For over 40 years, the annual three-day music festival in Southern California, Huck Finn Jubilee, delivered acts from a long list of luminaries such as Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, Del McCoury, Punch Brothers, Rhonda Vincent, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Emmylou Harris, Peter Rowan, and more. After a one-year hiatus, the festival will return to Ontario, CA on October 5, 6, and 7 in 2018 under new owners Nikki and Roger.

In this retrospective episode of The Light Side, legendary Grateful Dead lighting designer Candace Brightman discusses her 40+ year career lighting live music and explains her design process through four decades of technological evolution. She also reflects on being a woman in a male dominated industry and the role psychedelics played in her career.

Nashville’s Brandy Zdan has released “Get to You” the second single from her forthcoming album Secretear out May 11 on Tallest Man Records. The first single” I Want Your Trouble” released in March has garnered Zdan comparisons to female rockers who write big hooks like Chrissie Hynde and the GoGo’s.

The Texas songwriter tradition casts a long shadow today, and Austin-based Americana roots juggernauts Wood & Wire can easily rattle off a list of songwriters that inspire them, from Willie Nelson to James McMurtry and everyone in between. But ask them about what it is about Texas that brought us so many great songwriters, and they stop cold. That’s because they don’t romanticize Texas’ culture or its past; they’re too busy working their asses off making new music, writing new songs.

The second annual Skull and Roses Festival brought Deadheads from all over California, to the Ventura Fairgrounds, for three days of music inspired by The Grateful Dead. The campground area was nearly full by the time the music started early on Friday afternoon, April 6th. Festival publicist Dennis McNally, who was the publicist for the Grateful Dead from 1984-95 choose the spot because of its significance in the history of the Dead.

The Kris Lager Band has been zigzagging the country and spreading their brand of feel-good funk and heavy soul for more than 15 years. A genuine musical journeyman, Lager is that rare, dynamic performer who delivers a combination of musical skill and charisma. He creates a fun and interactive show laced with road-tested songs and contagious grooves that inspire fans to dance, clap and sing along.