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The Torch Club
1934-present
A 150-capacity blues bar at 904 15th Street, the Torch Club has been Sacramento's most continuous live-music venue since 1934. Founded by the Karavites family, owned by the Texeiras since 1969, it has occupied three downtown addresses across nine decades.
Researched by Jason Pierce·April 2026·31 sources cited
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By Scene
Sacramento by Sound
The Record grouped by the scenes that make the city — each a short history and the people and places inside it. Grouped by entry genre tags; buckets are a starting point.
Indie & Rock
51 entriesMidtown clubs, college radio, and the guitar bands that fill them — Sacramento's indie and rock backbone.
The people
Artist1991-presentCake (band)
Cake is an American alternative-rock band formed in Sacramento in August 1991 by singer John McCrea, trumpet/keys player Vince DiFiore, guitarist Greg Brown, drummer Frank French, and bassist Shon Meckfessel (quickly replaced by Gabe Nelson
Sister Crayon
Sister Crayon is a Sacramento indie/electronic project led by vocalist and songwriter Terra Lopez, built around downtempo, atmospheric music that blends live drums, programmed beats, synths and dramatic female vocals. Submerge consistently identified the act as local — "our beloved Sister Crayon," "hometown heroes,"…
Life in 24 Frames
Life in 24 Frames is a Sacramento indie rock band founded in 2008 by frontman Kris Adams, known for its experimental, atmospheric songcraft and a consistently rotating lineup anchored to Adams' songwriting. Submerge repeatedly identifies the group as "Sacramento's own," and the band describes itself as staying "true…
ZuhG
ZuhG is a Sacramento jam band, active since 2007, known for a hard-to-categorize blend of funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, psychedelia and hip-hop, fronted throughout its existence by guitarist/vocalist Bryan Nichols. Beyond music, the band became a fixture of the local scene by operating the ZuhG Life Store, a…
Dog Party
Sacramento's punk sister duo — Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles — formed at ages 8 and 10, released their first album at 11 and 13, opened for Green Day, toured Europe, and launched their own label. Seven albums deep and still based in Sacramento.
Little Guilt Shrine
Sacramento alt-rock trio active 1991–1998. Dana Gumbiner on bass and vocals, brothers Matt and Britton Holland on guitar and drums. Five albums, KWOD airplay, and enough of a reputation that fans drove in from out of town a decade later just to catch the reunion.
Middle Class Rut
Middle Class Rut (often shortened to "MC Rut") is a Sacramento rock band built around the duo of Zack Lopez (guitar/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals), known for a heavy, raw, beat-driven sound and the breakout single "New Low." Submerge repeatedly frames them as a hometown act and "Sacramento's Dynamic Duo."
Two Sheds
Two Sheds is a Sacramento indie/folk-rock act built around the husband-and-wife duo of singer/guitarist Caitlin Gutenberger and bassist/backing-vocalist Johnny (John) Gutenberger, active since 2006. Long described as Sacramento "darlings," they remained a fixture of the greater Sacramento music scene before relocating…
Punk & Hardcore
48 entriesAll-ages basements, the warehouse circuit, and the bands that made Sacramento a West Coast punk stronghold.
The people
Kurt Travis
Kurt Travis is a Sacramento-based vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who became one of the most prolific figures in the city's post-hardcore scene, fronting (at various points) Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds, releasing solo records, and running his own indie label. Over roughly a decade he passed…
Dance Gavin Dance
Dance Gavin Dance (frequently abbreviated DGD) is a Sacramento post-hardcore band, formed in 2005, known for a genre-defying sound that blends post-hardcore, progressive rock and screamo with R&B and funk inflections, and for a turbulent lineup history. Submerge repeatedly identifies them as a hometown act, calling…
A Lot Like Birds
A Lot Like Birds is a Sacramento-based progressive/post-hardcore band founded by guitarist, composer and original vocalist Michael Franzino, repeatedly identified in Submerge coverage as a Sacramento band and described in 2013 as "locally based." Known for technically dense, genre-crossing compositions and a frenetic…
Ganglians
Ganglians were a Sacramento psychedelic/lo-fi garage-pop band, repeatedly described in Submerge as one of the city's "beloved" hometown acts and a hallmark of the late-2000s Sacramento garage scene. The group is consistently identified as local — "Sacramento's psychedelic acid pop act" and "Sacramento's own" — making…
Dog Party
Sacramento's punk sister duo — Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles — formed at ages 8 and 10, released their first album at 11 and 13, opened for Green Day, toured Europe, and launched their own label. Seven albums deep and still based in Sacramento.
Kevin Seconds
Kevin Seconds is a Sacramento-based singer-songwriter best known as the frontman of the seminal California hardcore punk band 7 Seconds, who in his later career became a prolific solo acoustic artist, a coffeehouse operator, and a connective figure across the Sacramento music community.
The Secretions
The Secretions are a long-running Sacramento punk rock band, formed in 1991 by Mickie Rat and Danny Secretion, widely described in Submerge coverage as "Sacramento punk legends" and a foundational, mentoring presence in the local scene. The band was active from 1991 to 2016.
Groovie Ghoulies
Sacramento pop-punk institution. Kepi Ghoulie (Jeff Alexander) fronted the band for their entire 24-year run — nine studio albums, Lookout! Records, international touring, and a horror-movie aesthetic that made them one of the most distinctive bands the 916 ever produced.
Roots & Folk
29 entriesSongwriters, string bands, and Americana — the acoustic, roots-leaning corner of the city's music.
The people
Musical Charis
Musical Charis is a Sacramento indie-pop/folk group built around the vocal duo of Blake Abbey and Jessie Brune (later Jessie Abbey), known for harmony-rich songwriting, an open collaborative live format, and for founding a community music school in Oak Park. The group is best understood not as a conventional band but…
ZuhG
ZuhG is a Sacramento jam band, active since 2007, known for a hard-to-categorize blend of funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, psychedelia and hip-hop, fronted throughout its existence by guitarist/vocalist Bryan Nichols. Beyond music, the band became a fixture of the local scene by operating the ZuhG Life Store, a…
Arden Park Roots
Arden Park Roots (APR) are a Sacramento reggae/rock band, repeatedly described in Submerge as a "local" and "hometown" act, known for relentless DIY touring and a party-oriented live show that mixes originals with a Sublime tribute set.
Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Wolfe is a singer-songwriter raised in Roseville and Sacramento whose darkly atmospheric music—variously tagged "goth folk," "doom folk" and "doom-metal"—made her one of the Sacramento scene's best-known exports before she relocated to Los Angeles and later back to Northern California. Submerge repeatedly…
Ross Hammond
Ross Hammond is a Sacramento-based guitarist, bandleader, festival organizer and music educator, repeatedly described in the local press as a "local guitar player" and a "prolific Sacramento musician" central to the city's improvised-jazz and creative-music scene. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky and raised in the…
Kevin Seconds
Kevin Seconds is a Sacramento-based singer-songwriter best known as the frontman of the seminal California hardcore punk band 7 Seconds, who in his later career became a prolific solo acoustic artist, a coffeehouse operator, and a connective figure across the Sacramento music community.
James Cavern
James Cavern is a singer-songwriter who built his career in Sacramento, working in soul, neo-soul and soul-tinged pop, and is regarded as an established fixture of the local scene. Born James Nguyen in Manchester, England, to Vietnamese refugee parents who fled by boat and were eventually resettled in London, he later…
Autumn Sky
Autumn Sky is a Sacramento-area singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who emerged from the local coffee-shop and open-mic circuit in the mid-2000s and later fronted a full band under her own name. Her music is described as eclectic folk/pop centered lyrically on love in its many forms.
Jazz, Soul & Funk
27 entriesFrom the Jazz Jubilee era to today's brass bands — the city's deep bench of horns, grooves, and vocalists.
The people
Artist2016-presentThe Philharmonik
Sacramento multi-instrumentalist Christian Gates — the "one-man orchestra" — won NPR's 2024 Tiny Desk Contest from a field of nearly 7,000 entrants. Three studio albums, international touring, and a return-to-Sacramento story.
Artist2011-presentElement Brass Band
Sacramento's premier New Orleans second-line brass band, founded in 2011 by trumpeter Ryan Robertson, now led by baritone saxophonist Byron Colborn. Two-time Sacramento Music Awards "Best in Jazz" winner; founders of the city's annual Mardi Gras parade.
