Sam Fender, “People Watching.” British songwriter Sam Fender is perhaps best known for pulling from experiences of his coastal hometown of North Shields, along the Black Sea, including his own coming of age stories. Both his debut studio album, Hypersonic Missles, and follow-up Seventeen Going Under, offer raw and…

Bay Area music artists pose with a technician at a MusiCares and Kingmakers of Oakland health services outreach event in Oakland on Dec. 7, 2024. Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for The Recording Academy. OAKLAND — Kingmakers of Oakland is best known for its work with local school districts…

Music City San Francisco officially opened to the public on Oct. 19, 2024. Mike DeWald/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — For Rudy Colombini, the frontman of San Francisco cover band The Unauthorized Rolling Stones, the launch of Music City SF offers a chance to “reignite the artistic soul of the city.”…

Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool of Green Day with their new coffee flavors at a 7-Eleven store on Pinole Valley Road in Pinole, Calif. on Sept. 22, 2024. Aaron Lee/STAFF. PINOLE, Calif. — Back in the East Bay city of Pinole where most of Green Day…