All in the name of Music Heals International’s core mission to expand residents’ ability to make music in Haiti, Lukas Nelson headlined a humdinger of a benefit inside the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California on November 21.

It's an understatement to say improvisational guitar icon Steve Kimock has been keeping busy. He’s approaching an East Coast tour with his newest band KIMOCK featuring his son John Morgan Kimock on drums and frequent collaborator Leslie Mendelson on guitar and vocals.  He just wrapped up a successful yet unprecedented mini-tour of Japan.

The decline of 1970's Grateful Dead piano player Keith Godchaux was sad but not entirely unexpected. The hardships of the never-ending grueling tour and travel schedule (that had always been for The Dead) had taken its toll on Keith and his wife Donna Jean Godchaux, a talented Muscle Sholes-alum vocalist. It was Donna who introduced Keith to Jerry Garcia in 1971 after a Dead show they had attended.

This Thursday at Sweetwater Music Hall. Spring back to May 19th, 1974, Portland Memorial Coliseum with CRYPTICAL & Special Guests##

Boy, oh boy – if you ever wanted to hear a huge, heaping helping - 32 songs - of some of the best live Grateful Dead music to come out of the 70’s, *THIS* is the show!

There will be a raffle for the Rex Foundation and a Shakedown Street Bazaar with some amazing art & merchandise.

Get Tickets Here: http://bit.ly/celebrate_5_19_74

Led by the Tim Bluhm’s caramel smooth baritone vocals, a unique bunch of renowned San Francisco Bay area-based players got together on May 11 to deliver a musical tribute to the recently fallen Merle Haggard. The show took place at the intimate Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California.

Steve Kimock’s imaginative guitar and improvisational prowess continues to evolve. For over forty years he’s crafted boundless music that captivates and expands consciousness. His compositions are distinct in melody and temperament, while his approach will undoubtedly modify as every tune develops, as its own singular organism at any given performance. He began his professional career in the early 1980s as co-founder of the cherished Bay Area band Zero.

Few acts have served as large of a spectrum of music as New Riders of the Purple Sage. These psychedelic country-rock titans have been performing for nearly forty-five years with original members David Nelson (guitar, vocals) and Buddy Cage (pedal steel guitar) keeping the flame burning strong. The group began in 1970 when Jerry Garcia was transitioning the Grateful Dead into country and folk territory. Like most instruments he put his mind to, he took to the pedal steel guitar miraculously quick.

Iconic guitarist and composer Steve Kimock is a fixture in many different contexts. It’s hard to think of a musician who’s more adaptable and melodically resourceful. While his style gets unfairly lumped into the jam category, those more knowledgeable know better. It’s best to regard him as a purveyor of free music. Jerry Garcia admired his work immensely and proclaimed Kimock his favorite under-the-radar guitarist.

In a recent conversation we had, guitarist Leo Nocentelli laid down why music from New Orleans was so distinct.

“There are only a few cities that have a reputation of having a sound… [New Orleans] is a unique city that has its own identity. When a New Orleans record hits the radio, you know where it’s from. Being identified as an individual rather than sounding like anybody.”