North Carolina duo Beta Radio is proud to announce their sixth studio album Waiting for the End to Come due out on July 19th. After over a decade as bandmates and close friends, Ben Mabry and Brent Holloman broke the mold when they went to Nashville to record their upcoming release. For the first time in their careers, they opened up their process to the outside world, working with new songwriters, and the result was something magical. “Halfway in a Dream” is the latest look into Beta Radio’s new era.

A live recording of a concert can preserve one powerful moment indelibly in time. Coming June 14, 2024, Smithsonian Folkways will release The Complete Friends of Old-Time Music Concert by Bessie Jones, John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers with Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ed Young, presenting a riveting, historic look at the intersection of Black folk traditions and civil rights activism.

Welcome To Rockville is officially the biggest rock festival in North America, hosting more than 200,000 people and 150 bands on 5 stages for the first time. This year, Rockville also broke records to become the largest event for festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents. Looking ahead, the May 2025 festival dates at Daytona International Speedway will be announced soon.

The debate over AI-generated vocals continued this week with an exclusive Variety feature article by executive music editor Jem Aswad reporting on a still-growing list of celebrated musicians uniting with Mollie Marriott, daughter of the late Steve Marriott, in objection to plans by the Marriott Estate to release “new” recordings from the legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singer created with AI-powered technology.

As preparations are underway for another busy concert season at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, WA, unreleased footage from the widely acclaimed documentary film, ENORMOUS: THE GORGE STORY — featuring Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Lake Street Dive, Shakey Graves, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Steve Miller and others — has been released, finding acts creating comedic viewpoints on how the topography of The Gorge could have been formed.