“For me nowadays, when we get together and play, it’s like a celebration of just being together.”

For Michael D’Santi, that togetherness has lasted for more than 30 years.

The Southern California blues-rock guitarist started D’Santi with his brother and friends he met in high school. After decades of gigs, changing music scenes, families, careers, and everything that can pull a band apart, they are still playing together.

They know each other so well that they rarely need to make eye contact onstage. Everyone already knows where the music is going.

As Michael put it, “People pick up on that. They see that we’re enjoying it rather than trying to make money or be famous.”

But before D’Santi, there was a house filled with instruments.

Michael’s father was a guitarist who played around Los Angeles during the late ’60s and early ’70s. He introduced Michael and his brother Paul to everything from jazz, R&B, and funk to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jeff Beck, Albert King, and B.B. King.

Michael originally started on drums, but while accompanying his brother to drum lessons, the guitars hanging on the music-store walls kept catching his attention.

Once he picked one up, everything changed.

By 13 or 14, Michael was already gigging with older musicians. By 1989, D’Santi had begun taking shape, blending guitar-driven blues rock with elements of funk, reggae, R&B, and the sound of ’70s bands like Humble Pie and the Faces.

They also developed a reputation as what Michael calls a “B-side cover band,” choosing deeper cuts instead of playing the same familiar songs audiences hear every weekend.

The goal was not to follow the crowd. It was to stay true to themselves.

In this episode of The SoCal Setlist, Michael talks about growing up in the Los Angeles and Inland Empire music scenes, watching Albert King and B.B. King as a kid, seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan twice, and learning guitar by listening closely to the musicians around him.

He also shares stories from his years as a full-time working musician, including opening shows for major artists, performing on USO tours, recording and touring with Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, and spending years driving between San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, and the desert for gigs.

Michael also talks about D’Santi’s original music, playing with the Honey Lickers, teaching guitar, building a simple but expressive guitar rig, and why tone has far more to do with a player’s personality and touch than the equipment they use.

As Michael explains, five guitarists can play through the exact same rig and still sound completely different.

The episode also gets into one of the hardest parts of making music: keeping a band together.

Even after decades of friendship, Michael says it still takes patience, trust, compromise, and a shared commitment to keep moving forward.

From touring the country to returning to the stage with his brother and lifelong friends, Michael’s story is a reminder that a successful life in music is not always measured by fame.

Sometimes it is measured by the people still standing beside you when the next song begins.

Meet Michael D’Santi.

🎧 Full episode out now.

Link in bio.

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“I can’t stop. I’ll stop when I die.”

That line sums up Sean Maier’s story.

Known to many as Shred Sean, Sean is a guitarist, songwriter, teacher, and performer whose life with music started the way so many great stories do: with one song that changed everything.

For Sean, that song was Bush’s “Glycerine.” He heard it as a kid, picked up the guitar, and never really put it down. What started with a seventh-grade guitar class and a few power chords quickly turned into hours of practice, a deep dive into players like Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, George Lynch, Nuno Bettencourt, and Paul Gilbert, and a lifelong obsession with getting better.

In this episode of The SoCal Setlist with Brian Jensen, Sean talks about growing up in Long Island, working in his parents’ deli, trading sandwiches for VHS shred guitar lessons, building confidence through small wins, and eventually joining Blessed by a Broken Heart after answering a MySpace bulletin looking for a shred guitar player.

By 21, Sean had left New York to join the band in Montreal, and by 22 he was touring Europe, signing record deals, recording in major studios, and touring with the band globally.

But this conversation is not just about the highlight reel.

Sean also talks about the grind: sleeping on floors, touring out of vans, dealing with criticism, watching opportunities come and go, and learning that a career in music requires serious thick skin. As he puts it, people are going to doubt you, and you have to really believe in yourself.

From playing large stages in front of thousands, to finding new ways to keep his original music alive, Sean’s story is a reminder that the path is rarely straight, but the people who last are the ones who keep finding a way.

This is the story of someone who has passion, purpose, and relentless drive.

