Never before had an audience seemed so intrigued by set break music than at GD50, when Circles Around the Sun began streaming through the sound system.  The album, titled Interludes for the Dead, was a piece of music created specifically for that very occasion, the once in a lifetime reunion of the remaining members of the Grateful Dead.

I had the treat to head to Chicago from my northern Indiana home and catch the good ol’ Grateful Dead at Wrigley Field on July 1, 2017. I shouldn't say it was the Grateful Dead, though, as this entity, called Dead and Company, is a very different animal, containing three original members of the Dead (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart) along with three other, quite accomplished musicians (John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti).

The Grateful Dead brings people together. It’s bigger than the music; it’s the experience that the music creates. And once you get into it, you’re not getting out of it.

It’s peculiar to think about, but the album, as we know, it is dying off. The single already takes precedent, for those bands that are looking to reach the widest number of listens on the pop charts. The major upside to the current state of the music business is that the live concert experience has taken precedent as the best way to make it as a musician. One of the most admirable acts out there right now, gaining the adoration of loyal fans while releasing quality albums, is progressive grass sextet the Infamous Stringdusters.

River Edge Park in Aurora, IL hosted a beautiful evening of Dark Star Orchestra on 6/24 ‘17.  While Chicagoland eagerly awaits the upcoming Dead & Co shows at Wrigley Field next weekend, a metro train ride out to the burbs provided 1500 guests a way to chill out by the mighty Fox River.  It was a grateful evening of sentimental tunes played out with perfect 70-degree weather. 

Any event surrounding the Star Wars legacy is sure to be an intergalactic extravaganza. If one combines that with the power of the forward thinking Colorado Symphony, they are left with a sonic experience that is truly out of this world. This symphony has been hot as of late. Within the last few years, they have expanded their reach in the music world. They have collaborated with acts such as the Flaming Lips, Jethro Tull, Warren Haynes playing the music of Jerry Garcia, as well as the music of the late Michael Jackson and John Denver.

While many acts from the progressive rock era of the 1970s still perform, none play with the precision, conviction, and authority of King Crimson. A Bold statement you say? Without bringing other specific acts into a debate, it all boils down to the devotion and continued creative drive of founding visionary Robert Fripp.

When The Babys recorded ‘Every Time I Think of You,' the lead single off 1978’s Head First, it struck a genuinely passionate chord. The band would go on to enjoy Top 40 fame with ‘Back on My Feet Again.' The Babys, an air-tight group with an alluring sound, boasted a silky-voiced, Lancaster-born vocalist with ginger hair. A star was born.    

On a daunting overcast day at one of the nation’s most beautiful venues, nothing could put a cloud on the positivity that radiates from all angles of the band that calls themselves Elephant Revival. And in true form, they invited many friends as guests to play along with them on this evening at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The stage was ornate, and had evidence of aerial cloths and a drum circle formed in the top middle of the stage.

While Cycles has had a couple EP’s available on Spotify to listen to, they had still yet to record a debut album in the studio, until last week when they released their new album “Vacation”.  Over the course of the past couple of years the band has been together, they have created an extremely large amount of material that would leave one wondering; which songs would make the cut for the new album, and how they would sound in the studio compared to the live setting that many fans around the country have gotten used to.  For those o