Unlike the Martha White “self-rising” flour, it takes more than one ingredient, or individual, to lift the spirits of communities affected by natural disasters. On a brisk night in Boulder, Hot Rize brought together a closely linked ensemble of local musicians to do just that. Recognized as a bluegrass-haven, Boulder County hosts an array of talented musicians.

Thousands of eager fans packed through the doors of the legendary First Avenue Nightclub on a blistering cold October night to see a semi-rare Minneapolis performance from the one and only Yonder Mountain String Band. On a seemingly endless winter tour, the band was supporting the release of their newest album YMSB EP 13’, which features four unique tracks each individually written by one member of the band.

Some venues seem to fit the mood of a concert or the concert goers perfectly. The Hi-Dive in Denver is one of these places, with dim colored lights and walls plastered with retro pop art concert posters for the numerous upcoming bands that will be playing there scattered about the various odd knick nacks it screams this is a place to be for anyone who wants to hear indie music in Denver.

The psychedelic rock throw back band from Australia finally found their way back to Boulder to play at the last small venue that they’ll probably fit in. The next time they come to Colorado, I am predicting that it will be at the Fillmore, Red Rocks, or dare I say the Pepsi Center. As soon as the masses catch on to this modern day Beatles flair, it will be exponential growth for the aesthetic band out of Perth.

Most of Fayetteville, AR loves any reason to go out and get down. What’s one of the best reasons to hit the town? Halloween, of course! With shrouded faces and awesome costumes, fans of PANTyRAiD (and partying in general) filled George’s Majestic Lounge to the brim.

Just a week ago, Carlos Burle captured the world record for largest wave surfed. Off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, the Brazilian dropped into the face of an estimated 100-foot monster and, roughly 20 seconds later, entered the record books with the ride of his life. I am overwhelmed with joy when I listen to a band hit the groove so hard during a jam, it seems like the musicians are riding their own 100-foot wave. Picture Phish’s Ghost from Prague ‘98 or SCI’s Little Hands from Philly ’00.

I’ll keep this one short and sweet, let y’all enjoy the record for yourselves—and it’s a tight one, trust me.First, though, a little background’s in order for anyone new to our man behind the Rebel Era LP. GRiZ (alias of producer, DJ, and—yes—classically-trained saxophonist Grant Kwiecinski) is a young buck at twenty-three, but his sound is already somethin’ else.

So what does a Racoon Wedding sound like, exactly? Something akin to Kings of Leon circa Aha Shake Heartbreak if the boys went on a bender in Nawlins and never quite lost the itch they caught down in the Big Easy.Raccoon Dead On the Side of the Road was strictly an in-house effort—well, in warehouse, really—the Canadian sextuplet recorded this album over five days in an old Paris (Ontario) flop, and multi-instrumentalist band member Scott Wilson mastered the tracks.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this one—on the one hand, Passage of Pegasus is a tidy little dream pop album with tight instrumentals and a light concept; on the other... no, I just don’t know. A short anecdote:Once upon a time, I found myself on a late night adventure deep down the Interweb rabbit hole when I came across a series of videos by one Professor Soap (by his own account, he makes “music, art, and happiness” for the uninitiated—present company very much included until then).

After the grand way the band has been performing the last few years, we can sometimes forget how much Phish used to dominate the 90s live music scene.  By the winter of 1995 the band was still performing slightly under the radar and these four musical wizards were summoning magic on-stage nightly.  The band is currently in the midst of an excellent fall tour, and with another winter looming has offered up an archival release from that distinguished period, this being from their December 7th 1995 show at the Niagara Falls Convention Center