Hailing from Athens, DEAD CONFEDERATE's psychedelic-meets-grunge sound created quite the buzz at this year's SXSW and Sasquatch festival with a number of well-attended shows, including a much-coveted opening slot for R.E.M.

Culture, like nature, evolves. Old ideas are made better, and become new ideas. Splits are made between schools of thought, and each side develops into something distinct from the other, even though both are the recognizable progeny of the previous generations. The growth of music over the last hundred years is perhaps one of the most notable examples of cultural evolution in action, and all the more remarkable since the existence of music is, arguably, unnecessary for the continuance of the human species.

The Northwest's premier acoustic music festival returns for its seventh year to beautiful Horning's Hideout in North Plains, Oregon, on July 18-20.  The event boasts three days of nearly all-acoustic music, culminating each night with main stage performances from musical hosts Yonder Mountain String Band, this year joined by special guest fiddler Darol Anger (David Grisman Quintet, Psychograss) and banjo/guitar virtuoso Danny Barnes (Bad Livers, Tim O'Brien Band).  Yonder

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is proud to announce large scale greening initiatives for its 2008 event, set to take place June 12-15 in Manchester, TN. Festival organizers continue to take aggressive steps toward mitigating the event's environmental impact and raising awareness about green issues.

This spring, Collin Herring's third album dropped. Its curious title, Past Life Crashing, is probably more indicative of what this talented young singer/songwriter has been about since his last release.