Boris Garcia’s new album Around Some Corner is concurrently refreshing and reminiscent. Producer Tim Carbone gelled conspicuously with the pop-Americana sextet, polishing off their most developed offering to date. The Philadelphia based group doesn’t seem to care about proving themselves as genre bending or cutting edge since their songwriting, and musical sincerity shines beyond anything contrived.

On Saturday night Grateful Shred, an Americana Grateful Dead tribute act from Los Angeles, came to Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA to Steal the Face off of the High Desert.

Never before had an audience seemed so intrigued by set break music than at GD50, when Circles Around the Sun began streaming through the sound system.  The album, titled Interludes for the Dead, was a piece of music created specifically for that very occasion, the once in a lifetime reunion of the remaining members of the Grateful Dead.

I had the treat to head to Chicago from my northern Indiana home and catch the good ol’ Grateful Dead at Wrigley Field on July 1, 2017. I shouldn't say it was the Grateful Dead, though, as this entity, called Dead and Company, is a very different animal, containing three original members of the Dead (Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart) along with three other, quite accomplished musicians (John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, and Jeff Chimenti).

The Grateful Dead brings people together. It’s bigger than the music; it’s the experience that the music creates. And once you get into it, you’re not getting out of it.

It’s peculiar to think about, but the album, as we know, it is dying off. The single already takes precedent, for those bands that are looking to reach the widest number of listens on the pop charts. The major upside to the current state of the music business is that the live concert experience has taken precedent as the best way to make it as a musician. One of the most admirable acts out there right now, gaining the adoration of loyal fans while releasing quality albums, is progressive grass sextet the Infamous Stringdusters.

River Edge Park in Aurora, IL hosted a beautiful evening of Dark Star Orchestra on 6/24 ‘17.  While Chicagoland eagerly awaits the upcoming Dead & Co shows at Wrigley Field next weekend, a metro train ride out to the burbs provided 1500 guests a way to chill out by the mighty Fox River.  It was a grateful evening of sentimental tunes played out with perfect 70-degree weather. 

Any event surrounding the Star Wars legacy is sure to be an intergalactic extravaganza. If one combines that with the power of the forward thinking Colorado Symphony, they are left with a sonic experience that is truly out of this world. This symphony has been hot as of late. Within the last few years, they have expanded their reach in the music world. They have collaborated with acts such as the Flaming Lips, Jethro Tull, Warren Haynes playing the music of Jerry Garcia, as well as the music of the late Michael Jackson and John Denver.

While many acts from the progressive rock era of the 1970s still perform, none play with the precision, conviction, and authority of King Crimson. A Bold statement you say? Without bringing other specific acts into a debate, it all boils down to the devotion and continued creative drive of founding visionary Robert Fripp.

When The Babys recorded ‘Every Time I Think of You,' the lead single off 1978’s Head First, it struck a genuinely passionate chord. The band would go on to enjoy Top 40 fame with ‘Back on My Feet Again.' The Babys, an air-tight group with an alluring sound, boasted a silky-voiced, Lancaster-born vocalist with ginger hair. A star was born.