After setting out on a drive that became a near-endless journey traversing across the thick and thin of Middle America, Caroline Rose returned back east with books full of stories and poems that would become the songs of America Religious, a record that delves neck-deep in topics most people wouldn’t dare to discuss at the dinner table.

Hard Drivin’ Carolina String Band, Town Mountain, is touring with their fourth album, Leave the Bottle [Pinecastle 2012]. Based in Asheville, NC, Town Mountain is Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, and Jake Hopping on upright bass.Want to know what it is like to be on the road with Town Mountain? Arthur Hancock writes about his experience traveling with the band on The Bluegrass Situation.

Genre-blurring instrumental interpreters will put their stamp on ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival in 2013.Jason Pierce aka J. Spaceman has fronted the rapturous British indie rock band Spiritualized for over 20 years. In 2006, his first solo album, Guitar Loops, arrived, and since then, his life has been filled to the brim with near-death experiences, parenthood, a soundtrack for the Harmony Korine flick Mister Lonely, and collaborations with Dr. John, Primal Scream, and Yoko Ono.

Join us early for a talk with Colin and Rod of The Zombies moderated by director Jonathan Demme and stick around for a full length show with The Zombies, Django Django and Adam Green and Binki Shapiro.

The Waterboys will visit North America twice — once in the summer and again in the fall — with current album An Appointment With Mr. Yeats in hand. The band will tour five Canadian cities (Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, St. John’s and Halifax) July 12-21 with a stop at Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Celebrate Brooklyn festival. They will return September 19 through October 29th to play more than 20 cities throughout the U.S.

The 47th Annual Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival begins this Saturday, June 8 and continues through June 15 at the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Music Park & Campground in Bean Blossom (Brown County), Indiana. The 8-day event includes a stellar line-up of over 55 bluegrass bands, Youth Bluegrass Boot Camp, instrument and vocal workshops, jam sessions, camping, food, vendors, and so much more.