Sparks will fly Fourth of July weekend at The Caverns when a new bluegrass festival emerges from Payne’s Cove featuring a cavalcade of award-winning bluegrass artists. On July 1 & 2, 2023, The Caverns presents the inaugural Big Mouth Bluegrass Festival.

Sometimes, inspiration strikes in the strangest of places. According to three-time Juno Award nominee Del Barber, his new tune, “Still Got You,” flashed before his eyes while he was taking a leak outside one night on his little farm in western Manitoba. “The stars looked like they were crammed in the sky like sardines, the wolves were howling, cows were bawling,” Barber remembers. “I had my dog Fischer next to me.

 “It’s exciting to work with talented people outside the strict structure of a band,” says bassist/singer James Searl of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad (GPGDS). That statement rang true during the creation of their diverse new album Love In Time, which comes out April 7th via Easy Star Records. Influenced by the need for more social and personal connection during the pandemic, GPGDS wanted to lean into the “squad” in their name by working and collaborating with artists outside of their tight knit circle.

Three-time Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Joe Henry has just released his latest work All The Eye Can See. Henry, who also took upon the role as producer, recorded his most personal album to-date in the comfort of his home. A video of the artist performing the song “Karen Dalton” at his home studio gives an insight of this process. It premieres today at 16.00 CET / 12.00 pm ET / 09.00 am PT on the earMUSIC YouTube channel.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has just released the groundbreaking new album Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia that represents the first full length representation of the West African ekonting. Considered the key ancestor of the American banjo, the ekonting is alive and well in West Africa, telling the stories of the artists who love it today. And yet it still exhibits some of the same or similar playing techniques as the American banjo, separated by centuries and some of the worst history in the world.

Dub Pistols, the multi-cultural collective founded by Barry Ashworth, has involved dozens of artists and musicians over the years. Since releasing their 1998 breakthrough album Point Blank, the Dub Pistols sound has accordingly morphed a variety of times, taking in dub, punk, jungle, ska, breakbeat, hip-hop and a whole lot more...it’s been a long road traveled.