ZuhG
ZuhG is a Sacramento jam band, active since 2007, known for a hard-to-categorize blend of funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, psychedelia and hip-hop, fronted throughout its existence by guitarist/vocalist Bryan Nichols. Beyond music, the band became a fixture of the local scene by operating the ZuhG Life Store, a…
Jonny Craig
Jonny Craig is a vocalist associated with the Sacramento post-hardcore scene, known as an original co-vocalist of hometown band Dance Gavin Dance, later frontman of Emarosa, a solo artist, and founder of the Sacramento-based band Slaves. He is also a recurring figure in the scene's controversies, both for his…
James Cavern
James Cavern is a singer-songwriter who built his career in Sacramento, working in soul, neo-soul and soul-tinged pop, and is regarded as an established fixture of the local scene. Born James Nguyen in Manchester, England, to Vietnamese refugee parents who fled by boat and were eventually resettled in London, he later…
!!! (Chk Chk Chk)
!!! is a dance-punk band that grew out of the mid-1990s Sacramento music scene, formed when members of local bands Black Licorice and Popesmashers joined forces after a mid-'90s tour. The band was founded in the fall of 1996 through the merger of members of the groups Black Liquorice and Pope Smashers while on tour.…
Agent Ribbons
Agent Ribbons was a Sacramento indie band built around vocalist/guitarist Natalie Gordon (later known as Natalie Ribbons) and drummer Lauren Hess, blending blues and "baroque" indie-pop with character-driven, story-style lyrics. Explicitly identified by Submerge as "Sacramento locals," the group emerged from the…
Mick Martin
Sacramento blues legend, harmonica player, and co-founder of the Sacramento Blues Society. Active from the 1960s through 2025 across 20+ albums. Performed at Carnegie Hall. Died July 13, 2025 at age 76.
Electronic & DJ
23 entriesBeatmakers, selectors, and the bass nights — the electronic and DJ culture threading through the scene.
The people
Sister Crayon
Sister Crayon is a Sacramento indie/electronic project led by vocalist and songwriter Terra Lopez, built around downtempo, atmospheric music that blends live drums, programmed beats, synths and dramatic female vocals. Submerge consistently identified the act as local — "our beloved Sister Crayon," "hometown heroes,"…
Young Aundee
Young Aundee is the stage name of Andrew James Southard, a Sacramento electronic, hip-hop and trip-hop musician, beat-maker, vocalist and DJ whose falsetto vocals, melodica playing and production work tie together a wide swath of the city's music scene. He is a long-running collaborator with electronic producer Dusty…
DJ Whores
DJ Whores was the stage name of Daniel "Dan" Osterhoff, a Sacramento DJ, club-night organizer and bass-music selector described by Submerge as one of the city's most elite turntablists, best known for running the long-running Midtown dubstep-and-bass night Grimey. Submerge reported his death on April 8, 2017, noting…
DLRN
DLRN is a Sacramento hip-hop group built around MC 5th Ave (born Sean LaMarr) and producer Jon Reyes, known for an eclectic sound that sits between conscious rap and club rap and for a strong, repeatedly stated dedication to the local Sacramento scene. The duo describe their output as "'80s synth-fueled,…
Death Grips
Death Grips is an experimental hip-hop / rap-punk group originating in Oak Park, Sacramento, built around vocalist Stefan Burnett (MC Ride), drummer Zach Hill, and producer Andy Morin (Flatlander). The band officially formed on December 21, 2010 in Sacramento, California. Submerge consistently frames the group as a…
Shaun Slaughter
Shaun Slaughter is a Sacramento DJ, club-night promoter, producer, and flyer designer who became one of the most prominent figures in the city's indie-dance and electronic nightlife scene, best known as co-founder of the long-running dance night Lipstick. Over more than a decade he ran or co-ran a string of Sacramento…
Lee Bannon
Lee Bannon is a producer and DJ from the Sacramento area who came up in the local hip-hop scene before relocating to New York and shifting toward experimental electronic music. He worked as an in-demand beatmaker and collaborator across the Sacramento rap community in the early 2010s, then released drum 'n' bass and…
Raleigh Moncrief
Raleigh Moncrief is a Sacramento-based music producer and solo recording artist, known both as a "behind-the-boards" producer for local bands and for his own genre-blurring electronic/glitch-hop work. Submerge characterized him as a "renown Sacramento producer" who stepped out from behind the boards with his solo…
Hip-Hop
22 entriesMCs, producers, and crews — the rap lineage that runs from the Bay's shadow into a sound all Sacramento's own.
The people
Artist2016-presentThe Philharmonik
Sacramento multi-instrumentalist Christian Gates — the "one-man orchestra" — won NPR's 2024 Tiny Desk Contest from a field of nearly 7,000 entrants. Three studio albums, international touring, and a return-to-Sacramento story.
Artist2011-presentElement Brass Band
Sacramento's premier New Orleans second-line brass band, founded in 2011 by trumpeter Ryan Robertson, now led by baritone saxophonist Byron Colborn. Two-time Sacramento Music Awards "Best in Jazz" winner; founders of the city's annual Mardi Gras parade.
ZuhG
ZuhG is a Sacramento jam band, active since 2007, known for a hard-to-categorize blend of funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, psychedelia and hip-hop, fronted throughout its existence by guitarist/vocalist Bryan Nichols. Beyond music, the band became a fixture of the local scene by operating the ZuhG Life Store, a…
Who Cares
Who Cares was a Sacramento hip-hop group founded in 2002, known for a backpack-rap sound that grew into a full live band and for being, in its own framing, the perpetual opening act of the local rap scene. Despite a name suggesting apathy, the group treated its music as a survival mechanism for "latchkey kids" and…
Young Aundee
Young Aundee is the stage name of Andrew James Southard, a Sacramento electronic, hip-hop and trip-hop musician, beat-maker, vocalist and DJ whose falsetto vocals, melodica playing and production work tie together a wide swath of the city's music scene. He is a long-running collaborator with electronic producer Dusty…
DLRN
DLRN is a Sacramento hip-hop group built around MC 5th Ave (born Sean LaMarr) and producer Jon Reyes, known for an eclectic sound that sits between conscious rap and club rap and for a strong, repeatedly stated dedication to the local Sacramento scene. The duo describe their output as "'80s synth-fueled,…
Zach Hill
Zach Hill is a Sacramento-based drummer, composer, and producer known for an unrelenting, fluid percussive style and an enormous catalog of collaborations, anchoring the local bands Hella and Death Grips. Submerge repeatedly identifies him as a "Sacramento drummer" and "Sacramento-based drummer," placing his origin…
Random Abiladeze
Random Abiladeze (born Randy Murray; later known as Rasar, then Rasar Amani) is a Sacramento-region hip-hop MC and award-winning spoken-word poet known for socially and politically conscious lyrics. A fixture of Sacramento's underground hip-hop and spoken-word circuits in the late 2000s and early 2010s, he relocated…
The Full Archive
Everything in The Record
#
!!! (Chk Chk Chk)
!!! is a dance-punk band that grew out of the mid-1990s Sacramento music scene, formed when members of local bands Black Licorice and Popesmashers joined forces after a mid-'90s tour. The band was founded in the fall of 1996 through the merger of members of the groups Black Liquorice and Pope Smashers while on tour.…
7 Seconds
7 Seconds is a hardcore punk band fronted by Sacramento musician Kevin Seconds, described in Submerge coverage as one of California's most seminal hardcore punk bands and a pioneer of the original West Coast hardcore movement. The band is consistently presented as a Sacramento-based act, with Kevin Seconds repeatedly…
A
Ace of Spades
Ace of Spades is a concert venue in downtown Sacramento at 1417 R Street, used across the 2010s for touring and local rock, hip-hop, reggae and metal shows. It is associated with Sacramento music promoter and talent buyer Eric Rushing, identified in the sources as the venue's owner. The venue opened in 2011, with Rob…
Institution2000s-2020sAce of Spades / Goldfield / Holy Diver Venue Group
Bret Bair and Eric Rushing have been the most prolific venue operators in Sacramento's modern live-music era, building a portfolio that at its peak included Ace of Spades, Goldfield Trading Post, Holy Diver, The Cabin, 8-Track, B-Side, and
Event2012-presentAftershock Festival
Aftershock Festival is a multi-day rock, metal, and punk festival held annually at Discovery Park in Sacramento, produced by Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP).
Agent Ribbons
Agent Ribbons was a Sacramento indie band built around vocalist/guitarist Natalie Gordon (later known as Natalie Ribbons) and drummer Lauren Hess, blending blues and "baroque" indie-pop with character-driven, story-style lyrics. Explicitly identified by Submerge as "Sacramento locals," the group emerged from the…
American River Music Festival
The American River Music Festival was an annual roots, folk, and Americana music festival held in the Coloma/Lotus area of El Dorado County, in the foothills approximately 36 miles northeast of Sacramento, directly on the South Fork of the American River. Founded around 2007, it paired world-class touring acts with…
Andy Hawk
Andy Hawk is a Sacramento radio personality, show promoter, and prominent supporter of the region's local-music community, best known as the host of the local-music radio show Local Licks and as a booker of live shows and the Friday Night Concerts in the Park series. A Sacramento native, he began his radio career as…
Appetite
Appetite is the solo recording project of Sacramento-area musician Teddy Briggs, who is also the drummer of the band What's Up? Appetite's music has been described as hard-to-define "weird pop-folk" and experimental pop drawing on tropicalia and indie-stomp textures. Briggs grew up in Los Angeles — making Appetite a…
Arden Park Roots
Arden Park Roots (APR) are a Sacramento reggae/rock band, repeatedly described in Submerge as a "local" and "hometown" act, known for relentless DIY touring and a party-oriented live show that mixes originals with a Sublime tribute set.
