When the opportunity arose for five Central Coast rockers to perform at Los Angeles’ Whisky a Go Go earlier this year, sound check fell just a few weeks after the band’s youngest member celebrated her 21st birthday.
Orcutt local Milania Jubilee was 20 when she became Faultline’s lead vocalist in 2025, after wowing her bandmates—four men in their golden years—with an a cappella version of “Blue Bayou.”
“I’ve been singing ever since I could talk. I would sing in my sleep before I was able to form words,” she told the Sun. “I’ve always been very musical growing up. I wasn’t really allowed to watch cable TV or anything other than old movies and stuff like that.
“Instead, I was kind of raised on listening to vinyls,” she explained. “From classical music to oldies to jazz to tons of different music spanning different decades.”
Tune in
Visit faultlinebandrocks.com to find out more about Faultline. The local cover band’s upcoming shows include performances on July 11 at the Blast Stockyard in Orcutt, July 26 at Harry’s Night Club and Beach Bar in Pismo Beach, and Aug. 16 at Adelina’s Bistro in Nipomo. Keep up with the group’s gig schedule on Instagram, @faultline_goesbig.
Her upbringing brought her to love Linda Ronstadt, Frankie Valli, Rod Stewart, and other singers she’s idolized. She’s a self-described “old soul” and her taste in music makes the generational divide between her and the rest of the band less apparent.
“We’ve got guys who’ve been playing this music since it was new music,” said the band’s founder and drummer, Daniel O’Donnell, 74. “But with her youth and her voice, it’s like she’s singing it as if it’s new [again].”
O’Donnell started Faultline out of his Nipomo garage during the pandemic simply to get together with some of his neighbors for casual jam sessions. From there, O’Donnell’s outlet for camaraderie gradually grew into a full-fledged cover band specializing in rock anthems and danceable pop hits ranging from the 1950s to the ’80s.
Since recruiting Jubilee last year, the band has performed at a handful of venues along the Central Coast, but none within the young vocalist’s hometown. That’s set to change when Faultline makes its Orcutt debut on July 11, with an afternoon concert at the Blast Stockyard. While admission to the 1 p.m. show is free, reservations in advance are encouraged through my805tix.com.
Located at Blast 825 Brewery, the Stockyard is just a stone’s throw away from Gina’s Piece of Cake, where Jubilee works as a barista. Her childhood in Orcutt followed a schooling trajectory similar to that of many who’ve grown up in the small town: from Patterson Road Elementary to Lakeview Junior High to Orcutt Academy.
Even outside of the classroom, moments where she wasn’t learning were few and far between, amid taking formal piano and singing lessons in her free time.
The memories that spring to O’Donnell’s mind when he thinks about being in school include his early inclinations toward drumming, long before he ever owned a pair of drumsticks or a drum set of his own.
Banging two pencils, or sometimes just his own fingers, against his desk, O’Donnell used to constantly mimic the sounds of the classic 1963 surf instrumental “Wipe Out.”
Having grown up in Long Beach, O’Donnell felt determined to make a trek to Los Angeles as soon as he turned 16 and got his driver’s license. His mission: see Little Richard perform live at Whisky a Go Go.
It was his first time at the legendary venue, known as the launchpad for the Doors, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, and other household names.
Little did O’Donnell know he’d be performing on the same stage with his own band more than five decades later.
“So, when we had the opportunity to play at the Whisky, I thought, wouldn’t it be great to close our set with a Little Richard song,” O’Donnell said of their January show. “‘Tutti Frutti’ came up and I checked with everybody and said, ‘Can we learn this?’ And everyone said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’”
Jubilee interjected to clarify: “I was a little on the fence about it.”
She loved the song, but initially felt intimidated about attempting her own rendition of it.
“It’s a hard rocker song. … I always listened to that stuff, but I never really tried it in my own voice,” she explained. “But actually, coming together with this band, I realized that I could kind of growl with my voice. … So, I just went for it.”
Since then, “Tutti Frutti” has been a constant on Faultline’s set lists from gig to gig.
“That’s the song we usually finish with,” O’Donnell said.
Jubilee nodded: “For our last song, why not go all the way back to the roots of rock ’n’ roll?”
Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood only sings in the shower. Send music and lyrics to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in July 2 – July 9, 2026.
