Born in the soul-basted countryside of Alabama, then brought to the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains to marinade and mature, Red Clay Revival delivers an experience that continues to reshape the parameters of roots music with skillful, heart-driven compositions. Bandleader and songsmith extraordinaire, Doug McElvy, lays a solid foundation at the epicenter of Red Clay’s musical magnitude.

Music festival season is just around the corner. As the big ones begin to announce their lineups, turn your phone off for a night or two and head out for a warm up: San Francisco’s Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival kicks off on February 7. In its 13th year, the non-profit SFBOT (I wish I could take credit for that acronym) boasts a handful of shows at 18 different venues over the course of 10 days.

In December of 2004 I saw Béla Fleck & the Flecktones at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester.  At that show Béla made a mention of his plans which at that time included traveling to Africa to research the roots of the banjo.  This intrigued me as I had just been to Morocco and seen banjos being played out in the square, a sight I was not expecting, and as I also have a large amount of family in Africa.

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.