Artery Foundation
Artery Foundation is a Sacramento-based artist management company that also operated an affiliated record label, Artery Recordings, working primarily with heavy-music acts in metalcore, deathcore, post-hardcore and symphonic metal. Repeatedly described in Submerge coverage as "located in Sacramento" and…
Artery Recordings
Artery Recordings is a Sacramento-based record label specializing in metal, deathcore, metalcore, post-hardcore and hardcore acts. It operates as the recording arm of Eric Rushing's broader Sacramento music-business empire, which also includes Artery Foundation Artist Management and several local venues. The label was…
Asian Man Records
Asian Man Records is a Bay Area independent record label that has served as a recurring home for Sacramento-area punk and pop-punk artists, including Kevin Seconds and the sister duo Dog Party. Founded and run by Mike Park, the label operates with a hyper-DIY ethos—Submerge described it as being run out of a…
Assembly
Assembly was a mixed-use live music and theater venue at 1000 K Street in downtown Sacramento, opened in 2013 by the Paragary Restaurant Group in the former Cosmopolitan Cabaret space. During its short run it showcased local, regional and national touring talent — including ZZ Ward, OK Go and Black Lips — and hosted a…
Autumn Sky
Autumn Sky is a Sacramento-area singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who emerged from the local coffee-shop and open-mic circuit in the mid-2000s and later fronted a full band under her own name. Her music is described as eclectic folk/pop centered lyrically on love in its many forms.
B
Bastards of Young
Bastards of Young are a Sacramento punk band described by Submerge as one of the city's "punk mainstays," formed by members who came up through the local punk scene. They are explicitly identified as local — "Sacramento's Bastards of Young."
Be Brave Bold Robot
Be Brave Bold Robot (often abbreviated BBBR) is a Sacramento-area indie/folk-rock project led by frontman and songwriter Dean Haakenson, known for an open, ever-rotating cast of musicians and one of the most recognizable band names in the local scene. By 2012 it was described as "a staple in the folk scene" with…
Beatnik Studios
Beatnik Studios is a Sacramento venue and gallery that began at 2421 17th Street, on 17th between Broadway and X Street. In late 2013 it relocated to a new home at 723 S Street (between 7th and 8th Streets), a building the founders purchased. It is described as an urban loft-style space made of brick that brings…
Beth Duncan
Veteran Sacramento jazz vocalist and radio personality. A mainstay of the Sacramento Jazz Cooperative, she performs with a quintet anchored by Joe Gilman and Jacam Manricks — one of the most consistently documented working groups in the contemporary Sacramento jazz scene.
Institution2015-presentBigger Than Us Arts
A 501(c)(3) Sacramento nonprofit founded in 2015 by music educator Benwar Shepard. Brings live arts directly to schools and neighborhoods that don't see regular professional programming — 40+ school performances a year, plus Music on Our Streets and a monthly entrepreneurial workshop for working musicians.
Blake Abbey
Blake Abbey is a Sacramento-scene singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known as a co-founder and lead vocalist of the local indie-pop group Musical Charis. Beyond the band, he co-founded a community music school in Oak Park, hosted scene events, and played in several side projects, making him a recurring fixture in…
Blue Lamp
Blue Lamp is a Sacramento live-music club located at 1400 Alhambra Boulevard in Midtown, recurring across more than a decade of Submerge Magazine coverage as a frequent host of local album-release shows and tour stops spanning punk, metal, industrial, indie rock, doom and Latin music. The venue opened in 2000 and…
The Boardwalk
The Boardwalk is an all-ages live-music club at 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale, in the Sacramento suburbs, that opened in 1987 and has hosted national touring acts and local bands across many genres since the late 1980s. Located roughly 20 to 30 minutes outside downtown Sacramento, it is described as a "legendary"…
Bows and Arrows
Bows and Arrows was a Midtown Sacramento hybrid space combining a vintage and repurposed clothing store with an art venue, café and all-ages live-music room at 1815 19th Street. Co-founded by Trisha Rhomberg and Olivia Coelho, it became a hub for the local independent-music scene before closing; its 19th Street space…
Bret Bair
Bret Bair is a Sacramento music-venue owner, operator, and talent buyer who, in partnership with Eric Rushing, founded and ran several of downtown Sacramento's most prominent live-music venues, including Ace of Spades and Goldfield. He is described as "one of the forces behind the music venues Ace of Spades and…
Bright Light Fever
Bright Light Fever (BLF) was a Sacramento blues-injected garage rock quartet with an approximately six-year run that ended in 2009. Centered on guitarist Matt Ferro and his brother Evan Ferro, the band cycled through a major-label-affiliated deal, repeated touring misfortune, and self-released recordings before…
Artist1990s-2020sBrotha Lynch Hung
Brotha Lynch Hung (born Kevin Danell Mann, January 10, 1969) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Sacramento, California, widely recognized as a pioneer of horrorcore rap and the creator of the subgenre he calls "ripg
Bru Lei
Bru Lei (born Bruce Burnett) is a rapper, muralist and activist who has been a fixture of the Sacramento hip-hop and arts scene since relocating to the city in 2006. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, he resists fixed labels but says the term that fits him best is "magician."
Bryan Nichols
Bryan Nichols is a Sacramento-scene musician and organizer best known as the frontman, lead singer, and guitarist of the local jam band ZuhG. Beyond performing, he operated a Sacramento music store, booked live shows, and founded recurring local music events, making him a connective figure across the city's jam,…
C
Café Colonial
Café Colonial is a small, all-ages music venue and café on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, located next to the Colonial Theatre, that became a hub of the city's punk, ska and experimental-music scenes during the 2010s. Described in coverage as "new-ish" in late 2013, it functions as both an eatery and an intimate…
Caitlin Gutenberger
Caitlin Gutenberger is the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of the Sacramento indie/folk-rock band Two Sheds, which she co-leads with her husband, bassist Johnny Gutenberger. Active in the Sacramento scene from the mid-2000s, the duo were described by Submerge as "a major portion of the greater…
Artist1991-presentCake (band)
Cake is an American alternative-rock band formed in Sacramento in August 1991 by singer John McCrea, trumpet/keys player Vince DiFiore, guitarist Greg Brown, drummer Frank French, and bassist Shon Meckfessel (quickly replaced by Gabe Nelson
Capitol Garage
Capitol Garage is a Sacramento music and nightlife venue, located in the city's Midtown/downtown core, that hosted weekly DJ nights, hip-hop and reggae bills, and album-release parties across Submerge Magazine's coverage from 2009 through 2014. Submerge sources distinguish between an "original" Capitol Garage and a…
Venue1980s-2000sThe Cattle Club
The Cattle Club was a 250-capacity all-ages music club at 7042 Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento that, from 1989 through roughly 1995, served as the region's single most important incubator for the 1990s alternative-rock boom.
Center for the Arts
The Center for the Arts is a performing arts organization and venue in Grass Valley, California, located at 314 West Main Street in the Nevada County foothills, roughly an hour from Sacramento. It is described as Nevada County's premier performing arts organization and presents a diverse slate of touring and regional…
Century Got Bars
Century Got Bars is a Sacramento-based hip-hop MC who, despite originating from Detroit, became a recurring fixture of the local rap scene, described by Submerge as "Sacramento's Century Got Bars." She is a solo rapper known for an eclectic, genre-blending approach and was a frequent collaborator and festival…
Cesar Chavez Park
Cesar Chavez Park is a public park in downtown Sacramento that serves as the outdoor stage for the city's long-running Friday Night Concerts in the Park series, a free summer concert program showcasing local Sacramento acts.
Cesar Chavez Plaza
Cesar Chavez Plaza is a public park in downtown Sacramento, located at 9th and J streets, that functions as one of the city's primary outdoor concert venues. It is best known as the longtime home of the Friday Night Concerts in the Park series and, for several years, the music finale of the LAUNCH Festival.
Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Wolfe is a singer-songwriter raised in Roseville and Sacramento whose darkly atmospheric music—variously tagged "goth folk," "doom folk" and "doom-metal"—made her one of the Sacramento scene's best-known exports before she relocated to Los Angeles and later back to Northern California. Submerge repeatedly…
Chino Moreno
Chino Moreno — full birth name Camillo "Chino" Wong Moreno, born June 20, 1973, in Sacramento, California — is the vocalist of Deftones, Sacramento's marquis rock band, and a prolific collaborator whose side projects include Team Sleep, Crosses and Palms. Submerge frames him and his frequent collaborator Shaun Lopez…
Chuuwee
Chuuwee (legal name Dionte Hunter, born September 7, 1990, in Sacramento, California) is a Sacramento-based hip-hop MC, characterized in Submerge coverage as a prolific local rapper who bridges 1990s boom-bap traditions with newer trap-influenced styles. He was repeatedly identified as Sacramento's own, an…
City of Trees (Music Festival)
City of Trees is an annual Sacramento music festival presented by radio station Radio 94.7, named for Sacramento's "City of Trees" nickname. It is a touring-act-driven festival staged at outdoor venues in the Sacramento area rather than a showcase of local artists, so its own origin status is not applicable. The…
City of Vain
City of Vain is a Sacramento punk rock band, formed from members of various local groups, known for high-energy, melodic punk shaped by influences such as The Clash, The Specials, Rancid and Bouncing Souls. By 2013 it was described as one of the must-see bands in Sacramento. According to their Bandcamp page, the band…
Club Retro
Club Retro was an all-ages live-music venue in Orangevale, California, in the greater Sacramento area, operating on a church property and serving as a hub for the region's young hardcore, metalcore and pop-punk scenes in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The venue was located at 6521 Hazel Avenue, Orangevale, California…
Event1990s-2020sConcerts in the Park
Concerts in the Park is a free outdoor summer concert series held on Friday evenings at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento, organized by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership .
Venue1912-presentCrest Theatre
The Crest Theatre is a restored art deco movie palace and live-performance venue at 1013 K Street in downtown Sacramento. Originally opened in 1912 as the Empress Theatre (a vaudeville house), it was completely rebuilt in 1949 as an art…
Crocker Art Museum
The Crocker Art Museum is a Sacramento art museum, located at 216 O Street, that doubles as a recurring music and performance venue in the local scene, hosting art-and-music celebrations and concert series that pair live performance with its exhibitions. Beyond its everyday role as a gallery where visitors "quietly…
Crossbill Records
Crossbill Records is a Davis-based independent record label founded and run by Michael Leahy, a longtime KDVS radio host, releasing folk, Americana and other indie music largely from the Greater Sacramento and Davis music community.
D
Dance Gavin Dance
Dance Gavin Dance (frequently abbreviated DGD) is a Sacramento post-hardcore band, formed in 2005, known for a genre-defying sound that blends post-hardcore, progressive rock and screamo with R&B and funk inflections, and for a turbulent lineup history. Submerge repeatedly identifies them as a hometown act, calling…
Dani Fernandez
Dani Fernandez is a Sacramento-scene musician and producer best known as one half of the band Sister Crayon, where she handles the project's electronic production, programming drum machine and synthesizer. Her arrival turned what had been Terra Lopez's quiet solo singer/songwriter material into the fuller, beat-driven…
Daniel Taylor
Daniel Taylor is a Chico, California drummer who has performed in Northern California heavy and post-rock bands that toured through the Sacramento scene, including West By Swan and Cold Blue Mountain. He is documented as a drummer rather than as a Sacramento native, and his bands originate from Chico, placing him in…
Danny Secretion
Danny Secretion is a Sacramento punk musician and scene figure, best known as the drummer and a vocalist of the long-running local band The Secretions, which he co-founded in 1991. His legal surname is Reynoso — he performs and is widely known under the stage name "Danny Secretion." Beyond the band, he is recognized…
Dante Club
A long-standing Sacramento event hall and banquet space that serves as the primary concert venue for the Sacramento Jazz Cooperative, hosting cabaret-style jazz presentations with local and national artists.
Death Grips
Death Grips is an experimental hip-hop / rap-punk group originating in Oak Park, Sacramento, built around vocalist Stefan Burnett (MC Ride), drummer Zach Hill, and producer Andy Morin (Flatlander). The band officially formed on December 21, 2010 in Sacramento, California. Submerge consistently frames the group as a…
Artist1988-presentDeftones
Deftones is an American alternative-metal band formed in Sacramento in 1988 by vocalist Chino Moreno, guitarist Stephen Carpenter, and drummer Abe Cunningham — three childhood friends from C.K.
Discovery Park
Discovery Park is an outdoor venue in Sacramento, California that has served as the festival grounds and large-scale concert site for major events, most prominently the Monster Energy Aftershock Festival. The park is located at 1600 Garden Highway, Sacramento, California 95833, at the confluence of the American River…
District 30
District 30 was a downtown Sacramento nightclub located at 1022 K Street, a recurring fixture in Submerge Magazine's nightlife and music coverage between 2011 and 2017. It functioned primarily as a dance and DJ venue, hosting EDM nights, touring DJ sets, club events, and album after-parties. The club sat directly…
DJ Rated R
DJ Rated R (real name Ron Florente) is a Sacramento turntablist, DJ and hip-hop producer who came up through Sac State's student station KSSU and became a fixture of the local hip-hop scene as the DJ for the crew Live Manikins, a member of the production crew The Sleeprockers, and the touring partner of rapper Random…
DJ Whores
DJ Whores was the stage name of Daniel "Dan" Osterhoff, a Sacramento DJ, club-night organizer and bass-music selector described by Submerge as one of the city's most elite turntablists, best known for running the long-running Midtown dubstep-and-bass night Grimey. Submerge reported his death on April 8, 2017, noting…
DLRN
DLRN is a Sacramento hip-hop group built around MC 5th Ave (born Sean LaMarr) and producer Jon Reyes, known for an eclectic sound that sits between conscious rap and club rap and for a strong, repeatedly stated dedication to the local Sacramento scene. The duo describe their output as "'80s synth-fueled,…
Dog Party
Sacramento's punk sister duo — Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles — formed at ages 8 and 10, released their first album at 11 and 13, opened for Green Day, toured Europe, and launched their own label. Seven albums deep and still based in Sacramento.
Doom Bird
Doom Bird is a Sacramento-based band fronted by Kris Anaya, working in an atmospheric vein that blends alternative and classical-leaning textures. The project is closely tied to a broader network of Sacramento musicians who collaborate across one another's bands and recordings. Doombird emerged from the disbanded…
Downtown Concerts in the Park
Downtown Concerts in the Park (commonly "Concerts in the Park" or "CIP") is a free, all-ages outdoor concert series held on Friday evenings at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento. It is produced by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and described as Sacramento's largest free outdoor concert series, blending…
Drew Walker
Drew Walker is a Sacramento musician and live-sound engineer who has been a recurring presence in the city's experimental and DIY music scene, best known as a member of the experimental rock band Gentleman Surfer, as the house sound engineer at the Midtown venue Witch Room, and as the organizer of the venue's farewell…
Dusty Brown
Dusty Brown is a Sacramento electronica project led by producer-musician Dusty Brown, built around a family core of his sister Jessica Brown on vocals and cousin Zac Brown on guitar. Across more than a decade of Submerge coverage, Dusty Brown emerges as one of the most decorated and influential figures of the…
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Early States
Early States was a Sacramento-area pop-rock band that emerged in the late 2000s with an arena-scaled, hook-driven sound, distinguishing itself from the region's dominant hardcore and metal scenes. The group later shifted toward a more keyboard- and synth-heavy "electro-pop" direction.
Electric Christmas
Electric Christmas is an annual winter concert presented by Sacramento alternative-radio station Radio 94.7, featuring a multi-act bill of national and international indie-rock, electro-pop and dance acts at large Sacramento arenas.
Artist2011-presentElement Brass Band
Sacramento's premier New Orleans second-line brass band, founded in 2011 by trumpeter Ryan Robertson, now led by baritone saxophonist Byron Colborn. Two-time Sacramento Music Awards "Best in Jazz" winner; founders of the city's annual Mardi Gras parade.
Element of Soul
Element of Soul (often abbreviated EOS) is a six-member reggae-folk-pop-rock band from Placerville in the Greater Sacramento region, known for blending reggae and acoustic "jam rock" with DJ turntablism. The band was a recurring fixture of Sacramento's local live circuit in the first half of the 2010s.
Eric Rushing
Eric Rushing is a Sacramento music-industry figure who has worked across nearly every part of the local ecosystem: as a longtime promoter and talent buyer, a venue owner, an artist manager, and the head of a record label. Submerge has described him as a "longtime Sacramento music enthusiast and promoter" and as a…
Exquisite Corps
Exquisite Corps is a Sacramento band led by singer/guitarist (and visual artist) Bryan Valenzuela that began as a chamber-rock project pairing rock songwriting with cello and violin, and later evolved into a more stripped-down, psychedelic rock 'n' roll outfit. The band is repeatedly identified by Submerge as a local…
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Artist1990s-2010sFar
Far was an American post-hardcore band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1991 by vocalist Jonah Matranga, guitarist Shaun Lopez, bassist John Gutenberger, and drummer Chris Robyn .
