Our Story

Mixolydian Commons was founded in 2025 by a group of five friends with a simple yet powerful mission: enrich communities by fostering creativity and inclusive public spaces, supporting local artists and businesses, and connecting people through the transformative power of art.

 

Living in different neighborhoods across the Bay, we all witnessed firsthand how our own communities began to lose their local identity and feel more disconnected. It felt like there were fewer spaces or opportunities for neighbors to get together and connect, especially following the pandemic.

 

At the same time, we started to recognize the incredibly rich musical network of talented local artists across the Bay - and how many of them would try and get together, putting on local backyard shows to help support their bands and their friends. 

 

We began our journey this way too - hosting jam sessions in our co-founder Sam’s garage and shutting down the street in our co-founder Tessa’s neighborhood for bands to play on her tiny porch. 

 

And since then we’ve grown, partnering with local businesses and scaling the size of our events to reach more people and to get exposure for more artists, but all while keeping in mind the reason we started in the first place: to preserve the local community spirit and support local artists.

 

Today, Mixolydian Commons is still a small non-profit, focused on putting on as many events as we can with the help of passionate friends, volunteers and neighbors. We hope to grow to become a vibrant community of music lovers who make a tangible difference in the communities we all love across the Bay.  

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If you love music or your community (or both!), please join us. Let’s try and make the world a little brighter, together.