Bands & Musicians in California

California has shaped American music on many fronts. Los Angeles produced the Beach Boys' surf-pop California Sound, the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene, Sunset Strip metal, and the gangsta rap of Compton's N.W.A. San Francisco answered with psychedelic rock at the Fillmore and Bay Area thrash, while Oakland built its own hip-hop lineage through Too Short. Punk flourished from Hermosa Beach to Berkeley.

Los Angeles carries the Hollywood Bowl, the Troubadour, and Sunset Strip rooms like the Roxy and the Whisky a Go Go. San Francisco's Fillmore remains a rite of passage for touring bands, with Bottom of the Hill booking the indie end. The Casbah anchors San Diego, and Coachella in Indio headlines the state's festival calendar.

The Beach Boys formed in Hawthorne, the Doors and Metallica in Los Angeles, and N.W.A in Compton, where Kendrick Lamar emerged a generation later. San Francisco launched the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, and the East Bay produced Green Day.

Los Angeles offers the deepest bench of session work, industry showcases, and nightly open mics, while San Francisco and Oakland favor indie and experimental bills. San Diego, Sacramento, and college towns like Santa Cruz and Chico run smaller circuits. BandMate can surface players anywhere in the state.