For the last two years, Dustin Lothspeich put his songwriting prowess toward producing a stream of ditties to entertain his son Harrison. There was a “hello” song at the hospital, a hand washing song, and diaper change song. The goofy songs might surprise some of his fans who knew Lothspeich as the lyricist behind the romantic ballads and upbeat breakup songs of local band Old Tiger.

“He would make up a million little songs. There were songs for everything… He was always making stuff up, but we were just giggling about it,” said his widow Jen Lothspeich. “He wasn’t afraid to look silly in front of me to make me laugh, too.”

With his unexpected death at age 40 of natural causes on March 23, 2023 in his La Mesa home, the life of a prodigious local musician—and dedicated husband and father—ended.

The guitarist and vocalist performed with bands including Boy King, Chess Wars, Diamond Lakes and Tusk in addition to a career as a music journalist and blogger.

“Dustin was obviously hugely talented as a performer, but he also put a lot of time and heart into nurturing the San Diego music scene. He wrote interviews and reviews, he hosted podcasts, and he was a loud supporter of his favorite local bands,” said former bandmate Megan Liscomb. “He will be sorely missed by many bandmates and the musicians who came into his orbit.”

Lothspeich co-founded San Diego’s longest running beer podcast, “Beer Night in San Diego,” in which he highlighted the talents of local brewers and musicians. He wrote for SoundDiego, copyedited for several community newspapers, spent years booking talent for the Merrow, and most recently worked at South Park’s Vinyl Junkies Record Shop.

“Dustin had a wealth of musical knowledge and regularly suggested new and inspiring bands to listen to,” said Nate Joyner, a coworker at Vinyl Junkies. “Dustin’s habitual good mood, sense of humor, and laugh were contagious.”

Jen Lothspeich noted that the local music scene can often be petty and competitive, so many people wanted to work with Lothspeich because he was so kind. Liscomb explained that on the night she met Dustin, both of their bands were playing the same show. “I was immediately struck by how warm and friendly he was — he even sent over a note before the show to say he’d listened to our music and was looking forward to playing together. Not a lot of people in the music scene take the time to do things like that so it stood out,” she said.

While Lothspiech has played a variety of roles in the local music scene, he is most well known for his band Old Tiger which performed from 2009 to 2015 and won a San Diego Music Award for best pop album with “Love Have Mercy.” Among the many fans of the album, the song “Free,” caught the ear of a local music blogger then named Jen Van Tieghem. The two became fast friends with a shared interest in music and married in 2016. In 2020, Jen gave birth to Harrison Atlas— Harrison after George Harrison and Atlas because Lothspeich knew his son would be the center of his world.

“Dustin was talented and was loved and appreciated by people— people we’ll never know, people we’ll never even know the names of or who they are… He touched so many people with his music,” said his wife Jen.

Lothspeich was born in Arizona to Mary Kendall and Alan Lothspeich in 1982. While his public career means he is most known for his musical and writing talents, he also excels at drawing. In a childhood spent moving around, he fastidiously drew sneakers he was not able to own. As an adult, he settled in San Diego and began the sneaker collection he spent his childhood dreaming about.

Before his death, he shared with his wife that he wanted to buy the rapper Action Bronson’s collaboration with New Balance 990v6 sneakers.

“He said ‘I should get these New Balance shoes! They’re like dad shoes’ and all this stuff,” said Jen. “He even turned a sneaker thing into like a dad shoe thing.”

The vintage-looking orange and blue sneakers released the day after Lothspiech’s death. Jen bought their son Harrison colorful sneakers in his honor.

“Watching [Dustin] be a daddy was the most amazing experience that I’ll probably ever have… He was so good at it,” Jen explained through tears.

While Lothspeich did not always plan on having kids, his kind and protective nature extended to his friends and band mates. Liscomb said when she tweeted about being a Dickensian orphan staring through the window of Taco Bell, Lothspeich immediately sent her money to buy food. Another friend, Frank Seeley, said that not only would Lothspeich be there for people in hard times without judgment, he was also generous in celebration.

“When I got a new job not long before we lost Dustin, he sent me a celebratory gift card and checked in with me every day asking how it was going,” Seeley said. “Dustin was such a caring soul… a gentle giant.”

Lothspeich is survived by his wife Jen and son Harrison Atlas, mother Mary, father Alan, brothers Danny, David, and Ray as well as friends, family and fans.

His death has left Jen and Harrison in a dire financial situation. Those wanting to honor Lothspeich’s legacy can donate to gofund.me/80a14985.

In addition, local bands including Oh Spirit, The Strawberry Moons, Gelly Duvall and Dead Feather Moon will be performing in a benefit concert at the Casbah on May 21. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Buy tickets at https://www.seetickets.us/event/Dead-FeatherMoonOhSpiritTheStrawberryMoonsGellyDu/546763.