Fine Steps
Fine Steps was a Sacramento-area band, described by Submerge as a "new project by Julian Elorduy," who had previously drummed for the Sacramento group Mayyors. The band emerged from the same late-2000s/early-2010s Sacramento garage and lo-fi milieu as Ganglians and G. Green, and was counted among the city's "local…
First Festival
First Festival is a Sacramento-region music festival founded in 2015 with the stated goal of kicking off the local festival season by spotlighting local bands, artists, crafters, and vendors. It was the brainchild of young local business owners Danielle Vincent and Ashley Rastad, and its lineups drew heavily from…
Fox and Goose
The Fox and Goose is a British-style pub and live-music venue at 1001 R Street in Sacramento that functions as a recurring stage for the city's local indie, folk, and alt-rock scene. It is best known in the Submerge corpus as a favored album-release venue, particularly for the long-running local band Be Brave Bold…
Friday Night Concerts in the Park
Friday Night Concerts in the Park (often shortened to "Concerts in the Park" or "CIP") is an annual free outdoor summer concert series held every Friday at Cesar Chavez Park/Plaza in downtown Sacramento. By 2018 it was billed as "Sacramento's largest free outdoor concert series," and the Downtown Sacramento…
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G. Green
G. Green (also styled "G.Green") is a Sacramento post-punk/indie rock band that grew out of Andrew Henderson's solo bedroom-recording project into a full band, becoming a fixture of the city's DIY and Midtown scene. The band describes themselves as "Literate rockers from Northern California," with Sacramento,…
Ganglians
Ganglians were a Sacramento psychedelic/lo-fi garage-pop band, repeatedly described in Submerge as one of the city's "beloved" hometown acts and a hallmark of the late-2000s Sacramento garage scene. The group is consistently identified as local — "Sacramento's psychedelic acid pop act" and "Sacramento's own" — making…
Gentleman Surfer
Gentleman Surfer is a Sacramento experimental/progressive rock band, repeatedly described as a local act, known for a largely instrumental, technically intricate sound spanning math rock, jazz fusion and prog. By 2016 the group was a four-piece that had been "touring and playing locally for many years." According to…
Golden 1 Center
Golden 1 Center is a downtown Sacramento arena and home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings that doubles as the city's flagship venue for large-scale, arena-class concerts. Described in Submerge coverage as a roughly half-billion-dollar, state-of-the-art arena, it opened in 2016 and quickly became the stage for major…
Goldfield Trading Post
Goldfield Trading Post was a live-music venue and bar in Sacramento, California, located at 1630 J Street in midtown. Described as "new" when it began hosting shows in 2014, it became a regular stop for both touring acts and local Sacramento artists across genres ranging from folk and funk to metal. The venue closed…
Groovie Ghoulies
Sacramento pop-punk institution. Kepi Ghoulie (Jeff Alexander) fronted the band for their entire 24-year run — nine studio albums, Lookout! Records, international touring, and a horror-movie aesthetic that made them one of the most distinctive bands the 916 ever produced.
Venue1910s-2020sGuild Theater
The Guild Theater is a historic 200-seat venue in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, built in 1915 and operated since 2003 by St. HOPE, the community development nonprofit founded by NBA All-Star and former Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson…
Gwendolyn Giles
Gwendolyn Giles is a Sacramento guitarist and co-vocalist, the elder of the two sisters who make up the punk/garage rock duo Dog Party. She and her younger sister Lucy Giles have been performing together since childhood, becoming one of the most-documented young acts of the Sacramento all-ages scene.
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The Hangar
The Hangar was a Sacramento recording studio, housed in a downtown warehouse and owned by John Baccigaluppi, publisher of Tape Op magazine. Described by Submerge as a "legendary" and "arguably one of Sacramento's most credible recording studios," it operated for over two decades at its downtown location before closing…
Hanover Saints
The Hanover Saints are a Sacramento street punk band fronted by vocalist/guitarist Brian Hanover (real name Brian Faucett), best known as one of the longest-running acts in the city's underground punk scene. Across roughly a decade of activity they completed seven U.S. tours and released two full-length records and…
Harley White Jr.
Sacramento bassist and bandleader. A fixture at Shady Lady Saloon and a consistent presence in the R Street jazz circuit, representing a lineage of working Sacramento jazz musicians who have anchored the city's straight-ahead scene for decades.
Venue1982-presentHarlow's
Harlow's is an independently owned and operated live-music venue and restaurant at 2708 J Street in Midtown Sacramento. Founded in 1982, it has operated continuously for over 40 years and fills the critical mid-cap tier in Sacramento's…
Hella
Hella is a Sacramento experimental rock act built around the core duo of drummer Zach Hill and guitarist Spencer Seim, known for breakneck time signatures, technically demanding guitar-and-drum interplay and explosive live shows. Sacramento press repeatedly identifies the band and its members as locals — "Sacramento's…
Hero's Last Mission
Hero's Last Mission (HLM) was a Sacramento-based five-piece rock and pop band, active from the late 2000s into 2016, often noted for looking like a metal band while actually playing pop-leaning rock. The group is explicitly described as a "local five-piece" and one of "Sacramento's own" rock acts. According to Apple…
Artist2010s-2020sHobo Johnson & the Lovemakers
Hobo Johnson (born Frank Jorge Lopes Jr., December 22, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and spoken-word artist from Sacramento, California, and the frontman of Hobo Johnson & the Lovemakers .
Holy Diver
Holy Diver is an all-ages live-music venue in Midtown Sacramento, located at 1517 21st St., that took over the building previously occupied by the Starlite Lounge. It opened under a management team led by Bret Bair, who was already behind the local venues Ace of Spades and Goldfield, and was conceived as both a…
Hoods
Hoods is a Sacramento hardcore band, repeatedly described by Submerge as a hometown institution and "Sacto hardcore legends." Fronted by singer/guitarist Mikey Hood, the group is rooted in the Sacramento scene and dates back at least to the 1990s. The band was founded in 1994 in Sacramento, California, by Mike "Mikey…
Horseneck
Horseneck is a Sacramento heavy-rock band — variously described as sludge metal, stoner metal and post-hardcore — founded by guitarist/vocalist Anthony Paganelli as a blues-based, classic-rock-leaning counterpoint to the scream-o and metalcore acts dominating the local scene. The band is explicitly identified as a…
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Jacam Manricks
Sacramento saxophonist and composer. Featured horn player in the Beth Duncan/Joe Gilman quintet, leads his own quartet and orchestra, and performs at The Sofia and regional venues.
James Cavern
James Cavern is a singer-songwriter who built his career in Sacramento, working in soul, neo-soul and soul-tinged pop, and is regarded as an established fixture of the local scene. Born James Nguyen in Manchester, England, to Vietnamese refugee parents who fled by boat and were eventually resettled in London, he later…
Javalounge
Javalounge (often styled "Java Lounge") was a small Midtown Sacramento coffee house that doubled as an intimate, all-ages live-music venue, hosting punk, indie, dance, noise rock and singer-songwriter acts. It was owned and operated by Toben Woodman. The venue was located at 2416 16th Street, Sacramento, CA 95818, and…
Jerry Perry
Jerry Perry is a longtime Sacramento music promoter, talent buyer and club operator, repeatedly described in Submerge coverage as an "icon" and "OG" of the local scene. Across decades he has booked clubs, free outdoor concert series and even political rallies, and is treated as a load-bearing figure connecting young…
Jess Gowrie
Jess Gowrie is a Sacramento-scene drummer and vocalist whose career threads through a long list of local and touring rock projects, including Red Host, The Drama, I'm Dirty Too, Horseneck, and the touring band of Chelsea Wolfe. A fixture of the Sacramento music community, she is repeatedly framed as a longtime local…
Joe Gilman
Sacramento pianist and educator, CapRadio-designated "Sacramento jazz master." First-call bandleader for the Sacramento Jazz Cooperative, regular at Twin Lotus Thai, and the pianist behind virtually every significant straight-ahead jazz production in the city.
Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston is a Sacramento recording engineer who runs Pus Cavern, a local recording studio that became a go-to facility for the region's rock, punk, reggae and indie acts. Before his engineering career he was an active local musician, playing in Sacramento bands such as 58 Fury and Target in the 1980s.
Joe Kye
Joe Kye is a violinist, vocalist, and looper whose Sacramento-based solo project Joseph in the Well brought him regional recognition before he relocated to Portland, Oregon. Working as a one-person orchestra with violin, voice, and a looping pedal, he wove together jazz, classical, and hip-hop elements, and was…
John Baccigaluppi
John Baccigaluppi is a Sacramento recording engineer, producer and studio owner, and the publisher of the recording-industry magazine Tape Op. For roughly two decades he ran the Sacramento recording studio The Hangar, and he has been a central behind-the-scenes figure in the local music scene as a producer and mentor.
