The time of year has come where that childhood anxiety of change and new adventures both excites and frights us to the bone. Mother Nature tells us that it’s time to progress. After Labor Day we all start to feel it. This is the time when some of us head back to school, and this is the time when some of us start packing away our wonderful toys of summer.  We say goodbye to our wonderful wilderness festival dance companions. The end of summer draws near. Festavarians, especially us in the Midwest, know that our times together are going in a new direction.

Ahhh…the fall of 1997.  It was an interesting time for America. Bill Clinton was still fresh into his second term, Steve Jobs had just returned to managing Apple after a “hiatus”, people were flocking to the theaters to watch the Titanic sink, a woman in Iowa gave birth to seven children, internet companies were booming, and I was back at college in Minnesota for junior year studying sociology and tearing up the majestic lacrosse field at St. John’s University.

Gramatik, part of the Pretty Lights Music crew, is hitting the road again, just a short couple of weeks after his summer tour ended. He is embarking across the US in support of Bassnectar, hitting major cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Detroit, New York, and many more.

Fresh off a successful festival season, Gramatik closed out the summer with a headlining set at New York City's Webster Hall and has embarked on a fall tour with Bassnectar.

Coldplay, Beyoncé, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mumford & Sons, Plan B, Bruno Mars, REM and Fleet Foxes are just some of the superstar artists lined-up for this great release.‘Rhythms Del Mundo: Africa’ is the latest project from Artists Project Earth (APE) and features high profile western and African musicians collaborating on exclusive African mixes of contemporary hits. APE travelled to Mali to record African musicians, Toumani Diabaté, Bassekou Kouyate, Ali Farka Touré Band, and Rokia Traoré. Sessions also took place in Kenya, South Africa and Swaziland.

JAZZSTOCK will be presenting the music of Thelonious Monk in celebration of his birthday.

On the eve of their 20^th anniversary as a band, southern jam rocker’s Widespread Panic had a difficult decision to make. The decision to dismiss their new lead guitar player George McConnell was most likely a mutual one.

Live From Alabama, the first full-length live album from Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, is set for a November 20 release on Lightning Rod Records/Thirty Tigers. The live set comes on the heels of receiving the award for SONG OF THE YEAR at the 2012 Americana Music Awards & Honors for his song “Alabama Pines”. The song comes from the group’s the highly acclaimed 2011 release, Here We Rest, which received three other Americana Award nominations.

The newest studio release from Ben Sollee is now available. Half-Made Man, Sollee’s self-produced fourth studio album, was released today on Sollee’s own Tin Ear Records and distributed by Thirty Tigers.

Leftover Salmon is kicking off the start of their Fall Tour tonight at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, PA and would like to announce that Special Guest Liz Berlin of Rusted Root will be opening the show!