The Infamous Stringdusters put the spurs to their spring tour with a fret-blazing, shape-shifting show featuring special guest Keller Williams at Eugene’s McDonald Theatre (March 5^th).   The ‘Dusters delivered a convincing account of their distinctive “high country” sound while Williams complimented nicely, both with an impressive opening set and later, playing alongside the headliners.  The pairing made for an entertaining combination of Nashville polish and free-spirited, festival charm.

Our society has developed a Chicken Little mentality that leaves lots of folks either glued to their cell phone or computer while waiting for a miracle or cringing that the good old days are gone.

Five years in, The Festy Experience, has proven itself to be as enjoyable, accessible and certain to give attendees more than their money’s worth both musically and scenically as any festival on the East Coast.  You do not have to load up a week’s worth of supplies and go all the way to Florida.  You do not have to pray and dodge 18 wheelers buzzing by at 85 miles per hour nor endure hour’s long traffic jams on your way up and down hundreds of miles of interstate l- 95.  The Festy is conveniently located about an hour so

The 2^nd annual ARISE Music Festival was full of magic, wonder, music, acrobats, dancers, poets, and artists of all kinds just as it was last year during its debut. After reviewing the pre-party in Boulder and attending the open house on site, I knew that the creators and help of this amazing festival would come together once again to produce a loving, creative, and musical environment, which would provide endless delight for everyone involved.

Every summer music festival season brings a slew of new concepts and destinations for “festivarians” to pick and choose from. You have to marvel at the fact that so many continue to thrive year after year considering the number of options that are out there. In Colorado alone, thousands of tourists from everywhere come to enjoy countless summer music festival options. Maybe you made it to Rockygrass in July and rejoiced in the revival of a flood-ravaged site miraculously sprung back to life with true roots community effort.

Nice Spring weather. Check. Tucked away in the scenic foothills of Virginia. Check. Easily accessible. Check. Polite and accommodating staff and police. Check. Well laid out stages and concessions. Check. Lightning bugs and even the tail end of a meteor shower. Check. Festival go-er friendly priced tickets. Check. Wide variety of talented performers. Check. The Infamous Stringdusters. Check. Anders Osborne. Check.

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.

Crowd-pleasing has never been any sort of issue for the Virginia Born prog-grass quintet Infamous Stringdusters. Every crowd seems simply enamored with their boisterous stage presence, aggressively cunning musicianship, and true accessibility. The Dusters use most tour dates as a catalyst to interact with fans through various environmentally geared cleanup projects. They’re wholesome yet mysterious. They’re seemingly traditional but stylistically inexplicable.

The 13th Annual Northwest String Summit (NWSS) returns to Horning's Hideout (North Plains, OR) with the finest acoustic pickers and standout electric bands from July 17 - 21, 2014. Located just 20 miles outside of Portland, OR, Horning's Hideout stands as one of the most scenic festival sites in the country; NWSS is the only music offering this year taking place at Horning's Hideout.

On an icy, cold night in Fayetteville, AR I traveled (safely and slowly) to George’s Majestic Lounge for an epic evening with The Infamous Stringdusters. They’ve played a couple times on Mulberry Mountain but never in Fayetteville so it was a treat for us. Unfortunately, the show was scheduled on a day that fell just after our area had been covered by ice and snow.