In This Episode

• Sean and Brian talk about:
• How Bush’s “Glycerine” sparked Sean’s love for guitar
• Growing up in Long Island and working in his parents’ deli
• Learning guitar in seventh grade and getting laughed at during an early performance
• Building confidence through small wins
• Discovering Van Halen, Yngwie, George Lynch, Nuno Bettencourt, and Paul Gilbert
• Trading deli sandwiches for VHS shred guitar lessons
• Joining Blessed by a Broken Heart through MySpace
• Leaving New York for Montreal at 21
• Touring Europe and signing international record deals
• Recording Pedal to the Metal Playing in Japan
• Why musicians need thick skin
• Why Sean says he’ll keep playing music no matter what
• His current work with Those Guys and his own original music

Follow Sean on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shredstarz/

Watch the official video for "Megadrive" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9MZlI5Ux94

SoCal Soundcheck is sponsored by Tsunami Cables.

SoCal Soundcheck is proud to be sponsored by Tsunami Cables. These are high-quality, dependable cables built for working musicians, serious players, and anyone who values gear that performs night after night.

When your signal matters, your cable matters.

Use promo code SOCALSOUND at checkout for 10% off your order at TsunamiCables.com.

Country-rock artist Chris Lozano didn’t come from a music industry family. He grew up in Paonia, Colorado, a small coal mining town where his graduating class had just 40 people - and where hard work wasn’t a slogan, it was a way of life.

In this episode of SoCal Soundcheck, Chris shares the story behind his journey: singing Motown and classic country as a kid, getting pulled out of middle school detention by a choir teacher who heard something in his voice, meeting the woman who would become his wife, serving in the Marine Corps, and eventually finding his way into country music.

Chris also talks about how his military background shaped his songwriting, especially on songs like “Boots on Sacred Ground,” written for the Marines, military members who never came home, and the Gold Star families who carry that loss every day. In one of the most emotional moments of the conversation, Chris explains that he doesn’t write to impress everyone — he writes so the people the song is meant for can feel seen.

The episode also goes deep into Chris’s Nashville recording experience at Historic RCA Studio C, working with producer Eddie Gore, and learning from the kind of session musicians who have played with major artists across country, rock, and Americana. Chris shares stories about walking the same halls as legends, tracking with Nashville players, and learning how small changes in songwriting, phrasing, production, and performance can turn a song into something that connects.

Chris also opens up about the grind of booking, building a band, getting rejected, and staying persistent:

“For every yes I’ve got, I’ve gotten probably like 20, 30 no’s. So don’t take the no’s as you’re a failure.”

That mindset runs through the whole conversation - from Paonia to the Marine Corps, from karaoke nights to Nashville, from local shows to national stages.

In this episode

• Growing up in a small coal mining town in Colorado
• How Chris first discovered his voice
• Meeting his wife in middle school
• Serving in the Marine Corps and learning guitar while stationed in Hawaii
• Writing songs with emotional weight and personal meaning
• The story behind “Boots on Sacred Ground”
• Recording at Historic RCA Studio C in Nashville
• Working with producer Eddie Gore
• Nashville takeaways, session players, and songwriting lessons
• The reality of booking shows and hearing “no” again and again
• Building the Chris Lozano Band and taking country-rock on the road

Featured/mentioned: Chris Lozano Band, Eddie Gore, Historic RCA Studio C, Bekka Bramlett, Tim Buppert, Steve Mackey, Dane Bryant, Tyler Cain, Jared Kneale, Erik Peterson, Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Elvis Presley, Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson.

Follow Chris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrislozanocountry/

Website: https://chrislozanoband.com/

SoCal Soundcheck is sponsored by Tsunami Cables.

SoCal Soundcheck is proud to be sponsored by Tsunami Cables. These are high-quality, dependable cables built for working musicians, serious players, and anyone who values gear that performs night after night.

When your signal matters, your cable matters.

Use promo code SOCALSOUND at checkout for 10% off your order at TsunamiCables.com.