabited continents, bringing their distinctive blend of musicianship, humor, and charm to listeners around the world. Over the years, they have performed for U.S. Presidents Obama, Bush (41 and 43), Clinton, and Reagan, and have taken the stage at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. This Point Loma concert will also feature two San Diego natives, Benjamin Jimenez, and Joseph Aguilar.
- Where: All Souls’ Episcopal Church, 1475 Catalina Boulevard, San Diego
- When: Sunday, January 18, 2026, 4:30 pm
- Age: All ages
- Get tickets
Tomcat Courtney’s 97th Birthday Tribute
Born in 1929, the late bluesman Tomcat Courtney grew up in Texas, where picking cotton was the family business. Later, his pianist father owned a nightclub frequented by players who’d become blues legends such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Tampa Red. At the age of 16, Courtney was hired on as a tap dancer and a singer in the Ringling Brothers Circus minstrel show. He’d taught himself to tap dance after seeing Mr. Bojangles (Bill Robinson) perform on the family farm. Learning guitar, he fell easily into the laconic, traditional Delta blues groove. He relocated to California in the 1960s, first to Los Angeles and then to San Diego in 1971. Here, he formed the Bluesdusters, who became house regulars at OB’s Texas Teahouse, where he played every week for around 20 years. Courtney passed away in January 2021 at the age of 91. The afternoon tribute performance kicks off at 4PM and features local blues fixture Billy Watson along with Tom’s Kids with Tony Tomlinson and Chickenbone Slim and The Biscuits.
- Where: Winstons Beach Club, 1921 Bacon Street, San Diego
- When: Monday, January 19, 2026, 4 pm
- Age: 21+
- Get tickets
Pinback
Pinback was formed in 1998 by singers, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists Armistead Burwell Smith IV (also known as Zach Smith) and man-of-a-thousand-bands Rob Crow. Besides Crow and Smith, the group has included at least a dozen other locals over the years. For this three-night-stand in Little Italy celebrating the Casbah’s 37th anniversary, each night will feature a different set of support acts. On Tuesday, January 20, experimental easy-listening concept rockers Hasco Enjoyments will open the show, while Wednesday, January 21 features Disheveled Cuss, a 90s-inspired alt- pop-rock project headed up by Nick Reinhart, singer-guitarist for math rock band Tera Melos. The Thursday January 22 bill includes one of Smith’s other groups, Systems Officer, which has featured members of Goblin Cock, Thingy, Mr. Tube, and Octagrape.
- Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego
- When: January 20, 21, 22
- Age: 21+
- Get tickets
