The second annual Skull and Roses Festival brought Deadheads from all over California, to the Ventura Fairgrounds, for three days of music inspired by The Grateful Dead. The campground area was nearly full by the time the music started early on Friday afternoon, April 6th. Festival publicist Dennis McNally, who was the publicist for the Grateful Dead from 1984-95 choose the spot because of its significance in the history of the Dead.

ALO on February 23 delivered a wondrous two-set performance in Sacramento that was an excellent representation of how the jammy, jazzy, funky, poppy, electronica four-piece displays its lively endeavors of excellence. Such musical escapades, in turn, visibly pleased the audience, many of whom were “on the bus” for many gigs the band’s 12th annual Tour d’Amour, which always runs before and after Valentine’s Day. Singer-songwriter John Craigie opened the show.

Just a couple of weeks into 2018, Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, California, hosted its first House Party of the year with legendary proprietor Phil Lesh and his Terrapin Family Band performing three sets, each with its own guest guitarist, in the intimate bar/restaurant.

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.