Jon Mess
Jon Mess is a Sacramento co-vocalist and screamer best known as a founding-era member of the Sacramento post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance, where he shares vocal duties as the band's screaming/rapping voice opposite a clean singer. Submerge consistently frames Dance Gavin Dance as a hometown Sacramento act, making…
Jonah Matranga
Jonah Matranga is a Sacramento-rooted vocalist, guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as the frontman of the post-hardcore band Far and for his solo project Onelinedrawing. He has been described in the Sacramento press as a "local legend" who developed his career in the city before relocating to the Bay Area.
Jonny Craig
Jonny Craig is a vocalist associated with the Sacramento post-hardcore scene, known as an original co-vocalist of hometown band Dance Gavin Dance, later frontman of Emarosa, a solo artist, and founder of the Sacramento-based band Slaves. He is also a recurring figure in the scene's controversies, both for his…
JR Halliday
JR Halliday is a Sacramento multi-instrumentalist best known as a longtime member of the local jam-based reggae/funk/rock band ZuhG, where he contributes guitar, bass, and vocals alongside frontman Bryan Nichols. Beyond ZuhG he is a recurring figure in the Sacramento scene as a solo performer and an in-demand…
Justin Cox
Justin Cox is a Winters-based singer-songwriter and guitarist — and also a keyboards player — best known as a founding member, vocalist and principal songwriter of the indie/folk trio The Polyorchids. He and his bandmates grew up listening to punk music and plugged into the scene in neighboring Sacramento, while…
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Kepi Ghoulie
Kepi Ghoulie (real name Jeff Alexander) is a Sacramento pop-punk songwriter and visual artist, best known as the former frontman of the Groovie Ghoulies, who has pursued a prolific solo career since that band split. Submerge describes him as a "local pop-punk impresario" whose relentless touring and recording pace…
Kevin Seconds
Kevin Seconds is a Sacramento-based singer-songwriter best known as the frontman of the seminal California hardcore punk band 7 Seconds, who in his later career became a prolific solo acoustic artist, a coffeehouse operator, and a connective figure across the Sacramento music community.
Kill the Precedent
Kill the Precedent (often abbreviated KTP) is a Sacramento industrial metal band built around thundering live-and-electronic beats, thrashing guitar riffs, and a two-vocalist attack. The band draws heavily on the lineage of industrial acts like Ministry and KMFDM while folding in punk-style melody.
Kris Anaya
Kris Anaya is a Sacramento musician, producer and multi-instrumentalist best known as the frontman of the local band Doom Bird, and a recurring fixture of the Sacramento indie scene as a sideman, session player and producer across many other local acts. Before Doom Bird, he served as vocalist and guitarist for the…
Kris Crummett
Kris Crummett is a Portland, Oregon-based record producer and engineer who became a recurring studio collaborator for Sacramento post-hardcore and progressive bands in the early 2010s, recording releases for A Lot Like Birds and Slaves among others. Though not from the Sacramento region, his work at his Portland…
Kurt Travis
Kurt Travis is a Sacramento-based vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who became one of the most prolific figures in the city's post-hardcore scene, fronting (at various points) Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds, releasing solo records, and running his own indie label. Over roughly a decade he passed…
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Launch Festival
Launch (stylized LAUNCH) was a Sacramento-founded music, art, fashion and design festival whose stated ethos was celebrating the overlaps of art, architecture, fashion and music while keeping local creators in Sacramento. The festival traces its roots to 2008, when founder Michael Hargis staged a one-day gathering…
Le Twist
Le Twist is a popular recurring weekly dance party held in Sacramento, founded and hosted by a rotating crew of local DJs led by Sam I Jam. Built on an open-format, "eclectic" musical concept, it pairs resident DJ sets with rotating special-guest performers, and is known for free admission and for booking cutting-edge…
Lee Bannon
Lee Bannon is a producer and DJ from the Sacramento area who came up in the local hip-hop scene before relocating to New York and shifting toward experimental electronic music. He worked as an in-demand beatmaker and collaborator across the Sacramento rap community in the early 2010s, then released drum 'n' bass and…
Life in 24 Frames
Life in 24 Frames is a Sacramento indie rock band founded in 2008 by frontman Kris Adams, known for its experimental, atmospheric songcraft and a consistently rotating lineup anchored to Adams' songwriting. Submerge repeatedly identifies the group as "Sacramento's own," and the band describes itself as staying "true…
Lite Brite
Lite Brite is a Sacramento rock trio fronted by brothers Eddie and Matt Underwood, known for a high-energy, distortion-heavy live show that was a recurring fixture of the late-2000s/early-2010s Sacramento scene. Submerge repeatedly identifies them as a local Sacramento band. The band later continued under the name…
Little Foxes
Little Foxes is a Sacramento-area electronic project, described as a side project of local producer Dusty Brown, made in collaboration with folk singer-songwriter Jacob Golden. Its sound has been characterized as downtempo, psychedelic, and trip-hop oriented.
Little Guilt Shrine
Sacramento alt-rock trio active 1991–1998. Dana Gumbiner on bass and vocals, brothers Matt and Britton Holland on guitar and drums. Five albums, KWOD airplay, and enough of a reputation that fans drove in from out of town a decade later just to catch the reunion.
A Lot Like Birds
A Lot Like Birds is a Sacramento-based progressive/post-hardcore band founded by guitarist, composer and original vocalist Michael Franzino, repeatedly identified in Submerge coverage as a Sacramento band and described in 2013 as "locally based." Known for technically dense, genre-crossing compositions and a frenetic…
Low End Theory
Low End Theory is a Los Angeles weekly club night centered on experimental hip-hop and "beat music," founded by producer Daddy Kev and held at The Airliner. The event ran every Wednesday from October 2006 until its final show on August 8, 2018 — a roughly 12-year run. Although it is an L.A. institution rather than a…
LowBrau
LowBrau is a Midtown Sacramento bar and beer hall that opened in early 2013 and quickly became a recurring host for live music, DJ nights and record-release shows in the city's creative music scene. It was co-owned by partners Clay Nutting and Michael Hargis, who also operated the adjacent Block Butcher Bar and…
Lucy Giles
Lucy Giles is a Sacramento musician, the drummer and co-vocalist of the punk/garage-rock sister duo Dog Party, which she formed in 2007 with her older sister Gwendolyn Giles. A "Sacramento native," she came up through the city's all-ages scene as a child performer and went on to tour the United States and Europe,…
Luigi's Fungarden
Luigi's Fungarden was a small, all-ages music venue attached to a pizza business ("Luigi's Slice") in Midtown Sacramento, housed in the MARRS building at 20th and K streets. Across roughly 2009–2014 it functioned as one of the city's primary all-ages rooms, hosting Sacramento-area punk, indie, and post-hardcore bands…
Luna's Cafe
Luna's Cafe is a Sacramento music venue and coffee house located at 1414 16th Street in Midtown. Across Submerge Magazine's coverage it appears as an intimate, multi-genre space hosting solo singer-songwriters, jazz, and experimental/noise performance. Luna's Cafe was founded on August 5, 1983 by Art Luna and his…
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Mahtie Bush
Mahtie Bush is a Sacramento rapper, producer, MC and B-boy regarded by Submerge as "something of a Sacramento legend" for his work ethic and his role paving the way for a generation of Northern California MCs. He is best known locally for founding the "Sac Hates Hip-Hop" movement, a public protest against Sacramento…
Marilyn's on K
Marilyn's on K was a downtown Sacramento bar and live-music venue at 908 K Street that operated for 16 years before closing on Nov. 1, 2014. Across its run it hosted eclectic live music up to seven days a week from both local and touring acts, becoming a fixture of the local scene and, by the venue's own count, a…
MARRS Building
The MARRS Building is a mixed-use building in Midtown Sacramento at 1050 20th Street, on the corner of 20th and J Streets, that functions as a commercial and cultural hub anchoring an active block of Midtown street life, music events, and small businesses. Submerge characterized it as one of Midtown's "hot-spot"…
Mick Martin
Sacramento blues legend, harmonica player, and co-founder of the Sacramento Blues Society. Active from the 1960s through 2025 across 20+ albums. Performed at Carnegie Hall. Died July 13, 2025 at age 76.
Middle Class Rut
Middle Class Rut (often shortened to "MC Rut") is a Sacramento rock band built around the duo of Zack Lopez (guitar/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals), known for a heavy, raw, beat-driven sound and the breakout single "New Low." Submerge repeatedly frames them as a hometown act and "Sacramento's Dynamic Duo."
