Category: Music

Rubber Band Summer Kickoff

The Rubber Band shook the dust off of our guitars, drums, and mics to perform at the Westwood Club on June 12th. We played for a couple of hours to a crowd made up of our neighbors, friends, and families in a pergola overlooking a shaded grassy field. It was the perfect summer kickoff.

Here are some pictures from the event.

And here are some video clips for the newer songs in our lineup.

Schools Out
Here Comes Your Man
The Man Who Sold the World
Corduroy
I Got Mine
Just What I Needed
Creep
Self Esteem

More videos are available on YouTube if you’re interested.

Thank you to Nora and Steve for allowing us to play. I hope you’ll invite us back, because we’d love to play for you again soon.

Please follow The Rubber Band on Instagram or Facebook.

Take care. Live life. Make some music.

-Scott

#livemusic #westwoodclub #ranchobernardo #coverband #dadband #therubbetband

This song is called, “Super”

This song is called, “Super”.

Songs are getting a little easier to write at this point. I credit my friends and family ( you know who you are ) for giving me the confidence to put this stuff up here. It’s not easy – and I don’t just mean the strumming and singing ( although that ain’t easy, either ).

It was inspired by a friend of mine that takes a little too much on. I don’t think she’d have it any other way, though. Per the last line in the song : Even heroes need heroes sometimes.

I’m trying to get the courage to start going to open mics. I’ve been playing at a few parks and the food courts at a couple of campuses where I work, but there is something terrifying about having all eyes on me. When playing with the Rubber Band the attention is shared between the six of us. And, when I play at parks and stuff, people rarely stop and listen – it’s casual. At open mics it’s just me. And that’s scary.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the song. I have more I’m working on and I’m trying to get some collaborators, too.

Till next time!

Live life. Stay healthy. Create something!

-Scott

#singersongwriter #drawnandcoded #thewestwoodrubberband 

With or Without Me

I took a hiatus on drawing and started writing some original music, and then something unexpected happened – I wanted to start drawing again. Fortunately, my family has been on a roll as far as providing me with material.

As far as music this song is called, “With or Without Me.”

It’s about being a Dad ( or Mom ) with kids that are growing up just a little too fast. Yes, it still needs some polish ( starting with a nice kick drum ), but I’m trying.

Live life. Stay Healthy. Go make something.

-Scott

#comic #singersongwriter #illustrator #raisingdaughters #ranchbernardo

Another Night

This song is called “Another Night”. It’s about loss – and a little defiance, too. I wrote the lyrics for it a few years ago after my Dad passed away. No one can tell you it’ll be okay when something like that happens. No one. It just takes time. I didn’t play much when he was alive. I hope, somewhere, he is listening now.

Live live. Hug a loved one.

-Scott

Blacks

This is a song I’ve been working on. I call it, “Blacks”. If you’re from San Diego you might recognize some of it.

I’ve been writing and playing a lot over the last year. It started with Survive, a song I wrote the lyrics for – but leaned heavily on Suno, an AI service, for the melody. This one is much more organic.

I hope you enjoy it.

Live life. Stay Healthy. Create something.

-Scott

#singersongwriter #originalsongs #blacksbeach #blacksbeachsandiego #blacksbeachsong #torreypinessong #ucsd

Swish

The gig that never happened ( sniff, sniff )

Well, the good news is that my daughter, Ashley, got Rancho Bernardo High School to invite The Rubber Band back to play for a Basketball Fanfest. The bad news is that ticket sales weren’t enough to justify the cost of having us play. 

… and we’re free, so, yeah – that was a gut punch. 

But, I get it. 

No hard feelings.

It takes a lot of coordination and sweat to get everything set up. Heck, I was amazed when the band were all able to commit. 

So, it was the gig that never happened and all I have to show for it is a cool flyer that made.

Live life and stay healthy

-Scott

#dadband #ranchobernardohighschool #rbhs #therubberband #illustration

Bye, Bye Twenty Twenty-Five

Good-bye, 2025, you were a good year. I guess I am in the minority as 25′ seemed to have a bad rapport amongst a lot of my friends and family, but for me it was good.

I’ve seen my girls grow up a little more and become their own not-so-little people. 

I saw my wife’s business, Vandervort Realty, grow and expand.

