Hello again, hello! Summer is flyin’ by, and this wet hot American summer is not over quite yet, folks. Are you feelin’ it?? I hope so! We’re well into August and less than a couple of weeks away from the highly anticipated Adirondack Independence Music Festival (ADK)! The fest takes place in good ol’ Lake George, NY, over Labor Day weekend Aug. 30 - Sept. 1!!!!!

In the dusky haze of American music, one figure looms large like an ancient oak—gnarled, twisted, and impossibly resilient. John Lee Hooker, born on this day in 1917, cast his shadow across the blues like a man conjuring spirits, his voice and guitar a shivering invocation. Hooker wasn't merely a musician; he was a conjurer, pulling rough-hewn truths from the deep wells of the human condition.

Ah, Donna Jean Godchaux—her voice a soft ribbon threading through the air, dancing alongside the sweet chaos of the Grateful Dead’s sonic journey. Born on this day, August 22nd, she’s more than just the woman who wailed with the Dead; she’s living proof of the unexpected twists life can take when music's in the driver's seat. But let’s wind the clock back a bit before she was harmonizing in the Dead’s kaleidoscopic storm.