CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Aug. 21, 2025) — Over these last four years, I’ve done my best to bring attention to some of the otherwise overlooked music coming out of our region – here in Diablo Valley and across the greater Bay Area – in hopes of fostering local music enthusiasm and listenership.

Since I joined The Pioneer team in November 2021, I’ve mentioned, quoted or spotlighted more than 100 local bands and artists (116 actually!) from 20 different Bay Area cities and towns.

Over this time, I’ve advised readers on what they can expect to hear from 89 local releases. I’ve been careful not to refer to these write-ups as “reviews,” because I’ve always felt that ranking art was inappropriate. But I hope I’ve converted some of you readers into listeners.

Independent musicians continually struggle to find their audiences in today’s music media landscape. Most of them have been conditioned to vie for online attention through social media bombardments, efforts which – aside from being exhausting and soul-crushing – seldom yield productive results.

I’ve always recognized the overlooked world of public and/or community media as having something different to offer: an old-fashioned, but effective way for local artists to reach the general public and potentially grow their audience. This column has served as the print version of that effort.

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All of this was made possible because I cold-called Tamara Steiner and asked if she had any desire for a local music column. We didn’t know each other well, but we both knew of one another and were loosely acquainted through social media and mutual friends. At the time, I was inspired by my then-new radio program getting the green light for weekly airplay on KVHS. I was feeling excited and ambitious at the possibility of taking on another platform for local music discovery.

With no formal experience in writing outside of a short-lived column in another local paper (which, unlike The Pioneer, did not pay), I was very much asking Steiner to take a chance on me.

After meeting up for coffee and talking at length about our shared affinity for the High Sierras and current local issues (at the time, the hot Concord topic was Seeno being chosen as master developer for the Concord Naval Weapons Station), we eventually discussed what a local music column might look like and what that might bring to her beloved paper. We quickly saw eye-to-eye, giving way to my first appearance in The Pioneer that next month.

I’m endlessly grateful to have been given the opportunity to further platform our local music community over these last 45 months. I wish nothing but happiness and good health to Steiner in her retirement, and hope that I’ve left you all with a somewhat more nuanced appreciation for our local music community.

Those wishing to continue discovering local music with me can always tune into 90.5 KVHS at 7 p.m. any Sunday or Thursday for “The Beat of Diablo.”

Thanks for reading. Take care of each other.

Contact Dave Hughes at MrDaveHughes@gmail.com.

Dave Hughes

mrdavehughes@gmail.com | Website

Dave Hughes is a local music advocate with an extensive network of independent artists. He produces and hosts a local music program on KVHS called The Beat of Diablo, every Sunday at 7:00 PM on 90.5 FM. Dave also catalogs local music releases at ConcordRockCity.com.