Rising Appalachia and Ayla Nereo are taking over the Ogden Theatre this Sunday, October 20th for a night filled with blissful folk music and serene feminine energy. Both Rising Appalachia and Ayla Nereo embody a progressive and enlightened voice that is setting standards on forward-thinking, yet impressively melodic and instrumental music, to come for generations.

Greeted at the door, we were taken to our seats right up front for this fancy evening out on the town.  City Winery has amazing food, locally sourced wine, and most importantly, excellent acoustic sound. The room is built for intimate music and cozy experiences.  Cozy is the way to politely say tight quarters. When Jimmy, John, and Kate were seated next to us, I wasn’t sure where to put my elbows.

The FreshGrass Music Festival is a festival like no other. Set in Western Massachusetts's picturesque Berkshire Mountains, along the historic Mohawk Trail (now MA Route 2), in the industrial river valley town of North Adams, Fresh Grass takes place on the vast property of The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Novato Theater Company’s second show of its 100th season is Sweeney Todd, a co-production with Theatre-at-Large. This musical thriller, opening on October 25 and running until November 17, is directed by Kim Bromley and Bruce Vieira with musical direction by Judy Wiesen and choreography and movement by Marilyn Izdebski.

The musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond.

At one point during his two-plus hour concert on a pristine evening, the last day of summer, Mark Knopfler took some time to banter with the sold-out audience at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. “I love playing here. I’ve played here many times. I have often thought about retiring in recent years,” the 70-year-old former lead guitarist and vocalist of Dire Straits shared with the Los Angeles crowd.

In the midst of their 25th anniversary year, The String Cheese Incident took a wise approach at arranging a hefty year of touring. Playing mini runs and hitting some of their storied spots without the strains of a nineteen-city summer or fall tour. For Cheese, the last few years have clarified to the band and fans something collectively; there’s nothing better than building momentum together. The era of sporadic SCI shows augmented by side projects of the member’s different directions is over.