Live At The Belly Up: Vokab Kompany And Brawley

Sometimes all you need is music. And sometimes you need that music live. Welcome to LIVE AT THE BELLY UP. San Diego has long been known as a hotbed of great musical talent. What’s more, San Diego is home to one of the best music venues on the West Coast. Since 1974, the Belly Up has been featuring great local bands from the Cedros Design District. Groove, dance and sing! Live at the Belly Up.

This episode features performances by Vokab Kompany and Brawley:

VOKAB KOMPANY

Vokab Kompany are two MC/singers from San Diego, California. Their new album, "VKCE," a collaboration effort with up and coming production/musician duo Crush Effect, has been critically acclaimed and filled a void at the intersection of the hip-hop and EDM worlds. ‘VKCE’ is Hip-hop, it’s electronic, it’s indie - it’s a shout out to the past, and a taste of the future.

Vokab Kompany’s Matt Burke describes the experience: “As musicians, it’s an ever evolving world; genres are a thing of the past, so we (VK) were really lucky to have teamed up with producers that pushed the boundaries of our boxes. We got outside our comfort zone, stamped a VK next to CE, and the result was something new entirely.”

The brazenly dynamic sound on VKCE has quickly garnered the attention of television and film. The record already has two national commercials, for a major carmaker (debuting 2013) and Southern Comfort. The album debuted at #47 on the iTunes hip-hop charts, behind only major-label releases from T.I. and Chief Keef among all hip-hop records released that week.

2012 saw the band play over 60 shows, including Seattle City Arts Festival, Bounce Festival, Lunacy Festival, Oysterfest San Diego, So Cal Fest and RedFest in Red River, New Mexico. They supported bands from Umphrey's McGee to Collie Buddz and Diego's Umbrella, while carving out headline markets outside their hometown.

The spontaneity of the band’s performance art has made them underground phenoms, stealing the show with their Burning Man-esq light shows, dancers, performance artists and special guests who surprise fans at each performance.

The team has been blessed with a slew of great press; in addition to a feature on electronic music in the August print edition of Spin, and "climbing" George Washington Bridge with Al Roker, the band has won best hip-hop group at the San Diego Music Awards for three years in a row, and even impressed Prince Charles when he stopped by Solana Beach's Belly Up to catch a VK show.

Vokab Kompany is on Facebook, and you can follow @VokabKompany on Twitter.

BRAWLEY

California country, what could be better? Brawley is a mix of San Diego-based working musicians with decades of history and music projects, including the Hacienda Brothers, Smith's Ranch Boys, The Forbidden Pigs, and Rancho Deluxe.

Their original songs blend seamlessly with country classics, and while being thoroughly modern, the influence of honky-tonk heroes like Faron Young, Ray Price, and Buck Owens is clearly there.

Melodic harmony vocals by Nena Anderson and Adrian Demain are accented by the expressive pedal steel work of David Berzansky.

For dancers, a solid rhythm section keep things rocking'…Brawley will make you smile while you're crying in your beer and have you signing up for those two-step classes you always wanted to take. Brawley is on Facebook.

UP NEXT:

"The Devastators & The Grass Heat" airs Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV

"B-Side Players & Maren Parusel" airs Friday, Feb. 8, 2013 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV

These episodes will be available for online viewing after the broadcast date.

Belly Up brings the best in new, up-and-coming artists as well as established legends in genres ranging from alternative rock, rock, reggae, and hip-hop to blues, folk, jazz, Latin & more! Visit their online calendar of shows. Belly Up is on Facebook, and you can follow @BellyUpMusic on Twitter.