While the “core four” remaining members of the Grateful Dead are hanging up their collective spurs this Fourth of July weekend, Dark Star Orchestra has no intention of ending their road warrior ways. Dark Star will be in Chicago for the festivities and a performance for the Rex Foundation on July second, and it only seems fitting; they’ve been long considered the top tier of the Grateful Dead cover band food chain.

On the heels of his newest LP Shadowboxing, the west coast hip hop entity known as Zion I came to the Fox Theater with Los Rakas, Locksmith, Kev Choice, and J. Lately to spread the word of the Rapture World Tour.

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.

Never one to shy away from giving fans something unexpected, prog-rockers Umphrey’s McGee have surprised their followers by releasing their second studio in album in less than a year.  Just ten months after the fantastic Similar Skin was produced, the band took advantage of an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to record music in the famed Abbey Road Studios in London; the same room that iconic artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Hollies, Fela Kuti, and Radiohead all recorded some of their best work.

Last week Denver bluegrass fans were smitten by the presence of a seven-piece bluegrass super-group of some of our favorite musicians for a two night run at the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. Adam Aijala and Ben Kaufmann from Yonder Mountain String Band, Drew Emmitt and Andy Thorn from Leftover Salmon, Bridget Law and Bonnie Paine from Elephant Revival, and guitarist Larry Keel all shared the stage for a first tier, foot stomping picking party. Gipsy Moon opened on Friday night, bringing their soulful, eclectic sound to an upbeat collaboration.

Few genres of music have stood the test of time unblemished such as funk. Though there have been progressions, evolution, and certainly fusion, the fundamentals are all in order. Grandfathers George Clinton, James Brown, and The Meters created a percussively punchy style of playing that was a liberating new form of music distinct in character and approach. Many bands will be described as funky, which is synonymous to loose, rhythm driven and interactive with an audience.

“Oh, yeah.”

Last summer, Analog Son released one of the strongest debut albums I’ve heard in quite some time. Guitarist Jordan Linit and bassist Josh Fairman composed the tracks and enlisted 18 musicians – ranging from nationally recognized to locally cherished – to imbue the songs with a euphonious blend of fusion and funk.

It is no secret that most Phish fans consider the band’s finest, or at least most grand, performances were heard over the 1999 New Year’s Eve run at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida.  Even the band members themselves have hinted that those shows may have been the pinnacle of their storied history.  Phish-heads have been clamoring for years that the organization needs to release legitimate soundboard copies of those epic NYE shows, and although those cries have so far proven fruitless the band has decided to deli

This show was the icing on the cake of a super busy music weekend in the Mile High City. The Bluebird Theater played host to an ultra-talented bill. It was a cold and snowy night in Denver, but people still came out on a Sunday night to see one of the most talented bands in Colorado cover Ween’s famous Chocolate and Cheese album.