My band, The Rubber Band, has been playing more ( and bigger ) gigs, and I’ve taken on more vocals and acoustic guitar to fit in a little better. 

I’ve been drawing a lot more. Although a lot of it is hidden away in a sketchbook, here’s a couple fresh of the press!

Feeding kids on a budget … we’ve all done it!
Yes. She did.

I’ve been composing my own music and accompanying myself. 

I’ve started playing music with a new, smaller, group of people with the hopes of doing some open mics next year. 

I’ve been happily employed at Poway Unified for the better part of a year now. It was a nice change of pace compared to the last couple of employers I had. The people are great, the workload is manageable, and for the first time in a long time, I believe in the product ( education ).

Lastly, I, along with my friends and family, walked in my fifth Prostate Cancer Walk.

So 2025 set the stage for 2026, which I have big plans for. Hope to see ya’ all around next year.

Take care of yourselves. Live life. Stay healthy.

-Scott

#newyears #goodbye2025 #illustration #costco #costcofreebies #costcosamples #therubberband #singersongwriter #vandervortrealty

Return to Alacran

A flyer I churned out for our Halloween performance.

Happy Halloween!

Alacran Court invited “The Rubber Band” back to play for their annual Halloween block party. This year we had a band of middle-schoolers, called “Dencity”, open for us. Dencity played through a set of five songs – including a couple of originals – before we took the stage. I wish I had their guts back when I was their age. It took me another 30+ years to gain the courage, I guess. Better late than never. We played for an hour before retreating to our respective halloween festivities.

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Our take on “Werewolves of London”
“Shook Me All Night Long”

You can follow The Rubber Band on Instagram ( the.westwood.rubber.band ), or through on YouTube ( @WestwoodRubberBand ).

… and as always, live life and stay healthy!

-Scott

#TheRubberBand #WestwoodRubberBand #DadBand #GarageBand #Music #RockBand #Halloween #WerewolvesInLondon #RanchoBernardo #SanDiegoMusic #PowayUnifiedSchoolDistrict #PUSD #Westwood #SupportLiveMusic

Rancho BEERnardo

The Rubber Band was invited to play at Rancho Bernardo’s annual Oktoberfest festival at Webb Park on October 11th. We opened for Par Avion, an instrumental surf music-inspired band from Santa Monica, to a crowd of 900 beer aficionados.

The local paper and ( no joke ) Union Tribune picked up on the event, and ran articles in which we were published. As our lead vocalist announced to the crowd ( jokingly ), “Yeah, we’re kind of a big thing.” We almost laughed him off the stage.

The Chieftain interviewed us. Other local papers, including The San Diego Union Tribune, re-published the article. My co-workers at Twin Peaks Center found out and surprised me with my own copy in the main conference room.

Would we do it again? Absolutely. However, we couldn’t have done it without the help of a lot of people…

Thank you Eric and John from San Diego Event Pros for making us sound so good. You guys are awesome!

Thank you Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club for inviting us to play for the festival

And, as always, a huge thanks to our wives and families for letting us chase our middle-aged rock star dreams.

Set One
Set Two

You can follow The Rubber Band on Instagram at the.westwood.rubber.band

Thank you for your support!

-Scott

#RanchoBeernardo #RanchoBernardo #WestwoodRubberBand #DadBand #92127 #RotaryClub #RanchoBernardoSunriseRotaryClub #SanDiegoEventPros #ParAvoion #GarageBand

Homecoming Tailgate

A “quick and dirty” flyer I created for RBHS homecoming.

I went to my first homecoming in 31 years last night – sort of. My daughter, Ashley, is in ASB at Rancho Bernardo High School. About two weeks ago she and her friend, Lizzie were brainstorming a tailgate party for the upcoming homecoming game. When asked about a live band, Lizzie suggested – The Rubber Band.

RBHS Homecoming Tailgate Set One

We played for about an hour over two sets. We even got the principal of RBHS to join us for a cover of “I Wanna Be Sedated”, by the Ramones. 

And the Broncos? They won.

RBHS Homecoming Tailgate Set Two

If you want to follow the band please join our Instagram page at The.Westwood.Rubber.Band

Live life. Stay Healthy.

-Scott

#RanchoBernardoHighSchool #RBHS #Homecoming #DadBand #GarageBand #RubberBand