As we drove into this year's 10KLF at about 1:30 in the afternoon, I thought we'd have to wait to get into our campground. We'd even gotten some subs to tide us over while we waited. Instead, we were the first car at the gate at that moment in time, no line, and not many people in the field at the entrance. We noticed that the Viking and Blue Ox campgrounds were empty.

One of the interesting twists to this year's 10,000 Lakes Festival is the inclusion of two new bands with some screeching metal influences. One is Dub Trio out of Brooklyn, bringing hip-hop and hard core with a peaceful message, and the other is The Hue, out of Chicago.

Musical siblings, the Wood Brothers, will be returning to the 10,000 Lakes Festival this year, touting their latest CD, Loaded.  Two years ago, in 90+ heat, festival fans packed the Barn Stage to see this  mix of southern backroads and big city boulevards.

FENNARIO – SONGS BY JERRY GARCIA & ROBERT HUNTER (out August 19 on Iris Records), an album  that pays tribute to the Grateful Dead's principal songwriters.  Joseph previously released a critically acclaimed American music album and also has written album tracks for friend and fan Bonnie Raitt.

At the All Good Music Festival held this past weekend in Masontown WV, the motto by which attendees live by is also the name.  How convenient.  Despite the mantra that anything goes, the festival has been noted as one of the better organized, least problematic, and most entertaining of the summer.

Amanda Bell was covering the Rothbury Festival on behalf of the Grateful Web.  Her pictures are starting to roll in.  Right now we have Thursday

Grateful Web was again on-hand today at the Mile High Festival, just outside of Denver, Colorado. Check out photos & video clips from today's bands and festival-goers.  We'll have a lot more

Whenever any loosely-based bluegrassy band comes to Chicago, Cornmeal is always called upon to make the touring band feel welcome, usually by whipping up the audience into a frenzy before they take the stage. They've shared a bill with Yonder Mountain String Band, Blueground Undergrass, and the wildly innovative and popular band, Railroad Earth.

One of the most unusual acts at this year's 10,000 Lakes Festival is Minneapolis artist, Heatbox.   Aaron Heaton, performing as Heatbox for the past five years, has created a one-man show that has to be seen to be believed. He's not a comedian, and he's not a singer or a rapper, though there is some of that in his show.  He definitely is not a musician, and he's the first to admit that.

Merging American rock with African benga music from Kenya is a bold mix, but Extra Golden has the daring and the chops to do it. Ian Eagleson (guitar) had been studying African music since 1995, traveling as often as he could to Kenya to document traditional popular music played by the masters of the craft. When Eagleson got a visa to live and conduct his research on his Ph.D.