“I didn’t have to explain my African sound.” See Piwai in Golden Gate Park this weekend

WEEKLY SHOW RECS + NEW REVIEWS: A warm, orchestral folksy slice of life from Lizzy Dutton and thrashy doom from Snakemother's debut album

May 01, 2025

Piwai blends traditional rhythms from her native Zimbabwe with contemporary soul, jazz, and R&B to craft a sound unique here in the Bay. As a gwenyambira—a skilled mbira player with a deep cultural connection to the music—Piwai has collaborated with many artists in the Bay and beyond, including Grammy award-winning Oaklander Fantastic Negrito.

Ahead of her set on Saturday, May 3rd at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell as part of a free show put on by Bay Beats, the SF Public Library, and White Crate—along with Mae Powell and The Grease Traps—we heard from Piwai about the surprising thing that brought her to the Bay, how it influences her music, and some upcoming releases.

Read the interview →

— White Crate

WARM FOLKY SLICE OF LIFE

“I like being a woman who is in charge.”

Lizzy Dutton returns with See It All, a warm orchestral folk record with a wide array of twists and turns. Its title track is a good place to start, opening with vocals and guitar before expanding into a lush arrangement of clarinet, piano, drums, and bass, and then surprising at the end with a curious and intriguing instrumental coda.

The album’s closer “I Shall Not Fear” is another standout, a song that feels as old as the yellowing pages of a book in the back of a vast library. It’s about birth, life, death. Listening to Lizzy Dutton gives you the sense that great care was taken to deliver these songs in their current form, from her poetic diction to their subtle arrangements and exacting choral harmonies. They are songs that present a slice of life, including its unpredictable journeys, feelings, and human connections.

— Ben Einstein

DIVINE FEMININE DOOM

“Nothing left to heal. You're never broken, you just forgot.”

Hatching heavy riffs, cathartic wailing, and epic song structures, all-female doom metal band Snakemother arrives with their full-length self-titled debut via Ripple Music, a psych and stoner rock label based in San Ramon.

10-minute opening track “Ritual” sets the tone with two minutes of organ-and-choral incantation that seems to channel the ancients, and then comes the crushing sound of the full band, slow and plodding forth for the rest of the song’s unfolding. With a few of the songs here (e.g. “Sacrum,” “Little Lady”) speeding things up into thrashy territory, the work overall oscillates between different energies while staying true to the band’s singular torch, “invoking the ferocity of the divine feminine.”

— Ronny Kerr

SHOW RECS

Our top show recommendations for the coming week:

[alternative] Orbit 17 (album release), Buzzed Lightbeer, Treasures, HEAT — May 2 at Kilowatt

[techno] ENDZEIT ft. Torsion, Kudeki, Banal — May 2 at Studio Aurora

[club] GENERAIDERZ ISSUE 3 RELEASE PARTY ft. Cel Genesis, Technopagan, Tall CEO, EXTEENG, SHL, 011668, INBIO, UZA A'AMO — May 2 at Monument

[ambient] EARTHLING ft. Lionmilk, Time Wharp, Sudi Wachspress + Noel Morgan + Mikey Maleki, Julius Smack, Slake — May 3 at Elk Glen Picnic Area, Golden Gate Park

[free show!!] BAY BEATS x AMOEBA x BFF.FM x ILLUMINATE x WHITE CRATE ft. The Grease Traps, Piwai, Mae Powell — May 3 at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell

[latin] La Doña, Mamboleo, Grupo 415, Amanda Magaña — May 3 at Gray Area

[club] SQUISH x VITAMIN1000 ft. Two Shell, Soft Launch (Clearcast + Skiis), EXTEENG, namastrange — May 3 at Monument

[punk] The Jesus Lizard, Marbled Eye — May 6 at the Fillmore

[alternative] Hook-Ups, Bounce House, Xay Cole, The Heart Wants — May 7 at Kilowatt

GET TICKETS TO TOTAL ACCORD!

We’re co-hosting an epic celebration of Bay Area music, showcasing amazing local talent at six awesome shows across four of our favorite venues. Get tickets →

White Crate