Every week there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips. Artists on platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has time to sort through all that? RIFF does! We’ve pooled our resources to find some of…

AZUSA, CALIF. — In 2005, Tank And The Bangas frontwoman Tarriona “Tank” Ball was forced to leave her school, family and home in New Orleans’ 8th Ward. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall, her neighborhood was submerged under 20 feet of water. Family members who did stay behind had to be rescued from…

Photos: Chloe Catajan BERKELEY — Nick Cave, namesake of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, was in nothing short of a generous and trusting mood at the Greek Theatre Saturday night. During several songs that night, beginning with “Higgs Boson Blues” from the band’s 15th studio album, Push The Sky Away, Cave…

Photos: Jay Demetillo BERKELEY — Kehlani grew up in Oakland and attended Berkeley High School, not too far from the Greek Theatre. At her sold-out show Friday, the second of two East Bay gigs this week, the R&B singer-songwriter drew massive cheers when she proclaimed, “I walked down this stage when I…

Madi Sipes and the Painted Blue photographed at the Great American Music Hall on June 3, 2017. Photos: Jalen O’Neal. Long-distance relationships are hard, as any couple can attest. But anyone doubting whether R&B and soul trio Madi Sipes and the Painted Blue can find success with singer-guitarist Sipes…

Photos: Alessio Neri NAPA — Singer-songwriter Corey Harper is on the biggest stage of his fledgling music career, dealing with a minor mishap with his guitar pedalboard. Even though it’s unnoticeable to the crowd that has gathered to see him play at BottleRock Napa Valley, the 22-year-old is not…

Pasadena’s inaugural Arroyo Seco Weekend festival will forego EDM in favor of jazz and funk during its two-day, 30-act lineup. Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, New Orleans torchbearers the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Meters share the bill with headliners Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Mumford & Sons, along with indie rock…

Photos: Gary Chancer SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands showed up to Potrero del Sol Park Saturday for the seventh annual Phono Del Sol music fest, a one-day concert with local and up-and-coming acts ranging from indie rock, hip-hop, and R&B to grunge and punk rock. Festivalgoers packed the main stage for SoCal…

Photos: Alessio Neri NAPA — When New York trio City of the Sun released its full-length debut in 2016, an album recorded live to tape in one day at a Brooklyn church, no one was more surprised—or confused— that it debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard jazz chart…

Photos: Alessio Neri NAPA — Even a band with a name like “Partybaby” ran into a wall with recent worldwide developments that have some fearing society is crumbling. Guitarists Noah Gersh (formerly of Portugal. The Man) and Jamie Reed (touring member of Thirty Seconds to Mars) had quickly written and…