Gabriela Lena Frank, Courtesy. Berkeley-born pianist and composer Gabriela Lena Frank today was awarded a Heinz Award by the Heinz Family Foundation, which for 25 years has honored the memory of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz by recognizing extraordinary individuals for their creativity and determination in finding solutions to critical issues…

All Within My Hands 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Metallica’s second All Within My Hands Helping Hands Concert and Auction will be streamed online. The event will take place on Nov. 14 and will be filmed at the band’s headquarters in the North Bay. As in 2018, the concert…

Rapper Killer Mike, former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young (c) and Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover. Courtesy. Rapper Killer Mike, former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young and Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover have launched a new online bank targeted toward people in the Black and Latinx communities, called Greenwood. Greenwood has secured $3…

Portugal. the Man performs at Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands on Aug. 12, 2018. Joaquin Cabello/STAFF. Portugal. The Man is donating $20,000 to the Navajo Water Project in the American Southwest through the band’s charitable organization, PTM foundation. The donation is timed with a new single, featuring Weird…

Fantastic Negrito performs during Let the Music Play On, Courtesy: Ken Friedman. Let the Music Play On, the virtual festival produced by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass last weekend resulted in in more than $3 million in relief for the music community in the Bay Area and across the U.S., producers announced…

Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Courtesy. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Stacey Abrams will be joined by the likes of Michael Stipe, Hayley Williams and Margo Price on Monday at “Honor Her Wish,” an event honoring the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and pushing for the fulfillment of her request that…

System of a Down. Courtesy. Rock band System Of A Down on Thursday issued a statement pleading for U.S. intervention in the military conflict between Azerbaijan and the independent nation of Armenia over the autonomous region Artsakh—which is a cultural homeland for the band. The statement is a direct response…

California Street in San Francisco is not as packed on March 17, 2020, the first day of a shelter-in-place to combat coronavirus. San Francisco will soon allow physically distanced outdoor concerts—and other events—through a permitting process, Mayor London Breed announced on Friday. The “Just Add Music” permits will be…

CNN’s Jake Tapper and The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah speak onstage at the 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals on March 9, 2019 in Austin, Texas. Courtes: Scott Paxton. The producers of SXSW intent to take the festival online in 2021, even as they continue to cross their fingers for…

Grammy-winning band Deftones, from Sacramento, have launched a fundraising campaign called “Adopt-a-Dot,” where fans can make a charitable donation for one or more dots from the thousands of pixelated dots that comprise the cover art of their new album, Ohms. The album cover was created by Frank Maddocks. All…