Don’t let the sadness and down-on-their-luck characters on Pedigo’s Magic Pilsner fool you. The new release from Dallas singer/songwriter John Pedigo, one half of folk-rock duo The O’s, also radiates plenty of hope, joy and exuberant defiance in the face of loss. Pedigo’s father was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, and Pedigo set out to make and record some songs that would, in their own way, honor and entertain his dad.

Anyone acquainted with jazz history and obscure LPs will be familiar with the jazz-funk movement, a glorious time for music in the late 70s that produced a set of records that are today considered gold dust. Sadly, it seems to have given way to plastic, artificial fusion music sometime in the 80s. Yet, this winter, Miami-based instrumentalist Randy McGill releases Eclectic, an EP endowed with all the inimitable energy and creativity of that special period.

Healed up and ready to propel their unique rock ‘n’ jamming “California Soul” sound into the future, The Mother Hips launched a two-night stand at Harlow’s in Sacramento in high fashion on December 29. With some new band personnel added to the mix, founding members Tim Bluhm, Greg Loiacono, and long-time drummer John Hofer fired on all cylinders over 20 songs to the appreciation of the enthusiastic 400-plus folks in the sold-out club, many of them self-professed loyal, long-time Mother Hips fans.

Timothy James has been carting recording gear all over the world for the last 18 months. The NYC-based guitarist has been on tour with the afrobeat stalwarts Antibalas, and with the road life comes some down time in hotel rooms.

Coming from the coastal hills of Northern California, Ismay is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter drawing inspiration from the natural landscape of the American West. With an ear for an old-time aesthetic and artistry of indie folk, Ismay blends inventive songwriting, ethereal vocals, and dynamic fingerpicking on the guitar. When she is not traveling the western states on horseback, Ismay can be found working on her ranch, collecting the sounds and stories of rural California.

The Whistles & the Bells – alt-rock moniker of acclaimed singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Bryan Simpson – has revealed a “dark but beautifully poetic” new single, “Ode To Yeezus / Ultralight Beam,” which EARMILK is premiering today.

A genuine musical journeyman, Kris Lager brings his feel good music through the front range of Colorado.  Starting on Thursday, Jan. 11th in Fort Collins followed by Boulder on the 12th, Keystone on the 13th, Winter Park on the 14th, and finally Denver on the 15th.

Two progressive bluegrass titans shared a co-billing last weekend at The UC Theatre in Berkeley, California. Infamous Stringdusters hosted a diverse two-night run beginning last Thursday with Keller Williams and Grateful Gospel. Fans that evening were treated to an array of Grateful Dead classics augmented by a joint group of Keller and the Dusters.

Skull and Roses is a celebration of community, a community generated by the music of the Grateful Dead.  Our music.

Somebody asked Uncle John what being a Dead Head was all about.  He smiled and said, “When you want to be fully alive, an individual but also tied at the heart within a rich, vibrant family, somebody who wants to have a lot of fun and probably dance, too – then you’re a Dead Head.”

In Songdog Blues, Billy Jeter delivers a gospel chorus of southern planters, field hands, urban drifters, environmentalists, lovers and dreamers, all wrapped up in the driving heartbeat of a blues rocker. This is a music that celebrates its place, rooted in the lives of the people who live there.