You’ve already marked your calendars- now get your tickets!!!! Wanee Festival will be April 18^th-20^th at The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in lovely Live Oak, Florida. Wanee 2013 promises to be an amazing journey into the depths of jam band virtuoso peppered with some serious flavor.

Cheer Up! Robert Randolph and the Family Band are in town! The established pedal-steel player and his band came through Colorado in October, and made sure to add a tour stop at the beautiful Boulder Theater on October 21, 2011. The band is has built quite the reputation for high-energy, danceable, uplifting concerts during their relatively short career.

There are a number of outdoor festival sites in the US that have that extra special 'something' that makes people come back year after year.  Florida has Spirit of the Suwanee Park, for example.  What usually sets a festival location apart, for me at least -- is a mix of breathtaking natural beauty, and of course -- the music.. But for me to come back year after year, it's gotta have a little something on top of that.. Something that's a little different.. Perhaps a bit comically-odd, at times. Something one can't quite verbalize.

Florida is a place unto itself, by my estimation. Like the other ‘big states’ of Texas and California, it takes on its own unique identity and presence. These states are so large, they are their own ‘region;’ and again by my estimation, include elements of all that is around them. Florida is neither just southern, nor merely coastal. Florida has elements of east coast culture, due in no small measure to the strong concentration of New York retirees, the so-called ‘snow birds.’ Florida also has significant aspects of Cuban and Mexican culture elements, as well.

Anybody hoping for last year’s incredible lineup that featured Tom Petty and Steve Winwood playing on the same day and also sharing the stage for a few tunes was bound to be disappointed with this year’s lineup. Day 1 of the Outside Lands seemed a little small for a festival, but that may have been because there were so many stages with up to five bands performing at once, sometimes in different areas of Golden Gate Park. Then again when Pearl Jam began its final set of the night.

It’s coming up on that time of year again, my favorite season, the summer outdoor concert season!  And that, among other things, means its festival time.  The floundering economy may have it’s dirty little fingers stuck in pretty much everyone’s pie, forcing more than a few festivals to close up shop this year (Langerado’s off, and Jackson Hole seems like a long shot), but rest assured Denver, the second annual Mile High Music Festival will be going strong right in our own backyards! 

Held for the first time this year at Bicentennial Park on Biscayne Bay, Langerado now calls Miami - one of the world's must cultural cities - home.  Today, festival organizers make an initial artist announcement to make the Magic City proud.  Death Cab For Cutie, Snoop Dogg, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Thievery Corporation (Live), Slightly Stoopid and Dashboard Confessional join Flogging Molly,

I woke up in Grand Teton National Park to the sounds of crazy mountain birds, and was glad not to have been eaten by bears or wolves during the night. The festival itself provides no camping but there is plenty to be found in the park and in the surrounding forests. On the drive to the festival grounds, I saw a moose, and nearly 30 people taking a picture of it. There was a lot to look forward to, and anyway I've seen moose before, so I didn't stop until I hit Teton Village.

I can't decide if it's better that I wait so long after the shows to turn in my reviews or not. This time was a bit excessive, and I won't bore you with my personal issues.

"There's nothing better than a music festival in the heartland of the country," said Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band on the festival's last day.  Even though I can think of some things that are better, there is a lot of truth to this statement.  Despite its sputtering start with heightened police threats, and at times clueless security, the third