Midtown BarFly
Midtown BarFly was a Sacramento music venue and bar located at 1119 21st Street in Midtown, on the site formerly occupied by Club 21. Across the early-to-mid 2010s it served as a hub for a wide range of the city's scenes, hosting reggae nights, electronic dance parties, hardcore/metal shows, and local rock album…
The Mother Hips
The Mother Hips are a psychedelic-tinged rock band that formed in Chico, California, and later became San Francisco-based, co-founded and co-fronted by singer/songwriters Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono. Though not from the Greater Sacramento region, the band has been a recurring presence in the Sacramento scene,…
Musical Charis
Musical Charis is a Sacramento indie-pop/folk group built around the vocal duo of Blake Abbey and Jessie Brune (later Jessie Abbey), known for harmony-rich songwriting, an open collaborative live format, and for founding a community music school in Oak Park. The group is best understood not as a conventional band but…
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The Nickel Slots
The Nickel Slots are a local Sacramento-area Americana / alt-country band led by Tony Brusca, known for country-tinged roots rock and a heavy presence in greater Sacramento Valley clubs. The band formed in November 2008 in Sacramento, California and remains active as of 2024.
NorCal NoiseFest
NorCal NoiseFest is an annual Sacramento festival dedicated to the sound-art genres of noise and experimental music, drawing performers from across the country and abroad. First held in 1995, it is described as one of the oldest and most established "noise" festivals in existence. The inaugural 1995 event was reviewed…
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Paper Pistols
Paper Pistols is a Sacramento electronic/indie act founded by drummer, programmer and recording engineer Ira Skinner that began as his solo project and grew into a duo with vocalist Julie (Juliana) Lydell. The act pairs live drums with programmed, electronically-produced music, building songs that the members perform…
Pets
Pets is a Sacramento rock band formed in the summer of 2003 by the couple Allison Jones and Derek Fieth, both guitarists and vocalists. The duo built a "straight rock 'n' roll" sound and won a Sacramento Area Music Award (a "Sammie") for Outstanding Pop in 2010. As of December 2025 the band remains active, describing…
Artist2016-presentThe Philharmonik
Sacramento multi-instrumentalist Christian Gates — the "one-man orchestra" — won NPR's 2024 Tiny Desk Contest from a field of nearly 7,000 entrants. Three studio albums, international touring, and a return-to-Sacramento story.
Powerhouse Pub
Powerhouse Pub is a live-music bar and event venue in the Historic Folsom district of Folsom, California, located at 614 Sutter Street, Suite D, Folsom, CA 95630. Across Submerge Magazine's coverage it appears as a recurring home for Greater Sacramento-area rock and cover bands, EP and album release shows, a weekly…
The Press Club
The Press Club is a low-profile dive bar and live-music/DJ venue at 2030 P Street in Sacramento's Midtown, on the sleepy P-and-21st-streets block. Known as an unpretentious alternative to dress codes and bottle service, it has hosted indie rock, punk, hip-hop and experimental acts as well as long-running weekly dance…
Prieta
Prieta was a Sacramento rock 'n' roll band active in the late 2000s and early 2010s, repeatedly described by Submerge as one of the city's best straight-up rock acts. The band drew on blues, classic, psychedelic, punk and metal influences and was frequently (to the members' own bemusement) compared to grunge and…
Pus Cavern
Pus Cavern is a Sacramento recording studio that served as a go-to tracking and engineering home for the city's local rock, punk, reggae and indie bands across the late 2000s and 2010s. It is closely identified with engineer/owner Joe Johnston, a longtime Sacramento musician who runs the studio. According to a…
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Rainbow City Park
Northern California/Sacramento indie alt-rock band behind the 2025 EP Fruitless; formed in 2022 and active across Sacramento stages including Farm-to-Fork, Concerts in the Park, Goldfield, and The Red Museum.
Raleigh Moncrief
Raleigh Moncrief is a Sacramento-based music producer and solo recording artist, known both as a "behind-the-boards" producer for local bands and for his own genre-blurring electronic/glitch-hop work. Submerge characterized him as a "renown Sacramento producer" who stepped out from behind the boards with his solo…
Random Abiladeze
Random Abiladeze (born Randy Murray; later known as Rasar, then Rasar Amani) is a Sacramento-region hip-hop MC and award-winning spoken-word poet known for socially and politically conscious lyrics. A fixture of Sacramento's underground hip-hop and spoken-word circuits in the late 2000s and early 2010s, he relocated…
Rise Records
Rise Records is an Oregon-based independent record label specializing in post-hardcore, screamo and related rock styles that recurs across Submerge coverage as the home of numerous touring acts as well as several Sacramento-region artists. Although the label itself is not from the Sacramento region, it functioned as a…
Robert Cheek
Robert Cheek — sometimes credited as Robert "Flossy" Cheek — is a Sacramento-based record producer, engineer and mixer who became one of the city's most-used and most-respected studio hands across the late 2000s and 2010s, frequently working out of The Hangar studio. He is also an active musician, playing in the bands…
Robin Bacior
Robin Bacior is a singer-songwriter, originally from Chico, California, whose music is built around her voice and the cello, and whose career has tracked a geographic "migration" from Chico to New York to Portland. Although her byline appears on numerous Submerge features about other artists, she is herself the…
Roger Carpio
Roger Carpio is a Sacramento DJ and club-night promoter, best known as the longtime co-resident of Lipstick, an indie-dance night at Old Ironsides that he and Shaun Slaughter ran together for over a decade. He is repeatedly identified as one of Sacramento's local DJs and was a fixture across several of the city's most…
Ross Hammond
Ross Hammond is a Sacramento-based guitarist, bandleader, festival organizer and music educator, repeatedly described in the local press as a "local guitar player" and a "prolific Sacramento musician" central to the city's improvised-jazz and creative-music scene. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky and raised in the…
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InstitutionpresentSacramento Brass Band Collective
An umbrella organizing body for Sacramento's second-line ecosystem, drawing musicians from Element Brass Band, City of Trees Brass Band, Dirty Chops Brass Band, Bigger Than Us Arts Brass Band, and the All-Female Brass Band to present community parades and performances rooted in New Orleans tradition.
Sacramento Concerts in the Park
Concerts in the Park (CIP), also called Friday Night Concerts in the Park and Downtown Concerts in the Park, is a free weekly outdoor summer concert series held at Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento. Billed as "Sacramento's largest free outdoor concert series," it pairs internationally touring headliners with…
Sacramento Electronic Music Festival
The Sacramento Electronic Music Festival (SEMF) is a multi-day electronic music festival held in Sacramento that mixed national touring electronic acts with local Sacramento-area talent. It was organized by Submerge Magazine's Adam Saake and his crew, with Submerge serving as the festival's media sponsor. The festival…
Institution2016–presentSacramento Jazz Cooperative
Sacramento's premier jazz nonprofit, founded in 2016 by Carolyne Swayze. Presents concerts, produces the "From the Living Room" YouTube series, and serves as the organizational backbone of the contemporary Sacramento jazz scene — doing the curatorial work a dedicated jazz club would normally do.
Event1970s-2010sSacramento Jazz Jubilee / Sacramento Music Festival
The Sacramento Jazz Jubilee — originally the *Old Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee* (1974–2010), rebranded the *Sacramento Music Festival & Jubilee* (2011–2017) — was, at its peak, the largest traditional jazz festival in the world and the
Institution1980s-2020sSacramento Music Archive
The Sacramento Music Archive (sacramentomusicarchive.com) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Shayne Stacy that preserves and freely shares primary-source audio, video, photographs, and ephemera documenting Sacramento-area…
Institution1989-presentSacramento News & Review (SN&R)
Sacramento News & Review (SN&R) was — and, in significantly reduced online form, still is — the defining alternative newsweekly of Sacramento from its founding in 1989 through the suspension of its print edition in January 2021.
Venue1980s-2020sSacramento's Lost Venues: Club Minimal, Melarkey's, and The Distillery
Sacramento's live-music infrastructure has always been volatile — venues open, thrive, and vanish, often within a few years. Three now-closed rooms illustrate different eras and audiences in the city's music history: Club Minimal (c.
Sargent House
Sargent House is an independent record label founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow. Named after the historic home where its offices reside — situated between Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles — the company was created because Pellow's then-managed band RX Bandits needed to release their album ...And the Battle Begun,…
Sean Stockham
Sean Stockham is a Sacramento drummer and vocalist, best known as one half of the hard-rock duo Middle Class Rut (MC Rut) alongside guitarist/vocalist Zack Lopez. The pair are repeatedly identified as Sacramento natives, and MC Rut became one of the short list of local bands to find mainstream success beyond the…
The Secretions
The Secretions are a long-running Sacramento punk rock band, formed in 1991 by Mickie Rat and Danny Secretion, widely described in Submerge coverage as "Sacramento punk legends" and a foundational, mentoring presence in the local scene. The band was active from 1991 to 2016.
Shady Lady Saloon
A classic-cocktail speakeasy on R Street that doubles as one of Sacramento's most consistent jazz rooms. Shady Lady books Element Brass Band, Harley White Jr., and a rotating cast of jazz, blues, and neo-soul acts in an intimate, low-volume setting that demands the music do the work.
