More Than Just the Dead: The Music of San Francisco (Pt. I)

There’s something in the fog—and recently, it’s been music. With the Grateful Dead anniversary shows and Outside Lands Festival just finished in Golden Gate Park, melodies have literally been floating through the eucalyptus trees.

Maybe it’s the salt in the air, or the way the hills act like an echo chamber, but San Francisco has always been a breeding ground for sounds that defy categories and dare to be different. People like to talk about the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane (and its Starship-era evolution), Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, Green Day and Metallica. And sure, they’re legends for good reason.

But the Bay’s musical DNA goes deeper and weirder—and, dare we say, groovier.

How far back does this tradition go? Try the 1930s and ’40s, when Fillmore District nightclubs played host to touring jazz greats and local talents like Saunders King (a bluesman and father-in-law to Carlos Santana) electrified early audiences. Fast forward through folk coffeehouses, psychedelic ballrooms, punk basements, and hip-hop cyphers—San Francisco doesn’t just reflect the music scene. It reinvents it, over and over again.

You’ve heard the usual suspects. Now meet the other locals. Here are a dozen musical artists and bands that were born (or reborn) in the Bay:

12 Bay Area Artists You Should Know (If You Don’t Already)

E-40 – Hailing from Vallejo, this hyphy pioneer brought a unique Bay lexicon and beat to hip-hop.
tUnE-yArDs – Experimental pop that’s part loop pedal, part protest, part dance party. Berkeley’s finest.
Third Eye Blind – Before they were riding motorcycles in the desert of late-’90s radio, they were gigging all over SF.
Tower of Power – Foundational funk. Born in Oakland.
The Pointer Sisters – Raised in West Oakland, their harmonies took gospel roots to disco and beyond.
Chuck Prophet – SF’s poet laureate of barroom rock, with a solo career that spans decades.
La Doña – A new voice for Latinx feminism and reggaetón, straight out of the Mission.
Thee Oh Sees (now just Oh Sees) – Garage psych that shook the floors of SF venues like Thee Parkside.
Monophonics – Retro soul revival with a modern edge, founded in San Rafael.
Blackalicious – The late, great Gift of Gab (RIP) and Chief Xcel defined smart, soulful Bay hip-hop.
Ty Segall – The undisputed king of fuzzy garage rock, with roots in Laguna Beach but forged in SF’s scene.
Counting Crows – Before they were lamenting long Decembers on national radio, they were playing the East Bay circuit with all their heart.

So the next time you're stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge or watching the fog roll over Twin Peaks, queue up one of these local legends and listen closely. The city is still singing.

🎧 Press Play on the Bay:
Here are some starter tracks to give your ears a little local flavor. (Click to listen.)