You could call Cory Stier one of the most plugged-in people in the San Diego music scene. While cutting his teeth originally in the band Pistolita, Stier eventually found himself behind the local label Thrill Me Records and behind the drum kit for bands including Cults, Mrs. Magician, Hideout and others. As a talent buyer, his home base for the last 10 years has been Soda Bar while he also branched out into presenting shows at the Irenic, Casbah, the Belly Up, the Che Cafe, House of Blues and other clubs. Fittingly, Stier ended up purchasing Soda Bar with Casbah owner Tim Mays, Andrew Montoya (from Beaters, the Sess, Teach Me, etc.) and Angie Ollman in 2018. Be sure to visit SodaBarMusic.com to purchase merch, with proceeds going directly to staff, and of course, head there for shows when life gets (somewhat) back to normal.

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Episode 10 Show Notes:

• Soda Bar celebrated its 10th anniversary just last year — and who else would Cory tap to ring in the momentous occasion than his own band, Cults! Relive the show with the band's SoundDiego TV performance here.
• Also, read the SoundDiego interview with Cory about the big birthday here, where he recaps what his journey over the last 10 years has been like.
• For our sharp-eared listeners, Cory mentions "Rosey" around 2:05 in the episode. He's referring to none other than Rosemary Bystrak, who handles marketing for the Casbah, is a regular SoundDiego contributor and runs the blog SD: Dialed In.
• Similarly, while talking about the Whistle Stop around 2:15 in the episode, Cory also throws out the name "Craig" — a reference to Craig Oliver, owner of one of San Diego's best independent labels, Volar Records.
• The first album Cory bought himself was Lagwagon's 1994 sophomore full-length "Trashed" — here's a little background on it.
• We joined hundreds of other rabid Frights fans for their huge, free Balboa Park show at Spreckels Organ Pavilion back in February (doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?) — check out the SoundDiego TV recap here.
• Also, who could forget Drive Like Jehu's epic predecessor to the Frights' Balboa Park show? Go back in time here with our SoundDiego TV video.
• The co-founder of Spalding Sporting Goods, Albert Spalding, indeed built a magnificent house in Point Loma in 1900, which eventually became a focal point of Point Loma Nazarene University. Take a look inside here.
• The episode's Spotlight artist of the week is (naturally) one of Cory's own bands, Cults! Their latest album is titled "Offering" (also the name of the single we played on the episode) and if you'd like to order yourself some merch from the band, head to CultsCultsCults.com and do your thing. Be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and catch 'em at a show when bands are on the road again.

Join us for a new episode of the SoundDiego Podcast every Saturday morning. Upcoming guests on the pod include Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler, the B-Side Players' Karlos Paez, Nine Inch Nails' Ilan Rubin, and Verbatim Books' Justine Epstein! Thanks for listening, and until next time, enjoy the music.

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The SoundDiego Podcast is executive-produced by Eric S. Page, and hosted/edited by Dustin Lothspeich (reach him here).

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