Kenny Weissberg

ON A BITTER-COLD December afternoon in 1967, Kenny Weissberg, a college sophomore, stood first in line outside The Factory—a Madison, Wisconsin, music club —waiting to see Otis Redding. But the soulmusic legend never made it to the gig. On his way to Madison, Redding, who had recorded “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” just three days earlier, died along with six others when their plane plunged into the icy waters of nearby Lake Monona. The news had a profound effect on Weissberg.

“I felt Otis’ spirit enter my body that night,” he says. “I remember telling my roommates that I was going to devote the rest of my life to music. Going to Woodstock two years later cemented my prediction.”

Since the day Redding died, Weissberg, 58, has never held a job that didn’t involve music. He’s been a deejay, music critic and musician who fronted a popular Boulder, Colorado, band in the early ’80s called Kenny & the Kritix. But in San Diego, he’s best known as producer and talent buyer of the Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay series for the past 23 years.

Weissberg, who during his Humphrey’s tenure has tirelessly booked and promoted acts from a wide variety of musical genres, is leaving the venerable music venue when its 2006 season concludes at the end of October. It may be no coincidence this rebel with a cause is getting out just as the deep-pocketed Indian casinos and others are pulling the bigger names away from Humphrey’s.

But he’ll continue hosting his eclectic weekly radio show, Music Without Boundaries, on 91X, and he has begun writing a humorous book recounting his musical adventures. He’ll likely do some music-industry consulting, as well, but adds, with his characteristic blend of humor and gentle hubris, “My fee is so high, I hope to scare away any serious inquiries.”

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