I’m not a veteran to SOhO (yet), but the restaurant and music venue has been a great setting for a variety of showcases in the past. On April 3, three local bands came together for a great night of chill music.

We The Beat — a music blog and production company devoted to bringing good music that you may not have heard before — held the event, and their purpose was definitely fulfilled.

Doors opened at 8:00 p.m. and the first band, Sun Daes, made their SOhO debut at 8:30 p.m. Sun Daes are a surf rock band straight from Isla Vista comprised of JD Severino on the bass guitar, Jared Payzant on the drums and both Gabe Poissant and Max Goldenstein on guitars and vocals.

Although Sun Daes don’t have a lot to say about themselves on their own Facebook page (their bio reads: “All members were born in log cabins”), they’ve been piquing the interest of indie music blogs with their performances at local co-ops. They may have been the youngest performers of the night, but their level of talent matched that of the other bands.

So far, my favorite song of theirs would have to be “San Francisco” — you can find an adorable acoustic version of it on Goldenstein’s YouTube channel.

Next up was the band ERLAND who have been described as jungle folk/folk rock and compared to artists such as Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers. With Erland Wanberg along with Nate Keezer on percussion, Marko Srdonav on the electric guitar and Mike Moon on the bass, the four-piece has been gaining recognition for a while now. Last year they opened for Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin’s solo career tour. McMahon has also lent a helping hand in producing their latest album On Our Side which can be purchased on iTunes.

With such big names already praising ERLAND, the band is sure to continue rising in success and will likely one day be playing alongside the likes of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers.

Finally, the much-awaited headliner, Ghost Tiger, closed the show off with a one-hour set that began at 10:30 p.m. — but it was well worth the wait. For a chill bar like SOhO where crowds often trickle out towards the end of the night, Ghost Tiger had the crowd trickling back in for their performance.

The local band has been stirring up the music community in Santa Barbara by introducing what they call “Ghost-Modern Indie Folk Rock” into the world. Alixandra Macmillan-Fiedel entranced the audience with a refreshingly romantic voice reminiscent of female singers of the ’60s.

Her singing was accompanied by Christopher Norlinger, Emma Huston and Kevin Evans who play the electric guitar, percussion and bass respectively. With Chris Stansell completing the group on the drums, the five made an excellent ending to a good night filled with good vibes. To get a little taste of Ghost Tiger, you can check out their recently released video debut of the charming song, “I Want You Out.”

With the talent in the Santa Barbara area being at an especially high peak, now is a great time to get out there, check out a few house shows in I.V. or even venture downtown to SOhO, which is always brimming with talented musicians. And if you don’t know how to get into that scene, at least keep these three bands — Sun Daes, ERLAND and Ghost Tiger — in mind because you may be seeing a lot of them in the future.

A version of this story appeared on page 8 of Thursday, April 17, 2014′s print edition of the Daily Nexus.