It’s a winter night in Manhattan and the three members of Edison are unloading their gear in the exclusive underground stage of the infamous Rockwood Music Hall. There’s an electric excitement buzzing between them - the kind that only comes when you’re busy doing what you love. After this show they’ll load their gear back into their van, which doubles as their home, and drive through the night to be on a radio show in the morning, hundreds of miles away. It’s all part of the magic.

In a three-set, five hour night of music at the Warfield Theatre on February 25 that began with an unusual David Nelson Band performance, the current, proficient Melvin Seals and JGB turned in an fine set before giving way to special band roster, also led by monster organist Seals, but with the addition of Stu Allen on lead guitar, Oteil Burbridge on bass and 1980s-‘90s-era JGB v

The original rhythm section of the seminal Swamp Rock pioneer band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, brought to life an arsenal of classic rock and blues tunes, Thursday night, February 23 at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez. The packed Samala Showroom burst into a cacophony of light, sound, and multimedia, right on time at 8 pm. It was unusual for the show to begin on schedule, but proved to be a great surprise to the adulate fans, allowing for a full two set of 19 very classic American tunes.

How many lead guitarists does it take for one to sufficiently experience Jimi Hendrix? Well, according to the Experience Hendrix Tour that rolled through the Mondavi Center in Davis, California, on Feb. 22, the correct answer is seven. Now gone for 46 years, the music and legend of Jimi Hendrix, still recognized as among the top rock guitarists of all time, still survives and flourishes.

The stars seem to be aligning for John Craigie, a Portland-based songwriter whose stripped down and relatable songs are a refreshing dose of Americana in our saturated musical landscape. Craigie was recently picked by Jack Johnson to open for the West Coast leg of his Summer 2017 tour. This announcement comes after Johnson sat in during one of Craigie’s shows in Hawaii, and the two hit it off famously.

Sunday February 26, Julian Lage & Chris "Critter" Eldridge from The Punch Brothers performed a 90 minute duet guitar repertoire for a sold out house at Old Town School of Music, Chicago.

In the fall of 1991, the Jerry Garcia Band embarked on its first extensive Fall Tour since 1984. The previous year, Jerry Garcia had kept his band close to their West Coast home base, with San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre serving as their sanctuary. While 1990 and 1991 are widely celebrated as exceptional years for both the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band, they were marked by profound loss, including the untimely deaths of keyboardist/vocalist Brent Mydland and legendary promoter Bill Graham.

Billy Bragg stopped through Chicago as a one off concert en route home from his performance at Kansas City Folk Festival 2017. A perfect setting, Old Town School of Folk provided an intimate stage for this sold out show. Solo with only his guitars and a mic, Bragg delivers so much punch. Again proving lyrics and social commentary is not only powerful but essential, particularly in these times. 

The Brothers Comatose are one of the most exciting bluegrass outfits to emerge in the past decade, and I await each of their stellar releases with bated breath. I first encountered the band at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2015, where I stumbled across the latter portion of their set, the sound of the dueling fiddle and banjo drawing me in from across the sun-soaked fields of Golden Gate Park.

If James Brown is the Godfather of Soul, The Meters are without a doubt the Forefathers of Funk.