In the United States, California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians. New genres of music, such as surf rock and third wave ska, have their origins in California.
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with Capitol Records in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, Children of the Future. It went on to produce the albums Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5, Rock Love, Fly Like an Eagle, Book of Dreams, among others. The band's Greatest Hits 1974–78, released in 1978, sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Train is an American pop rock band from San Francisco which was formed in 1993. Since 2021, the band consists of Pat Monahan, Taylor Locke, Hector Maldonado, Jerry Becker, Matt Musty (drums), Sakai Smith, and Nikita Houston.
Patrick John O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and recording artist.
Rogue Wave is an indie rock band from Oakland, California, and headed by Zach Schwartz who created the band after losing his job in the dot-com bust. Their first album was Out of the Shadow which was released privately in 2003 and re-released in 2004. In the fall of 2004 they went on a national tour of the United States. Their most recent album, Cover Me, was released on February 17, 2017, through Easy Sound Recording Company.
Patrick Monahan is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and sole constant member of the band Train. He has collaborated with multiple artists and recorded a solo album, Last of Seven.
William Moses Roberts Jr. was an American songwriter and musician credited with composing the 1960s rock music standard "Hey Joe."
Giant Squid is an American post-metal and progressive rock band that originated in Sacramento, California in 2002. They were previously signed to The End Records, and have since been signed to Translation Loss Records. Current lineup contains founding members Aaron John Gregory and Bryan Beeson (bass), as well as Jackie Perez Gratz, Zack Farwell (drums), and Andrew Southard.
Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
Noise Pop is an independent music promoter established in San Francisco in 1993. Noise Pop's namesake festival, the Noise Pop Festival, has featured artists such as the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Bright Eyes, and Yoko Ono.
Julian Waterfall Pollack / J3PO is an American pianist, keyboardist, composer, and producer associated with jazz, classical, and hip hop music.
Troy Scott Taylor is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal. Previously, he served as co-head football coach at Folsom High School in Folsom, California, from 2012 to 2015; co-offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington University in 2016; offensive coordinator at the University of Utah from 2017 to 2018; and as head coach at Sacramento State from 2019 to 2022.
The Airborne Toxic Event is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2006. It consists of Mikel Jollett, Steven Chen, Adrian Rodriguez, Daren Taylor (drums), and Miriam "Mimi" Peschet. Anna Bulbrook and Noah Harmon were formerly members of the band.
The Jazz Mafia is a young American musical collective that incorporates smaller ensembles into a larger family. The collective is based in the Mission District of San Francisco, California where it writes, plays, and arranges jazz music while incorporating genres such as electronica, soul, funk, big band, symphonic, and hip-hop. Its founder and leader, trombonist and bass guitarist Adam Theis, participates in at least ten bands, including Realistic Orchestra, Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Shotgun Wedding Hip-Hop Symphony, Jazz Mafia Horns, Supertaster, and the Joe Bagale Band.
Peter Roy Sears is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues. He usually plays bass, keyboards, or both in bands.
Il Gato is an indie/baroque/folk band from San Francisco, California. The core ensemble of musicians consists of guitarist/vocalist Daimian Holiday Scott, bassist/vocalist Andrew Thomas and drummer/vocalist Johnny Major.
The Faction is an American hardcore band from San Jose, California. Pioneers of the skate punk era during the early 1980s, their primary stint being from Halloween 1982 until Halloween 2020, The Faction were one of the first bands whose music and lifestyle tastes centered on punk rock and skateboarding. An early demo tape had these words inscribed on the label: "Music By Skaters For Skaters." All original band members and their subsequent replacements are accomplished skateboarders, most notably bass and guitar player and legendary professional skateboarder Steve Caballero. In the early years of the band Caballero was instrumental in attracting a large following of skateboarders to the band. Lead singer Gavin O'Brien was also a notable skateboarder, popular at local Winchester Skatepark. Drummer Craig Bosch has a skateboard trick named after him, "the Bosch" aka invert to blunt. Pro skateboarder Jeff Kendall would also play with The Faction during a brief reunion in 1989.
Alternate Learning was a power pop/new wave band from 1977 to 1982, based in Davis, California and fronted by Scott Miller, a singer-songwriter later known for his work as leader of the 1980s band Game Theory and 1990s band the Loud Family.
Kelcey Paul Ayer is an American musician and co-founder of Los Angeles-based indie rock band Local Natives. In 2017, Ayer released a solo album as Jaws of Love.
The Sorentinos are an American rock music band based in Sonoma County, California, formed in 1985. The main members are Danny Sorentino, Rob Ruiz, Rory Judge (drums), Steve Barbieri, Russ Kerger (keyboards), and Steve Lee.
