No single thing makes a festival the “best festival ever.” Sure, one great band can make it really good. Or maybe the campground scene was where it was at. But it’s really when you group those moments with the ones of unbearable laughter, silly dancing, and inspirational people that a festival becomes the “best ever.” And you know what? The Northwest String Summit consistently brings the best.

Great American Taxi and Vince Herman have decided it is in the best interest of the band and everyone involved to part ways starting in 2014.  Vince recently moved to Oregon to settle down and spend more time on his farm, and his other band, Leftover Salmon, have become very active again absorbing much of Herman's time.  Great American Taxi has wanted to play more and follow up on the success of their last two albums, which landed them in the top 10

Well, it wouldn’t be NedFest without a little rain and a lotta Vince Herman. As the first hopeful few sauntered on to the grounds last Friday, we dared the sky to open up wider and keep pouring down on us. It hadn’t stopped us Nedestrians before (we’re no fair-weather fans) and it certainly was not going to now that Whitewater Ramble, leaving tradition behind, plugged in and opened up the weekend with some lively tunes.

Festivaaal! Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass giants, Leftover Salmon brought the sauce to Fort Collins’ Aggie Theater this April.

Shannon McNally is stomping her boots on the stage of the Fox Theatre as good as any other night crawler out there as she growls into the microphone like an early rocakbilly queen.

As Tim O’Brien and Friends kicked off the final set of RockyGrass 2012, I planted my feet a couple of yards behind the elevated stage. The canopy of treetops overhead, awash in color from the stage lights, absorbed a light drizzle. To my right, the deity of all double bassists, Edgar Meyer, calmly warmed up next to the main stage staircase.

The first thing a salmon does from birth is establish its home.

Many different bands could be sited as having created the Boulder music sound. Since the 1970s and even before, Boulder has been an outlet for “freaks” everywhere to unite and be free in artistic creation and expression. Along with having a large population of young people from University of Colorado’s Boulder campus, the spirit of the town itself has always been young, wild, and free. Of all the artistic mediums, Boulder’s live music scene and support has always seemed strongest.

Having lived and worked in Boulder, CO for almost 20 years now, I can’t help but reminisce about how my life has changed since I first moved here from the East Coast in 1992. In July of 2012 I will have officially lived here longer than where I grew up.