Unlimited Devotion, the two-day musical throwdown held annually at the Ardmore Music Hall, in Ardmore, PA, returned this past weekend, and this year’s lineup may have been the best it’s ever pulled together. The weekend always acts in large part as a tribute to the music of The Grateful Dead, and this year offered a full performance of a Dead album each night—Workingman’s Dead on night one, and American Beauty on night two.

Three-and-one-half years into its tenure, Dead & Company launched its summer 2019 tour on May 31 in the spacious Shoreline Amphitheatre, in the South San Francisco Bay region where The Grateful Dead legacy began more than 50 years ago.

On the last Tuesday night in May, Little Feat continued their triumphant 50th anniversary tour in Oakland at the storied Fox Theater. Time-honored members Bill Payne (piano, keys, synth), Paul Barrere (guitars), Kenny Gradney (bass), Sam Clayton (percussion), and Fred Tackett (guitars, mandolin, trumpet) were joined by Gabe Ford (drums) and very special guests Midnight Ramble Horns (Steve Bernstein, Erik Lawrence, Jay Collins,) for a night of career-spanning classics.

One of America’s most revered current touring outfits, the Grammy Award-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band with the legendary Los Lobos in tow, delivered a thrilling rock, blues, and soul performance at Sacramento’s venerable Memorial Auditorium on May 21.

Tyler Childers & The Food Stamps brought their brand of Appalachian Country Music to the Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida on Monday, May 6th, 2019. Mr. Childers delighted the sold-out crowd as he performed numerous tracks from his 2017 break thru album “Purgatory.” Childers, the 27-year old native of Lawrence County, Kentucky seems to have solidified his role as a Country Music star as the crowd passionately sang along to a number of their favorite songs.

Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats brought their vintage rock and neo-soul show to the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans on May 3rd and 4th for a pair of spectacular double bill shows that coincided with the second weekend of city’s famed Jazz Fest.  Each night featured a different group of legendary Crescent City musicians opening the show.

Voodoo Dead continued their tradition of playing late night shows during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, with a two-night run at Republic NOLA on Saturday, May 4th and Sunday, May 5th. Special guest Brandon "Taz” Niederauer joined the all-star band on guitar Saturday as fans enjoyed a rockin’ two-set show that kept the music going well into Sunday morning.

Veteran midwestern rockers, Umphrey’s McGee returned to Eugene (Ore.) for the first time in five years and unleashed a torrent of heavy, metallic, guitar-driven jams on a packed, Friday night crowd at the McDonald Theater. Combining a taste for crunching, head-banging riffs with mind-melting prog-rock fusion, Umphrey’s are an intriguing musical complexity.

The Brothers and Sisters Reunion, a collaboration of “A-List” musicians that includes former members of the Allman Brothers Band and related offshoots including the Gregg Allman Band, Dickey Betts Band, etc. These individuals were deeply intertwined in creating the sound of this Southern Rock “feel-good” music we all know and love.

Friends of the Devil’s Lettuce brought a full house to Ardmore Hall in Ardmore, Pa last Saturday night to celebrate the cannabis-themed holiday on April 20th. Delicious CBD treats were purveyed inside the venue, which was exciting to see, and was well received by the attendees.