The original rhythm section of the seminal Swamp Rock pioneer band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, brought to life an arsenal of classic rock and blues tunes, Thursday night, February 23 at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez. The packed Samala Showroom burst into a cacophony of light, sound, and multimedia, right on time at 8 pm. It was unusual for the show to begin on schedule, but proved to be a great surprise to the adulate fans, allowing for a full two set of 19 very classic American tunes.

How many lead guitarists does it take for one to sufficiently experience Jimi Hendrix? Well, according to the Experience Hendrix Tour that rolled through the Mondavi Center in Davis, California, on Feb. 22, the correct answer is seven. Now gone for 46 years, the music and legend of Jimi Hendrix, still recognized as among the top rock guitarists of all time, still survives and flourishes.

The stars seem to be aligning for John Craigie, a Portland-based songwriter whose stripped down and relatable songs are a refreshing dose of Americana in our saturated musical landscape. Craigie was recently picked by Jack Johnson to open for the West Coast leg of his Summer 2017 tour. This announcement comes after Johnson sat in during one of Craigie’s shows in Hawaii, and the two hit it off famously.

Sunday February 26, Julian Lage & Chris "Critter" Eldridge from The Punch Brothers performed a 90 minute duet guitar repertoire for a sold out house at Old Town School of Music, Chicago.

In the fall of 1991, the Jerry Garcia Band embarked on its first extensive Fall Tour since 1984. The previous year, Jerry Garcia had kept his band close to their West Coast home base, with San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre serving as their sanctuary. While 1990 and 1991 are widely celebrated as exceptional years for both the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band, they were marked by profound loss, including the untimely deaths of keyboardist/vocalist Brent Mydland and legendary promoter Bill Graham.

Billy Bragg stopped through Chicago as a one off concert en route home from his performance at Kansas City Folk Festival 2017. A perfect setting, Old Town School of Folk provided an intimate stage for this sold out show. Solo with only his guitars and a mic, Bragg delivers so much punch. Again proving lyrics and social commentary is not only powerful but essential, particularly in these times. 

The Brothers Comatose are one of the most exciting bluegrass outfits to emerge in the past decade, and I await each of their stellar releases with bated breath. I first encountered the band at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2015, where I stumbled across the latter portion of their set, the sound of the dueling fiddle and banjo drawing me in from across the sun-soaked fields of Golden Gate Park.

If James Brown is the Godfather of Soul, The Meters are without a doubt the Forefathers of Funk.

A sold-out crowd of avid music fans packed The Roxy Theater on Sunset Strip in Hollywood, on the last day of January, for a very special concert. Starset, who may have created their own musical genre of Heavy Metal Space Rock gave a “demonstration” of their latest live show to adoring fans in the packed little theater.

There is a great deal of discussion of the rift between the progressive and traditional bluegrass scenes, yet a number of groups have taken great strides to tear down the barrier between the disciplines. Ned Luberecki is a perfect example of this dismantling, as he blurs the lines between traditional Americana bluegrass tunes and avante-garde interpretations of songs from outside the genre.