Maisie Peters, courtesy Lillie Eiger. It took three tries, but Maisie Peters finally got her drivers license, using her parents’ car, naturally. However, soon after that, the singer-songwriter moved back to London, where she hasn’t needed a car. In fact, she hasn’t driven a car—not even once—since passing that…

Cola Boyy, courtesy Ross Harris. Cola Boyy (Matthew Urango) has been changing the dialogue that mainstream music is willing to confront since his debut. A self-described “disco deviant,” his vibe is eclectic, to say the least. Incorporating styles and influences from hip-hop to French disco, he’s always trying to…

Ben Cosgrove, courtesy. For more than a decade pianist Ben Cosgrove has quietly combined his lifelong passion for nature and music. He traipses around beautiful wilderness and then composes music about how it moved him. While Cosgrove has also built a career as a touring pianist and sideman with…

Gary Louris (The Jayhawks) courtesy Tim Geaney. Gary Louris has, off and on since the late 1980s, been one of the mainstays of The Jayhawks, a band that earned its initial fame as an Americana outfit but that, especially since the departure of cofounder Mark Olson, has increasingly gone…

Portugal. The Man performs at Live 105’s Not So Silent Night at Oracle Arena on Dec. 8, 2017. Alessio Neri/STAFF. John Gourley and Zachary Carothers may be Alaska natives, but no indie rock band has repped the city of Portland over the last decade as much as theirs, Portugal.…

Janalynn Castelino, courtesy. By Rebecca Somers Rising Indian singer-songwriter Janalynn Castelino, who recently completed her academic training as a doctor, is living the best of both professions. The versatile multilingual singer—she covers Western pop, Latin pop, R&B, and Sufi-soul—has performed in English, Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, Marathi and Punjabi. Her original…

Alice Merton, courtesy. In the video for “Vertigo,” Alice Merton finds herself trying to escape an grungy industrial underground dystopia, only to find herself ensnared by numerous seedy characters. But while the song shares its name with a classic Hitchcock film, and the video certainly includes noir-ish shadows and…

The Fratellis, courtesy. The Fratellis, and frontman John Lawler in particular, have had a career of ups and downs. Their rush to stardom almost 15 years ago, followed by their breakup and consequent reunion is the quintessential rock band tale, and one that seems to be heading toward a…

Haviah Mighty. Photos courtesy Yung Yemi. Canadian hip-hop artist Haviah Mighty has seen her rapid success dominate her home country and beyond. She’s made waves with her breakthrough 2019 album, 13th Floor, becoming the first Black female rap artist to win the prestigious Polaris Prize. Now, she continues to break down…

SF Ballet Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson. Courtesy: Erik Tomasson/SF Ballet. The San Francisco Ballet earlier this month announced the 2022 departure of Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson, after more than four decades with the company. Tomasson, who’s currently overseeing SF Ballet’s “Digital Season,” which…