Artist Fact Sheet: Tommy Guerrero | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Artist Fact Sheet: Tommy Guerrero

The San Francisco native continues to rip on his board and on the stage

Many people know Tommy Guerrero for his work bombing down the hills of San Francisco with Powell Peralta and the Bones Brigade team. His laidback style on a skateboard was so enjoyable and easy to watch. Above all else, Guerrero was just simply cool. His career in skateboarding is the stuff of legend. But he's also a highly-skilled guitarist, bassist and composer who has been playing for almost as long as he's been skating. Those who haven't looked into Guerrero's passion for music are really missing out.

Artist Fact Sheet: Tommy Guerrero
Claudine Gossett
Tommy Guerrero's latest album, "Sunshine Radio," is out now on streaming services.

Guerrero is heading to the Volcanic Theatre Pub on Aug. 19. Maybe if you're lucky you might even see him skating around somewhere before the show. Get better acquainted with Guerrero's tunes with this Artist Fact Sheet.

Where he's from: Guerrero is a SF native, born in 1966. He started off playing in bands like Jerry's Kids and Free Beer when he was a young teenager—the latter of which would go on to become skatepunk royalty. Guerrero didn't put out his first solo album until 1997, which he initially did not intend to release. He was also a member of post-rock instrumental outfit Jet Black Crayon. Guerrero still puts out solo music and he's also a member of Los Days, an ambient-rock duo pairing up himself and multi-instrumentalist Josh Lippi. The pair released their second album this January.

What's to like: All together Guerrero has 12 solo albums under his belt that each offer something a little different. With chilled-out tempos and grooves, Guerrero pulls influence from rock, hip-hop, jazz, soul, funk, blues, Latin music and more. Most of his songs are instrumentals, but there are flashes of vocal performances on multiple tracks. He's a master of understanding the mellow—so more often than not his tunes are perfect for late nights at home, those days spent walking or skating the streets and even for hitting the beach. Four of my favorite Guerroro albums are "Soul Food Taqueria" (2003), "Perpetual" (2015), "Loose Grooves and Bastard Blues" (1997) and "Road to Knowhere" (2018).

Songs to start with: "Organism," "Sidewalk Soul," "In My Head," "At The Circles Edge," and "By Fist and Fury"

For fans of: Khruangbin, Ray Barbee, The Mattson 2, Tortoise, Curly Giraffe

Random Internet Dig Fact: Growing up playing in a band named Free Beer was a funny situation for Guerrero because he was underage at the time it started. As he told Thrasher Magazine in 2018, one time Guerrero got crammed inside the band's kick-drum case because he wasn't old enough to be inside the club. He hid backstage until showtime.

Tommy Guerrero

Fri., Aug 19, 9pm

Volcanic Theatre Pub

70 SW Century Dr., BEnd

$15 on Bendticket


Isaac Biehl

Isaac is living proof that "Iowa Nice" is actually a thing. A journalism graduate from Iowa State University, he regularly writes about music, the outdoors and the arts/culture scene. Isaac loves the Trail Blazers, backpacking and a good IPA. He plans to one day win Survivor. Your move, Jeff Probst...
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