Category Archives: san francisco

Forever Young/Another Day mashup by Cynthia Lin

Forever Young/Another Day mashup by Cynthia Lin

Acoustic singer/songwriter Cynthia Lin performs the mashup “Forever Young/Another Day” from her latest album “Microscope” live in Austin. It show both her vocal talents as well as her musical talents on the guitar. Her music ranges widely from a quietly lulling acoustic to fresh and trendy. Her sound is likely found blessing the sophisticated warmth of a San Francisco coffee bar. “Microscope” is full of this talented artist’s takes on classics from “The Girl from Impanema” to artists like The Smiths. She injects her own musical flavor throughout her album.

Download the full :Microscope” album now for only 99 cents!

Forever Young/Another Day by Cynthia Lin (shot by Turtlist Media)

GO! OHANA – October 2010

GO! OHANA - October 2010

If you’re in the SF Bay Area, check out GO! OHANA this week. Held every month at the historic La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, GO! OHANA is RAMA’s monthly APA music and art show celebrating the pan-Asian family. Emceed by Ryan Takemiya, the event spotlights independent artists of every genre and style. It offers artists an intimate space that immerses you in the performances in an inclusive and welcoming community. Here’s this month’s line up:

Lailani Africa and Brandon Nguyen
Lailani Africa and Branden Nguyen hail from Sunnyvale and Cupertino, Ca. This new duo started early summer of this year. Branden, a music major graduate from UC Riverside brought his Jazz guitar flavor to singer/songwriter Lailani. They have been playing different venues from open mics to small shows throughout the bay area. Currently they are composing songs for an album. They aim to infuse spoken word, hip hop, jazz and other styles to their music.

Jenton Lee
From his quirky parodies, to his funky mashups, Jenton’s goal is to have everyone in the audience smiling at least once before leaving the stage. He maintains a strong presence on YouTube with over 3600 subscribers and over 1.3 Million video views. You can find him posting up a new video every week, so be sure to subscribe to his channel at YouTube.JentonLee.com to keep up with his latest videos.

Asian But Not Smart (Won’t Even Start Parody) by Jenton Lee

Yer Yang
Yer Yang is a Hmong womyn who grew up in south Sacramento. She spent her last 5 years living and going to school in Berkeley and has recently moved back to the Sacramento area. Yer first found her passion for music her first year of college when she performed at a small open mic one of her student organizations (the Laotian American Student Representatives) hosted. During her third year of college, she started a small and informal band with one of her friends Phi Nguyen called Phyier [pronounced fire]. This acoustic duo started performing for their student organization SASC (Southeast Asian Student Coalition) and has since performed at several events on campus. Since Phi’s recent departure to the east coast, Yer has been working on a small solo project. She hopes to be able to compose new music that can capture her experiences and emotions, music that her friends, family and supporters can relate to. For Yer, music is a tool to bring people together to just have a good time as well as a way to heal and continue moving forward.

Festizio
San Francisco alt-rock band Festizio combines ambient sounds and driving rhythms in a landscape of intertwined harmonies. Listeners often associate its sound with bands like Radiohead and Muse, though the eclectic variation of genres that Festizio employs clearly distinguishes it as unique. With a diverse musical background, the band also collectively draws from a variety of influences ranging from dance rock to soul. Already garnering positive reviews from industry critics and Bay Area venues, Festizio’s popularity is spreading well beyond its local roots. With the release of its long-awaited self-titled album, Festizio solidifies its reputation by providing a fresh new sound to rock music.

GO!OHANA
Friday, October 22, 2010
7:30pm
La Pena “Cool-tural” Center
3105 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA

Admission $8 (buy tickets)
Doors open at 7:00pm
Food and Drink!
Free Raffle!

GO! OHANA – September 2010

GO! OHANA -  August 2010

If you’re in the SF Bay Area, check out GO! OHANA tonite. Held every month at the historic La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, GO! OHANA is RAMA’s monthly APA music and art show celebrating the pan-Asian family. Emceed by Ryan Takemiya, the event spotlights independent artists of every genre and style. It offers artists an intimate space that immerses you in the performances in an inclusive and welcoming community.
Here’s this month’s line up:

Featuring performances by:

::::|||| Edwin Li ||||::::
Edwin Li began working as a comedian at the age of 16, barreling through five minute open mike sets and hanging in the wings of the Punchline, picking the brains of any funnyman that would talk shop. His earnestness and shameless curiosity have made him a favorite with comedy veterans and club owners alike. Edwin is developing his half-hour set in preparation for a heavy tour schedule. His rambunctious new set is a portrait of the wild, untamed energy of an American young man.

Edwin Li jokes

::::|||| Miena Yoo ||||::::
Miena immigrated to the United States from South Korea in 1992, and now she creates music that mixes Korean language phrases and imagery with English. In 2006, Miena released her 1st album “At the River Again”, and in 2008, her 2nd album “A Little Stone On the Sidewalk”. Miena’s songs are inspired by her childhood, family members, and the forests, river, and wildlife of her Korean home. Her folk-driven sound carries influences from American songstresses Tracy Chapman and Lucinda Williams.

