Why do I have to go see live music? Not like to- have to. Why are recorded concerts more frequently played in my house than their studio counterparts? How can 3 hours of human life be changed into a heavenly experience just with the addition of an impassioned performance? Rhetorical perhaps, but valid questions. If you don’t agree with me, I am not sure why you are bothering to read any further. I write about music. Music that moves me, no, transports me.

The 10,000 Lakes Festival has confirmed additional performers to the 7th annual music festival held at the Soo Pass Ranch in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota July 22 - 25. The festival, anchored by headliners Dave Matthews Band, two nights of Widespread Panic, and Wilco, has added artists such as Gomez, Mason Jennings, Todd Snider, North Indiana All Stars and many more.

Of all the members of the Grateful Dead, Billy Kreutzmann, really knew how to retire.  Hanging out in Hawaii, he showed none of the predilection for road-warrioring into the sunset like his bandmates.  Sure he'd play with the boys when they got back together for the full band gigs and after ten years on the island he started playing out more often with various old cronies, but he didn't have his name on the marquee with his band, his music, his beat.  He was always the one behind the scenes.

In the late sixties and early seventies they had Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but they didn't quite have in sound and performance what Bill Kreutzmann's power trio has today. The Grateful Dead drummer was joined on stage Saturday night at the Fox Theater with the Allman Brothers Band's Oteil Burbridge on bass and Max Creek's Scott Murawski on lead guitar.

When my sister was in high school she was a musical filter for me, as I was her younger brother and was very impressionable. Most of the music I was listening too was coming on mix tapes that artsy-fartsy, private school boys would make for her and she would subsequently hand down to me when that boy's time passed. So, as my friends were enamored with the New Kids, Tiffany and Color Me Badd.

When Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played dropped in 2005, it made history. Produced by Bob Cutarella and Fran Cathcart, it brought Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Sam Cooke, Steve Miller, and many others into the studio to play with guitar pioneer Les Paul. That recording earned two Grammys in 2006.

There was big news over the weekend!  Nearing the end of their massive US tour, the Disco Biscuits rumbled through two sold out shows last Friday and Saturday night, at the Ogden Theater in Denver, and it won’t be long before the Biscuits are back again.  The big news was the announcement of a headlining show at the most spectacular venue in the country – Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO.  For die-h

With the famous Vermont jam quartet making their triumphant return to the road this year, one can only wonder what kind of energy and style they will bring to those live performances.  Phish has always been open to reinventing themselves throughout the years, and they very well may invoke something fresh this time around.

With one Grammy nomination and two years of solo touring under his belt for 3D, his debut release on Sugar Hill Records, inventive genre-warping fiddler Casey Driessen has recorded a fascinating new CD.