From The Grateful Dead to Jefferson Airplane, San Francisco has a long and storied musical history. At the heart of that legacy is community. Whether on Haight-Ashbury’s counterculture-paved streets or the bustling jazz clubs that punctuate the city’s nightlife, the SF music scene is tied together by a camaraderie and a common passion for the craft. That’s what made the city a perfect destination for Rolling Stone and Sonesta International Hotels to host the first installment of the 2026 Musicians on Musicians live tour. Live onstage in The Clift Royal Sonesta’s iconic Redwood Room, Rolling Stone senior music editor and Nashville Now podcast host Joseph Hudak hosted a live interview with Bay Area musicians Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams and electronic artist Scott Hansen (aka Tycho). 

“I came here from Sacramento, which had this really cool, tight-knit electronic scene,” said Hansen. “There’s a lot of people in the electronic music scene here that I felt really connected to. And immediately when I got here, I met a lot of them and felt accepted. It was really nice.”

For Shaw, that community has shown up in both the good times and the hard times. In 2022 her fiancé, drummer Joe Haener, passed away in a car accident. The tragedy inspired the 2024 Shannon and the Clams album, The Moon Is in the Wrong Place. She says the experience was a reminder of how tight-knit the SF music scene is. 

“A few weeks before he passed away, Joe played a solo band show and I introduced him as my fiancé onstage for the first time,” she says. “So many people from that audience—and beyond—reached out when he passed. I have felt beloved here for a lot of my career, but it feels different now. I feel even more held. Making music is an energetic exchange. You are sharing all of your insights with everyone out there, and [the audience is] taking it in and alchemizing it and then giving it back to me. It’s a back and forth. We’re necessary to one another. I feel that now more than ever before.”

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The Bay Area is also known for its iconic music venues. Shaw and Hansen shared a few of their favorites with the hometown crowd. 

“They do a blues night on Mondays at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland,” said Shaw. “I don’t know where else you could go experience that. It’s all true Oakland people. I lived there for many years, but I know that I’m not a real Oakland person. If you want a slice of musical history and tradition, I would go there on Monday.”

With so many incredible locales, the odds of one of the panel members having a personal connection to The Clift Royal Sonesta’s onsite bar were slim. But not none. In fact, the space hit especially close to home for Hansen.

“I met my wife right there in 2007,” he said pointing to the bar. “Dreams do come true at the Redwood Room.”

Music fans’ dreams continued to come true as the artists returned to the stage later in the evening for a duo of intimate performances. 

Shaw was first to take the stage, where she performed songs from 2018’s Shannon in Nashville. Strumming on her mint green bass, Shaw was flanked by two additional musicians as she belted retro-inspired, emotionally charged songs from her Dan Auerbach-produced debut solo outing. 

Next, Tycho brought his signature chillwave sounds to the Redwood Room. His set was a 10-year-anniversary celebration of his Grammy-nominated album Epoch as well as his most recent release, 2024’s Infinite Health.

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The evening was a stunning way to kick off a new season of Rolling Stone and Sonesta International Hotels’ 2026 Musicians on Musicians live tour. Sonesta Travel Pass members can catch the next event in Denver, with more information available at sonestaevents.com.