What a magical weekend it was indeed at the Dark Star Jubilee. Each year is just as good as the last if not better. I had the honor of attending this festival for the fourth year in a row out at Legend Valley, Ohio over Memorial Day weekend. There are so many positive things to be said about this festival. It is a world of its own filled with beautiful music, positive people, smiles in every direction, and of course Grateful Dead Tunes.

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.

The pop-up and its small footprint we would call home for the next 4 nights was ready. The sun had long since set and the kids were happily snuggled under doubled over blankets in the 1975 Apache Mesa. The evening’s cold temperatures were more than the few packed layers of cotton could defend against, so Laura and I were doing our best to think warm thoughts and be thankful for the reprieve from last year’s unbearable heat as we sat outside in the still and dewy night.  Her vapor filled exhalation was caught in the beam from her headlamp, over top of the festival’s program.

For the third year in a row I had the honor to attend one of my favorite events all year.  There is nothing else in this world that can put a smile on my face quite like a familiar Grateful Dead tune can. This year at Dark Star Jubilee was just as beautiful as the last three. I couldn’t have picked a better way to spend my Memorial Day weekend. As I walked through the gates, and to the top of the ridge of the pine trees, I remembered what it was like to feel at home.

Master magician, Steve Martin performed a neat trick Friday night at Eugene’s Hult Center for the Performing Arts—he twisted a blazing-hot bluegrass band (Steep Canyon Rangers), a “notorious” singer/songwriter (Edie Brickell) and his own show-biz savoir-faire into an entertaining, vaudevillian blend of musicianship and comedy.

Z2 Entertainment is proud to present Steep Canyon Rangers at the Boulder Theater on Friday, February 28th, 2014.  Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, December 6th at 12:00pm for $12 general admission.

The Graves Mountain Lodge is proud to announce the full performance line-up for the 22nd Annual Graves Mountain Festival of Music to be held May 29-31, 2014.

The Graves Mountain Lodge is proud to announce the initial performance line-up for the 22nd Annual Graves Mountain Festival of Music to be held May 29-31, 2014 including: Steep Canyon Rangers, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lonesome River Band, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice, Seldom Scene, Mark Newton & Steve Thomas, The Steel Wheels, U.S.

MerleFest, offering the feel of both music festival and family reunion, drew nearly 76,000 fans to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina during April 25-28, 2013.  Beginning in 1988 as a tribute to the life of Merle Watson, this year’s event also served as a celebration of the lives of Merle’s parents, “Doc” and Rosa Lee, who passed away in 2012.