Throughout the ’70s, San Diego boasted a cool local music compilation series called “Homegrown.” More than a random collection of music, the albums featured songs by regional artists about the area. While the quality of the tracks varied (as did the genres), the albums created a buzz within the local music community, and they increased civic pride in general. The series ended in the early ’80s, but the idea of having artists put their love of a community in song will be resurrected in 2009, though with a tighter focus: Ocean Beach. Timed for a release to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off Festival on June 27, “Waves: A Compilation Featuring Songs About, For and Of the People of 92107” will celebrate the variety and quality of fare by musicians residing within that zip code. Produced by Chuck Schiele and the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, the project is taking submissions until midnight Jan. 23, 2009. Although Schiele is known as a major promoter and producer of local music, the initial idea for this project didn’t come from him. “We’re always looking for new ways to promote the area, and this was a concept that had been brought up before, but we weren’t in a position to be able to do it,” said Denny Knox, executive director of the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association. She considers Schiele to be the missing piece of the puzzle. “He really knows music and the promotion of it. When the idea of a local compilation came up this year, he was the perfect person to run with it.” Despite the similarity in theme, Schiele notes that the “Homegrown” albums were not a direct influence. “I was really motivated by the fact that we are so musical down here,” he said. “‘Homegrown’ history or not, we’d still do it.” Ocean Beach has indeed long been considered musician-friendly, and Schiele would like to promote that fact. “Ocean Beach considers music to be among its greatest cultural resources. Hands down, we have more musicians per capita than anywhere else in town.” The idea of a compilation to coincide with the Chili Cook-Off’s 30th anniversary proved to be a natural tie-in to Ocean Beach, which features dozens of bands each year. “I just thought it would be cool if our neighborhood had its own CD,” Schiele said. “That idea sold, so to speak, to event organizers before I finished expressing it. And right there, we decided to start documenting our music culture.” He takes particular pride in the diversity in the local music. “We have it all down here,” he remarked. “We’re noted for jam bands and reggae, but that’s mostly a prior reputation doing its thing. If you tune in down here, you’ll discover we have everything from punk to jazz, folk to metal, world beat to hip-hop.” While any style of music is acceptable for the compilation, there are ground rules. “We are looking for songs in the four-minute range so that we can include more artists,” Schiele noted. “And it’s got to be family-friendly.” For Schiele, perhaps the most important part of the album’s title is the tag — “Volume One.” “I guess you could say that means I’m optimistic, enthusiastic and extremely confident about the album,” he said. “I have a lot of faith in the project. I consider it a gift to Ocean Beach. This album is intended to ‘document’ our future music history.” Schiele declined to give the names of artists committed to the project, but he promised a variety of genres. Potential locals would include indie hitmakers Slightly Stupid and Americana duo Podunk Nowhere. But does Ocean beach have enough musicians to support such an undertaking? “Yes. Otherwise, I’d do something else,” joked Schiele. “We have more venues now than ever, and we’ll get more. When I look at Newport Avenue, I see famous music thoroughfares like Sixth Street in Austin or Beale Street in Memphis or Bleeker Street in [New York]. “It is my personal mission to get Ocean Beach on that same musical map. We are a seed growing toward that oak,” he said.