When I first heard about the Dawg Daze of Summer Festival in Lone Jack, Missouri (July 26 – 28, 2012), I knew I needed to go. There are a multitude of reasons for this, some being: The largest swimming pool in Missouri is there, the band selection is awesome, there are hiking trails and it’s on my birthday! You probably don’t want to go to this specifically for the last reason on my list, but the first three are golden!

Opening up the show, the band Onward, Soldiers, fresh off recording their sophomore LP, Monsters, started us off with a tight performance that sourced heavily from their new album.  Rapidly collecting fans and critical attention, this young band from North Carolina gave concertgoers reason to jump on the bandwagon.  According to lead singer Sean Thomas Gerard, “We’ve been a band for three years, but only two years with the current members.”  Despite that fact,

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld Lang syne?

For auld Lang syne, my Jo (or my dear),
for auld Lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld Lang syne.

On New Year’s Eve, Railroad Earth swung into a rendition of Warhead Boogie that, when all was said and done, left me in a state of almost comical ecstasy. During the crescendo and climax, I was twirling and spinning and swirling and grinning, and, then, when even kinetic rhythm couldn’t contain my body, I jumped as high I could, over and over, like a gobsmacked pogo stick.

In a recent interview, Billy Nershi, guitar player, lyricist, and vocalist for Colorado’s String Cheese Incident said this of his band’s musical style:

On Tuesday, November 29, 2011, the Rex Foundation releases for download the 11 Track Jerry Jams for Rex II.

Nobody needs to remind any live music goer how active of a place Colorado and its Front Range are for seeing concerts. Intimate or gigantic, we have as much of a draw for jazz, rock, hip-hop, bluegrass, blues, indie, classical or pretty much anything else you could think of. People come in hordes from all around the country to see their favorite acts at our one-of-a-kind venue scene. Something about the Colorado attitude meshes well with hassle-free lot scenes, and of course the most important part, the concert.

Today, The String Cheese Incident announced their first multi-city run in four years. “Roots Run Deep” 2011 begins Thanksgiving weekend and travels through southern and eastern U.S.

Just as the day prior, the Tennessee sun decided to give me a rude awakening by cooking me alive in my tent.  Sleep is not something that happens very often at a major music festival.  Either you are up too late or the morning comes too soon.  Thank goodness for pure adrenaline and Kashi granola bars… it’s the little things that keep you grooving!  When making our way to Centeroo for the start of day 3, we stumbled across this fellow attempting to channel his inner George Harrison<