The end of summer is near and what better way to say goodbye to lazy days and ridiculous tan lines than at the 5^th Annual North Coast Music Festival.  Bringing a melting pot of artists to the city of Chicago to play one last summer set, North Coast Music Festival is a splendid way to get your groove on while sweating your butt off in the late August sun.  Artists this year include Snoop Dogg (I thought it was Snoop Lion…eh… po-tay-to, po-tot-to), Washed Out, Future Islands, STS9, Bassnectar, Talib Kweli, Little Dragon, Slightly Stoopid and Dr.

This year’s Rhythms on the Rio opened with a bang. It’s hard to judge numbers but the campground seemed fuller and the dance area most certainly was as packed as last year’s Saturday night, with some folks who had never been to this little festival appearing by the recommendation of friends. That’s always good to see.

What a glorious day yesterday was! The second day of Rhythms on the Rio 2014 was jam-packed with musical goodness in the rarified air of the southern Colorado Rockies.

Starting of the yesterday’s slate of artists was Ashley Raines, the winner of this summer’s singer/songwriter contest. Raines offered originals that ranged from bluesy tunes to more Americana fare, warming up the audience for what was to come.

The sensational and sustainable 11^th annual Hoxeyville Music Festival will take place this weekend, August 15^th-17^th, 2014.  This year’s Hoxeyville is a return to the humble reminder of the home team for free flowing verse and truth among the northern Michigan forest trees and Pine River.  After 10 years on, the festival organizers took off a year to reflect and re-gather the fest’s mission and values.  They have returned for 2014 with a refined mind and a refreshed line-up.  Gra

Although the Midwest festival season grows closer to an inevitable end, there are still a plethora of different festivals waiting for their moment to shine. Next weekend, festivalgoers will descend upon the beautiful rolling hills of Northwestern Wisconsin for the third annual Summer Set Music Festival held in Somerset, WI.

With the final lineup announced and the secret guests unveiled, the annual YarmonyGrass is ready to roll this weekend, August 15-17.

The FREE 1st annual Shakedown Street Festival honors the Grateful Dead and 50 years of music that has never stopped.

YarmonyGrass is excited to announce the addition of Shockenaw Mountain Boys featuring members of Railroad Earth including Tim Carbone, John Skehan, Andy Goessling and Johnny Grubb plus Allie Kral as they’re the group known as ‘Secret Special Guests.’ No longer!

San Francisco’s biggest music festival is set to take over Golden Gate Park for its seventh year next week. This year Outside Lands sold out in record time, within just hours of single day passes going on sale.

The Newport Folk Festival may not be a monster fest on the order of a Bonnaroo or a Coachella, but it has rejuvenated itself over the last half dozen years into a premier summer stop for a broad range of alternative, indie, country-rock and folk acts. Much of the rejuvenation has been the result of a conscious decision by festival organizers to loosen the definition of “folk” to include a much wider swath of bands – really anybody who could plausibly include an acoustic guitar at least somewhere in their set list.