John Doe of X due at Lou's to discuss his new punk-rock book

Journals written by John Doe, one of the founding members of the Los Angeles punk-rock band X, were a key reference for his new book, "More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk."

Actor Tim Robbins, visual artist Shepard Fairey and skateboard legend Tony Hawk are a few of the contributors to “More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk,” the new book about punk-rock co-written by John Doe of the band X.

San Diego Union-Tribune

July 25, 2019 12:15 PM PT

Unless you already have a ticket, you won’t be able to attend either of this weekend’s sold-out shows here at the Belly Up by the pioneering Los Angeles punk-rock band X. But you can walk right into Lou’s Records on Saturday in Encinitas, where X co-founder John Doe will team with and Tom DeSavia to discuss and their new book, “More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk.”

It includes interviews with numerous early punk veterans, as well as chapters written by actor Tim Robbins, visual artist Shepard Fairey and San Diego-bred skateboard legend Tony Hawk.

Doe and DeSavia will be joined at Lou’s by veteran North County musician Chip Kinman, best known as one of the driving forces behind the bands The Dils and Rank and File.

The event will also include a Q&A and a book signing. Copies of “More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk” will be available for purchase at Lou’s.

“More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk” — a book discussion John Doe & Tom DeSavia. 2 p.m. Saturday. Lou’s Records, 434 North Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. Free. (760) 753-1382. lousrecords.com.

George Varga

San Diego Union-Tribune music critic George Varga began drumming in rock bands at 12 and writing professionally about music at 15. A Louisiana native who grew up mostly in Germany, Varga has earned three Pulitzer Prize nominations for his writing at the U-T and is a voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to providing live coverage of the Grammy Awards and festivals from Coachella and KAABOO to the 1994 edition of Woodstock, he has interviewed everyone from Miles Davis, Britney Spears and (over a game of chess) Ray Charles to Willie Nelson, Kanye West and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis. A triple first prize-winner for criticism and arts writing at the 2022 San Diego Press Club awards and a double first prize-winner at the 2022 San Diego Society of Professional Journalists awards, Varga is also a contributing writer for Jazz Times magazine and has written for Billboard, Spin and other publications. After attending San Diego City College and San Diego State University, he created and taught the 2002 UC San Diego Extension course, “Jazz in a Post-Ken-Burns World.” Varga has written liner notes for more than a dozen albums, including by jazz sax greats James Moody and Michael Brecker, and contributed two chapters to the book, “Dylan: Disc By Disc.”