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SurfGuitar101.com is the premier place on the web for friends and fans of the world-wide phenomenon known as surf music. Surf music was created in the early 1960's in Southern California by such bands as The Belairs, Dick Dale & His Deltones, and The Chantays, and popularized further by bands like The Ventures, The Astronauts, The Pyramids, & The Lively Ones. Surf music was all but forgotten when The Beatles and the British Invasion landed in America in the mid to late 1960's. In the late 70's and early 1980's a revival began when bands like Jon & The Nightriders, The Surf Raiders, and The Halibuts heard the call of the surf and reintroduced it to hungry audiences. This revival continues today and has spread world-wide. Today you can find surf bands not only in California, but all across America, Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and Japan.
Join us in our forums to discuss this great form of popular music. Discover great bands old and new. Check out our podcasts as we highlight the classic surf bands and the bands of today. Meet new friends and learn about the next surf show in your town. Exchange tips on playing and performing surf music and even starting your own band!
Thanks for being part of the greatest online community dedicated to surf music!
This site started as a Yahoo Group in late October, 2001. There were several other surf music Yahoo groups at the time, so we started our focus on the musician aspect of playing surf music (hence the "guitar 101"). After a short time we dropped that angle and fully embraced all aspects of surf music.
After seeing The Surf Coasters (Japan) on their first US tour in the summer of 2004, we needed a place to host our many photos and videos. The domain name surfguitar101.com was registered, and a simple static website was created to host media files as a supplement to the Yahoo group.
Cramped by the confines of the Yahoo Group, in February of 2006 we launched an interactive version of the website, complete with our now famous forums. This format was kept until February, 2011 when the website software was rewritten and a new look was designed.
The SG101 community held its first annual convention weekend in 2008 in Southern California, a tradition that continues today. Ever year our members get together for a surf music packed weekend, and each year has been bigger and better than the last. In 2010, Germany's The Space Rangers and Italy's (via Antigua) Wadadli Riders were the first non-US bands to play at the convention. Fans of surf music get to see, hear, and mingle with musicians from the original 60's bands as well as the up and coming bands of today.
