The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund's fourth annual RIDE FOR RONNIE Motorcycle Ride and Concert, scheduled for Sunday, May 6, 2018, will feature some of today's most exciting and promising talents.

There’s a playfulness to the best old country songwriting, a kind of delight in turning a phrase, in surprising a listener. It’s a trick that Colorado Americana songwriter Jackson Emmer learned early on playing noisy bars in Aspen. Inspired equally by Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt, Emmer weaves the kind of bittersweet, barroom ballads that Nashville songwriters used to fight over in the 70s. And if he understands the subtle humor of this old style of songwriting, it’s because he’s truly a student of American roots music.

Kansas City based string band Grassfed, is set to release their new album Moovin’ Down The Road on digital streaming platforms and for purchase May 10th, and tour relentlessly throughout the country during the 2018 festival season. Building fast momentum for 2018, the up and coming band has already performed at festivals or venues in 10 states so far this year.

Carry Illinois, the indie-pop band founded and fronted by Lizzy Lehman, have announced the release of the new EP, Work in Progress, on 5/25/18. The band will celebrate the release that same day with a show at Cheer Up Charlies in their hometown of Austin, TX.