Just over ten years ago, Cleveland musician John Panza, who has played with local bands such as Arms & Armour, Hiram-Maxim, Blaka Watra and Terrycloth Mother, and his wife Jane founded the Panza Foundation to give back to the area music scene and help local bands achieve specific goals.
Each year the Foundation makes a modest grant to a handful of bands for a project that will move their career forward: a recording session, a DIY tour, a record pressing or essential gear. You can’t apply for this grant: the Panzas and their board scour their network to find acts that need funding for a crucial next step. They’ve also been sponsors for events such as Ingenuity.
As it does every November, the Panza Foundation recently held its annual event at the Happy Dog to showcase the previous year’s grantees and announce next year’s group. On November 22, the 2025 performers took over the stage, with Wish Queen performing her wispytunes, Slugg offering aggressive, noisy electronically processed vocals, Nature Nvoke offering angular punk-infused rock, and Mr. Gnome offering the hypnotically edgy hard dream rock that’s earned them a national following.
During a break, Panza announced next year’s group: art rockers PAL, post-punks Autopolitan, dark wavers Disintegration, and eclectic rapper/vocalist Jinari Kemet. He has also announced that the foundation will again support several special events: Rustbelt Ripperfest IV, Lottery League and IngenuityFest.