Shaun Lopez
Shaun Lopez is a Sacramento guitarist, producer and mixing engineer best known as the guitarist for the Sacramento post-hardcore band Far, and later as a co-founder of the side project Crosses (âœâœâœ) with Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno. Submerge describes him and Moreno as having "left an indelible mark on the…
Shaun Slaughter
Shaun Slaughter is a Sacramento DJ, club-night promoter, producer, and flyer designer who became one of the most prominent figures in the city's indie-dance and electronic nightlife scene, best known as co-founder of the long-running dance night Lipstick. Over more than a decade he ran or co-ran a string of Sacramento…
Shine
Shine is an intimate Sacramento cafe and community gathering space at 1400 E Street that doubles as an all-ages live-music venue, consistently programming local artists and hosting live music every Friday and Saturday night. Across 2014–2018 it served as a frequent stage for Sacramento-area singer/songwriters and…
A Single Second
A Single Second is a Sacramento post-punk band, formed around 2002, known for a relentless touring schedule and a fluid lineup anchored by founding vocalist/guitarist Shawn Peter.
Sister Crayon
Sister Crayon is a Sacramento indie/electronic project led by vocalist and songwriter Terra Lopez, built around downtempo, atmospheric music that blends live drums, programmed beats, synths and dramatic female vocals. Submerge consistently identified the act as local — "our beloved Sister Crayon," "hometown heroes,"…
Sol Collective
Sol Collective is a Sacramento nonprofit arts organization, art gallery, and all-ages music venue located at 2574 21st Street, south of Broadway in Sacramento. Beyond hosting shows, it operates as a hub for community activism, youth arts education, and music production, supporting the local arts and music scene.
Sophia's Thai Kitchen
Sophia's Thai Kitchen is a Thai restaurant in downtown Davis that doubles as an intimate live-music venue, hosting indie, folk, and roots acts on a small wooden front porch that serves as its stage. As a Greater Sacramento-region venue, it functions as a fixture of the Davis live-music circuit. The restaurant is…
Starlite Lounge
Starlite Lounge was a two-story live-music venue at 1517 21st Street in downtown/Midtown Sacramento that operated through June 2017, occupying a building that for many years prior had been known as The Townhouse. Though it hosted a wide range of acts, it became best known as a hub for Sacramento's heavy-music scene,…
Sunmonks
Sunmonks is a Sacramento-region art-pop project built around the duo of Geoffrey CK (vocals, guitar) and Alexandra Steele (vocals), who came up out of the close-knit musical community of Auburn, California. Their genre-resistant sound blends pop, choral, West African highlife, samba, math rock and jazz, often layered…
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TBD Fest
TBD Fest was a multi-day music, art and food festival held in West Sacramento's Bridge District, launched in 2014 as a rebranding and expansion of the earlier Sacramento-area Launch Festival. Founded and produced by local hospitality figures Michael Hargis and Clay Nutting, it grew into a marquee event of the…
Tera Melos
Tera Melos is a Sacramento-area experimental/math-rock trio known for spastic, genre-smashing guitar music built on two-handed finger tapping, dense effects-pedal work, and non-traditional song structures. Submerge consistently frames them as a hometown act, calling them "Sacramento's own," "Sacramento natives," and a…
Terra Lopez
Terra Lopez is a Sacramento singer, songwriter and multimedia artist best known as the founder and frontwoman of the band Sister Crayon, described by Submerge as a "native Sacramento duo." Beyond her own band she was active across the local scene as a guest vocalist, a DJ, and an organizer of all-ages and dance nights.
Artist1980s-2020sTesla
Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California, in 1982 . Originally called City Kidd, the group coalesced around bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon before adding vocalist Jeff Keith, guitarist Tommy…
THIS Midtown
THIS Midtown (also stylized "THIS" and branded "THIS916") was a free, all-ages Second Saturday block party concert series held on 20th Street between J and K streets in Midtown Sacramento, recurring monthly through the summer. It became a recurring fixture of the local summer event calendar, pairing nationally touring…
Venue1934-presentThe Torch Club
A 150-capacity blues bar at 904 15th Street, the Torch Club has been Sacramento's most continuous live-music venue since 1934. Founded by the Karavites family, owned by the Texeiras since 1969, it has occupied three downtown addresses across nine decades.
Townhouse
Townhouse — affectionately shortened to "Toho" or "ToHo" in the local scene — was a two-story Midtown Sacramento nightclub and dive bar known as a hub for dance nights, DJ residencies and live local music. Located at 1517 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, on the P and 21st block of Midtown, it was an anti-glamour…
Twin Lotus Thai
A Thai restaurant on Folsom Boulevard that functions as Sacramento's most active jazz room, presenting a dense calendar of tributes, original projects, and student ensembles. The closest thing the city has to a dedicated jazz club.
Two Sheds
Two Sheds is a Sacramento indie/folk-rock act built around the husband-and-wife duo of singer/guitarist Caitlin Gutenberger and bassist/backing-vocalist Johnny (John) Gutenberger, active since 2006. Long described as Sacramento "darlings," they remained a fixture of the greater Sacramento music scene before relocating…
Tycho
Tycho is the ambient/electronic project of Scott Hansen, a producer, multi-instrumentalist and graphic designer who was raised in Fair Oaks and built his early career in Sacramento before relocating to San Francisco. Hansen was born on February 7, 1977, in Sacramento, California. Submerge repeatedly frames Tycho as a…
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Vans Warped Tour
The Vans Warped Tour is a touring summer music festival, running since 1995, that became "synonymous with summer" for bands and fans of punk, hardcore, metalcore, emo and related hybrid genres. It is a touring (non-local) event that brings a large roster of bands to fields, parking lots and amphitheaters across North…
Vivian Lee
Sacramento jazz vocalist specializing in the Great American Songbook — Gershwin, Ellington, Berlin, Mercer, Jobim. 2007 SAMMIE winner, Sacramento Music Festival mainstay, and a regular presence in Sacramento Jazz Cooperative productions.
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Wes Davis
Wes Davis is a Sacramento-area music photographer, videographer and musician who has documented and participated in the local music scene across multiple roles, associated with Beatnik Studios. He co-founded the local music-video project Live in the City of Trees and later became a founding member of the indie-folk…
Who Cares
Who Cares was a Sacramento hip-hop group founded in 2002, known for a backpack-rap sound that grew into a full live band and for being, in its own framing, the perpetual opening act of the local rap scene. Despite a name suggesting apathy, the group treated its music as a survival mechanism for "latchkey kids" and…
Will Haven
Will Haven is a Sacramento metal band, formed in 1995, regarded as one of the city's most respected longtime heavy-music acts. Their sound resists easy labels, variously described as metalcore or post-hardcore, built on power, heaviness and driving rhythmic intensity.
Will Swan
Will Swan is a Sacramento guitarist, primary songwriter, and label head, best known as the founding guitarist and main creative force of the Sacramento post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance. He also founded the independent label Blue Swan Records and co-founded the multi-band supergroup Sianvar, making him a connective…
Witch Room
Witch Room was a short-lived Midtown Sacramento live music venue at 1815 19th Street, occupying the former Bows and Arrows space, that operated for roughly ten months in 2014. It featured local, national and international bands on a new in-house stage and quickly became a favored room in the local scene before closing…
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Zac Brown
Zac Brown is a Sacramento guitarist and bassist who has been a fixture of the local music scene since at least the late 2000s, performing and recording across a string of interlinked Sacramento bands and as the touring/recording instrumentalist for the electronic act Tycho. He is distinct from the country musician of…
Zach Hill
Zach Hill is a Sacramento-based drummer, composer, and producer known for an unrelenting, fluid percussive style and an enormous catalog of collaborations, anchoring the local bands Hella and Death Grips. Submerge repeatedly identifies him as a "Sacramento drummer" and "Sacramento-based drummer," placing his origin…
Zack Lopez
Zack Lopez is a Sacramento-native guitarist, vocalist, and producer best known as one half of the hard-rock duo Middle Class Rut (often abbreviated "MC Rut"), alongside drummer/vocalist Sean Stockham. He is repeatedly identified in coverage as a Sacramento local and "native," making the band a hometown act despite its…
ZuhG
ZuhG is a Sacramento jam band, active since 2007, known for a hard-to-categorize blend of funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, psychedelia and hip-hop, fronted throughout its existence by guitarist/vocalist Bryan Nichols. Beyond music, the band became a fixture of the local scene by operating the ZuhG Life Store, a…
ZuhG Life Store
The ZuhG Life Store was a Sacramento retail shop and informal performance space, located upstairs in the Westfield Downtown Plaza Mall, that sold local music, art, clothing and more and doubled as a music-lesson and small-show hub for the local scene. It was owned by Bryan Nichols, lead singer and guitarist of the…
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