::::|||| Sonia Rao ||||::::
Sonia Rao is a singer/songwriter in San Francisco. She is currently performing around the Bay Area. You can find her music on iTunes and http://www.facebook.com/musicsoniarao. From soniarao.com: “…So now here I am in San Francisco, so freaking joyful with it all….writing in my room, drinking insane amounts of coffee in the process, my neighbors loving (aka hating) me, introducing my classical violin to the blues and country, collaborating with musicians who impress, influence, and intimidate the hell out of me, and putting my little song babies out there for the world to love or hate. I am just trying to move with it all and I am humbled every day by this city and the music. Friends’ love lives, the nightly news, my family, people who walk by my window in North Beach, your conversation with me last night…it all goes into my songs and I hope that my lyrics and music reach some part of you.”

::::|||| Rich Tran ||||::::
RICH TRAN is a Bay Area rapper and social activist rising from poverty and social injustice. The goal of his music is to inspire social change and progress in under-represented, marginalized, and disenfranchised communities. Over the past four years, he has performed at events in Los Angeles, Orange County, Atlanta and Boise, Idaho. He has also performed at colleges such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego. RICH TRAN’s social activism has also led him hold down the mic on the steps of the California State Capitol and San Jose City Hall.

Rich Tran performance footage

GO!OHANA
Thursday, September 16, 2010
7:30pm
La Pena “Cool-tural” Center
3105 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA

Admission $8
Doors open at 7:00pm
Food and Drink!
Free Raffle!

Nichi Bei Foundation Day with the Oakland Athletics

Nichi Bei Foundation Day with the Oakland Athletics

On the launch of the new Nichi Bei Foundation — publishers of the first nonprofit ethnic newspaper of its kind in the country, the Nichi Bei Weekly is raising much-needed funds in order to keep the Japanese American community connected, informed and empowered. They will be watching Japanese American catcher Kurt Suzuki and the Oakland A’s take on Japanese baseball legend Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners. Join them for the Oakland A’s vs Seattle Mariners on Monday, Sept 6, 2010 (Labor Day). Game time 1:05 p.m. Stadium opens at 11:05 a.m. Support the Nichi Bei Weekly by making a donation here.

Nichi Bei Foundation Day with the Oakland Athletics

GO! OHANA – August 2010

GO! OHANA -  August 2010

If you’re in the SF Bay Area, check out GO! OHANA tonite. GO! OHANA is RAMA’s monthly APA music and art show. Emceed by Ryan Takemiya, the event showcases independent Pan Asian art on a one-of-a-kind stage at La Pena Cultural Center. Here’s this month’s line up:

Cynthia Lin
Singer/songwriter Cynthia Lin captures audiences with a refreshing blend of acoustic jazz and poetic folk to match her soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics. Since 2003, Cynthia has released two albums independently and toured nationally.

Dune Tran
Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, currently residing in the SF bay area of California, this Vietnamese female singer songwriter has been developing her musical skills and honing her songwriting craft since college. Influenced by artists such as Tori Amos, Aimee Mann, Regina Spektor, among others, she’s written a unique collection of pop/alternative songs. Ranging from soothing and melancholy, to upbeat and invigorating and from rich and lush to barren and stark, there is something to inspire and catch the attention of listeners of all backgrounds.

Fuifuilupei Niumeitolu
Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu is a Tongan American scholar, community organizer and poet. Her writing has been published widely in academic journals and family newsletters. She is a co-editor of “USOS On Freeways: An Anthology of Pacific Islander Writers from the Continental U.S.”

Infin8
iNFiN8 is a New York City based dance company whose mission is to create movement to inspire movement. Influenced by various forms of dance, iNFiN8 creates provocative movement to develop a new form of expression. By using dance as a platform to share ideas and provoke thought, iNFiN8 seeks to inspire movement in its audiences with each performance. Two members of iNFiN8 Dance Company are currently living in the Bay Area. They will be performing dance pieces originally choreographed and performed by iNFiN8 NYC at GO!OHANA August 19th.

Joyo Velarde featuring Kat Ouano
If you lived in California in the 90s, chances are you’ve sung Joyo’s refrain in the shower. After the Manila-born NorCal transplant finished studying opera in Rome, she returned to the Bay Area, where she and future husband Lyrics Born recorded what would go on to be Solesides’ greatest hit, a little number called “Balcony Beach.”
Having already appeared twice on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and featured on over 20 albums, including Lyrics Born’s blockbuster indie classics Later That Day (on which she performed and co-wrote 10 songs, including the ubiquitous “Callin’ Out” – featured on commercials for Diet Coke and Motorola), 2005′s Same Sh*%t Different Day, and 2008′s Everywhere at Once, 2010 finally sees Joyo step into the spotlight, with the release of her solo debut, Love and Understanding.

Take You Home by Joyo Velarde

GO!OHANA
Thursday, August 19, 2010
7:30pm
La Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA

Admission $10-$20 sliding scale, cash only (no one turned away)
Doors open at 7:00pm
Food and Drink!
Free Raffle!

Bringing you the finest and most innovative independent Pan Asian artistic talent at exciting concerts and events. Here’s some performances for the last Go! Ohana.

2010 NAAAP Convention Saturday Lunch Keynote

2010 NAAAP Convention Saturday Lunch Keynote

If you can’t make it to the 2010 NAAAP Convention, you’re in luck. The Saturday Keynote with Jenny Ming, former President of Old Navy and current CEO of Charlotte Russe is broadcasting from 12pm-1:30pm. Join in the conversation with twitter questions.

2010 NAAAP Convention Saturday Lunch Keynote – Jenny Ming

2010 NAAAP Convention Saturday Lunch Keynote – Betty Lo