The Buck Started Here: Marty Balin, the Matrix, and the Birth of the San Francisco Sound

I was wrong about the time of the panel dicussion & film. It's actually Saturday 7/19/25 @ 2 - 6 PM

Join us for a special event tomorrow 7/19/25 from 2 to 6 p.m., featuring seven musicians who played the Matrix, followed by the premiere of a film made of footage Marty Balin shot between 1968 and 1970.

The program will begin with a “Matrix Musicians” panel moderated by music journalist Joel Selvin. Panelists will include Peter Albin and Dave Getz of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Lester Chambers of the Chambers Brothers, George Hunter and Richard Olsen of the Charlatans, and Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish. Also joining the panel via Zoom will be Steve Miller, whose first paying gig in San Francisco was playing bass for Lightnin’ Hopkins at the Matrix.

After the panel, which will include time for questions from the audience, the lights will dim for “In the Mansion,” an hour-plus film directed by Marty Balin, compiled from video he shot in Jefferson Airplane’s mansion at 2400 Fulton Street, as well as a few other locations in and around San Francisco. This will be the first public screening of “In the Mansion,” which captures a unique moment in San Francisco rock history.