Not a day sooner could Piers Faccini have penned the 10 songs featured on his latest full-length studio recording, I Dreamed An Island (Six Degrees Records; October 21, 2016). Writing in real time as history unfolds and observing the troubled world in which we live, the British songwriter living in southern France responds with a heartfelt conviction.

World-renowned singer/songwriter/entertainer Dolly Parton has a worldwide #1 album to celebrate this week. The superstar’s new release "Arial",sans-serif">Pure & Simple debuts at #1 not only in the U.S., but, also on the national country charts in Canada, U.K. and Australia.

During the hot, humid days at Homegrown Music Festival along the Mulberry River in Arkansas, Grateful Web got the extreme pleasure of chilling out on the river for an interview with banjo duo The Lowest Pair. Palmer Lee recited a poem, Kendl Winter spoke about her creativity style, and we discussed their inspirations and collaboration styles.

Music and brews will integrate with the mountains of Steamboat Springs to deliver an authentic Colorado gathering celebrating bluegrass and craft beer. The 5th year festival was born in Edwards, Colorado, moved into Avon in 2014 and expanded to Squaw Valley, California, creating WinterWonderGrass Tahoe.  The festival has now found the ideal Colorado location in Steamboat, Ski Town, U.S.A.®.  Steamboat Springs has welcomed WinterWonderGrass as a natural addition to the town’s rich western history and close-knit community.

Hookahville returns home to Frontier Ranch in Pataskala, Ohio, located just outside of Columbus. There the rolling hills and woods provide the perfect setting for camping, music, and fun for hundreds of music lovers and their families over the holiday weekend. This will be the bands last performance at Frontier Ranch due to a pending sale of the real estate.

Wilco shares a new song today called “Someone To Lose” from the forthcoming album Schmilco. The song is streaming now at Wilcoworld.net and is available as a free download to anyone who pre-orders Schmilco before its official September 9 release.
 

New band ZAP has released a digital single called “Air Traffic Control” on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. The band is made up of Emmy-nominated composer Sean McKee, who is also collaborating with Jon Anderson from YES on a concept album project, Ike Willis, the voice on numerous Frank Zappa albums, and Grammy-nominated bassist Chip Z'Nuff (Enuff Z'Nuff, Missing Persons, Adler's Appetite).

Saturday at Lockn’ was a beautiful sigh between Phish’s weekend bracketing headlining sets.  And the sigh is this: the scene is in a great place now. With the music of the Grateful Dead as a sustaining anchor, jam, electronic music, Americana, and Indie bands are forging a great new collective chapter in authentic, improvised American music.

The last day of Rhythms on the Rio began as Day Two did with a free yoga class from the good folks at YogaDurango. This festival inaugurated yoga last year as a special addition to the line up of great music, good food and brews, and the awe-inspiring Colorado landscape. After yoga, the festival had an open stage, also on days two and three for children’s performances. These were local kids who were part of the music program that Rhythms on the Rio sponsors.