Alfredo Balcacer is a guitarist and educator from the Dominican Republic. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance from Utah State University and a Master's Degree in Music Performance at Western Michigan University. After coming to the United States, he has studied privately with Corey and Mike Christiansen, Fareed Haque, Tom Knific, among others. Alfredo has performed in the U.S., Brazil, Canada and the Dominican Republic, and has taught guitar privately for more than 15 years.

The most essential music is conceived by real human beings: ordinary, anonymous, often poor—people who stood up and joined together to fight injustice and institutional oppression. This is the story of Working-Class Heroes: A History of Struggle and Song, a collection of American working class, pre-World War II folk songs revived by Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore. Inspired by the legendary American songbook Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People, Callahan and Moore compiled this set of songs with renewed focus on the individuals who wrote them, and the causes they held dear.

So, I’m breaking out my camping gear - cleaning out the tent, waterproofing it, freshening up the sleeping bag.  It’s the weekend before Summer Camp Music Festival! Recently, I caught Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Twiddle on the Road to Red Rocks, and they were on fire! Twiddle is new to me. I really enjoyed the vibe going on between these two east coast bands.  They both are playing Summer Camp festival on a seemingly relentless touring schedule.

The Lil Smokies round out their SnowGhost Singles series with a cover of Tom Petty’s “Learning To Fly”, out today. Listen/Stream here.

“Some artists, even after their time to move on has come, never die,” said guitarist Matthew Rieger (Rev). “Tom Petty is certainly one of them. We hope you'll enjoy our take on one of our favorite tunes of his."

In September, Turkuaz welcomed their fifth studio effort, Life In The City, a nine-track LP inclusive of singles "Superstatic," "If I Ever Fall Asleep" and the sensational title track, "Life In The City." Given that the recording process spanned from 2016 to 2018, it comes as no surprise there are additional tracks to share from the same time period. Today, Turkuaz has announced the Afterlife EP pair, with Vol. 1 available now: